10 Quotes to Improve Your Leadership Skills in 2016

Leadership can be both painful and very rewarding, leading a business and people can be very challenging but also provides a great sense of personal achievement and pride in your team.

Getting the right mix of leadership skills to lead your team can be a difficult task and as a leader it can very lonely at times. No matter how big or small the team, it puts a lot of responsibility on your shoulders requiring the need to look inside yourself for motivation and inspiration.

So when you are operating on a tight budget, deadlines are approaching and stress levels are high, it’s easy to lose focus and let those negative emotions take over, thereby effecting your team. Take a breath, calm yourself down, and remind yourself of the leader you are and would like to become.

What better time to look inside yourself for motivation and inspiration than the beginning of a new year and sometimes all you need to find that inspiration is some meaningful and powerful words to unleash your potential.

Get started with these 10 inspiring leadership quotes:

1. “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.”  –  Douglas MacArthur
2. “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”  – Albert Schweitzer
3. “A leader…is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”  – Nelson Mandela
4. “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”  – Vince Lombardi
5. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”  – Henry Ford

Related: Unleash Your Inner Networking Power With Kingsley Aikins 

6. “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”  – Leonardo da Vinci
7. “I don’t see myself being special; I just see myself having more responsibilities than the next man. People look to me to do things for them, to have answers.”  – Tupac Shakur
8. “Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”  – Peter Drucker
9. “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”  – William Arthur Ward
10. “Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership. If you seek to lead, invest at least 50 percent of your time in leading yourself–your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20 percent leading those with authority over you and 15 percent leading your peers.”  – Dee Hock