There are many different kinds of leaders, business leaders, political leaders, leaders in sports, religious leaders, motivational leaders and many more. What makes a great leader? The New Oxford Dictionary of English defines leadership as: ‘the action of leading a group of people or an organization.’

I think that the following collection of quotes perfectly define what makes a really great leader. I hope that these wonderful leadership quotes will both inspire and motivate you. I also hope that they give you an insight into to the type of attitude and mindset it takes to make a really great leader.

1. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. ― John C. Maxwell

2. Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them. ― Winston Churchill

3. The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have. ― Sheryl Sandberg

4. Communication is the most important skill any leader can possess. ― Richard Branson

5. Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position. ― Brian Tracy

6. The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things. ― Ronald Reagan

7. Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. ― Warren Buffett

8. Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing. ― Peter Drucker

9. Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. ― John F. Kennedy

10. A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. ― Jim Rohn

11. Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. ― Vince Lombardi

12. If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. ― Henry Ford

13. A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together. ― Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

14. Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world. ― Roy T. Bennett

15. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ― Aristotle

16. Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.

17. We cannot lead anyone farther than we have been ourselves. ― John C. Maxwell

18. It’s not about money or connections – it’s the willingness to outwork and out learn everyone. ― Mark Cuban

19. It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ― Charles Darwin

20. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune. ― Sam Walton

21. I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. ― Alexander the Great

22. Great leaders inspire greatness in others. ― Lolly Daskal

23. Good leaders see more in people than people see in themselves. ― Mark Sanborn

24. A leader is a dealer in hope. ― Napoleon Bonaparte

25. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ― Maya Angelou

26. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. ― John Quincy Adams

27. If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader. ― Dolly Parton

28. The supreme quality of leadership is integrity. ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

29. The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. ― William Arthur Ward

30. It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed. ― Napoleon Hill

31. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. ― Robert Louis Stevenson

32. We rise by lifting others. ― Robert Ingersoll

33. Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else. ― Sara Blakely

34. The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves. ― Ray Kroc

35. Leadership distilled down to 3 words: Make a difference. ― Robin Sharma

36. Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. ― Sam Walton

37. I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. ― Ralph Nader

38. Leaders don’t force people to follow. They Invite them on a journey.

39. The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. ― Ken Blanchard

40. Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flow charts. It is about one life influencing another. ― John C. Maxwell

41. The employer generally gets the employees he deserves. ― J Paul Getty

42. All leaders are readers. ― Jim Rohn

43. The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow. ― Seth Godin

44. Leaders are neither born nor made. Leaders choose to be leaders. ― Stephen Covey

45. Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes. ― Peter Drucker

46 Integrity is the most valuable and respected quality of leadership. Always keep your word. ― Brian Tracy

47. Earn your leadership every day. ― Michael Jordan

48. Leadership is a way of thinking, a way of acting and, most importantly, a way of communicating. ― Simon Sinek

49. Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. ― Michael Jordan

50. Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson