Category Archives: Quote

Posts with great and inspirational quotes from famous or not so famous people related to leadership.

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Leadership is like riding a bicycle

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Learning to Ride a BicycleI admit it. I fell victim to the “Downton Abbey” craze. I watched an episode one night out of curiosity. The next thing I knew, I had found Seasons 1 and 2 on Amazon Prime and we watched at least 2 episodes a night for the next 2 weeks until we had seen them all. Then we went to start watching Season 3 – only this time it wasn’t free on Amazon Prime. You know you are hooked when you hit the “Buy with 1-Click” button and you shell out the money for the entire 3rd season without even thinking about what it cost. But, I suppose all of that is a subject for another time.

I found the story compelling and the dialog incredible. The characters were fascinating and complex. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.

But I was captivated by a sentence uttered by a relatively minor character in the last episode of season 3. His name is Shrimpie and he is a husband caught in a loveless marriage and he is the father of a young woman who is rebelling against her parents and society in general. I am paraphrasing a quote from that episode:

“What I want is for her [his daughter] to know that family can be a loving thing. Love is like riding a bicycle or speaking French. If you don’t learn it young, it’s hard to get the trick of it later.”

I am taking this in a direction that you would expect and I am going to modify the quote to suit my purpose. What if

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As a soldier sees it

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As a soldier sees itI came across another great quote the other day. But, as I am getting old and didn’t write it down, I have to try to recall it from memory. The gist of it was the way that a soldier sees leadership. Leadership as a soldier sees it went something like this:

I do not follow orders, I obey them. Instead I follow a leader.

Let that sink in for a few minutes.

Now what does that mean?

Try as I might, I just cannot get some of the courtroom scenes from “A Few Good Men” out of my head. If you take some of the military bashing out of the film you are left with some riveting dialog. At some point along the way the characters Dawson and Downey lost sight of the impact of following an order from a leader who is not worthy. They followed an order and things went terribly wrong.

The premise of the movie is not a perfect analogy for me. But it does point out to me that we need to be clear regarding those that we chose to follow. And further, we need to be aware of the impact that we have on those who follow us.

And consider this as well.  We don’t always get to choose our leaders.

Are you following, obeying or leading?

 

Photo credit: Atfyfe / Foter.com / Public Domain Mark 1.0

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Faster Horses

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“If I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses’”
Henry Ford

Henry Ford and Faster HorsesWhat a great quote!  And what a great insight into a key leadership trait.  The business community is all about collaboration these days.  And I believe in collaboration.  But, sometimes, a true leader, an innovator like Henry Ford, needs to see far beyond what those around him see.

He didn’t give people what they wanted because they really didn’t know or couldn’t verbalize their need.  Instead, Ford forged ahead and created something that changed the world.  He gave us the first mass produced and affordable automobile.  He gave us mobility and a whole new way of producing goods that had never been employed to that extent before.

And, by the way, it was faster than most horses out there.  Think about that today.

 

Photo credit: brizzle born and bred / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

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The Opportunity of Leadership

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 “Another time [Benaiah] chased a lion down into a pit.  Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it.”  2 Samuel 23

In scripture, we read of a valiant warrior turning the tables and chasing a lion into a pit, and, then killing the large feline.  Picture it in  your mind…maybe lace it with the cinema scope of a motion picture.  Benaiah notices the impression of lion prints in the snow.  The cold bites his lungs as air fills his chest with anticipation.  His muscles tighten and his eyes narrow as he spots the lion.  The lion growls and groans.  The lion’s ears are back and hair on its neck is twitching.

At this point, some folks would think this is a very bad thing.  Then there are others who would see the lion and think-

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Veteran’s Day

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Today, in the U.S., it is Veteran’s Day.  And I have several family members and close friends who have worn the uniform of the United States of America.  Although it is not my intention to turn this dialog into one that is centered on the military.  But, I would be remiss if I failed to reflect on the the subject of leadership while in the shadow of Veteran’s Day.

So, I will take as non-partisan approach as I possibly can and make it short and sweet as I reflect on leadership within the context of the military.

A colleague and very dear friend at work has a quote anchored in the signature block of every email that he sends.  It is a quote by General George S. Patton.  That quote is this:

Patton Quote 1

I plan to spend a great deal of time in the coming days dealing with many aspects of leadership.  But, I don’t ever want to lose sight of the fact that sometimes as a leader we must stand back and let our “troops” do what they have been trained to do or what they can figure out using their God-given talents and abilities.  This may sound a little laissez-faire or soft to you.  I don’t think anyone would ever confuse “Old Blood and Guts” with someone who was soft.  So, if he was willing to adopt this approach from time to time, then there must be a leadership principle in there somewhere.

Don’t you think?

 

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Leadership

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“A man who thinks he is leading, but has no one following him, is only taking a walk.”

That leadership quote has been attributed to antiquity as an ancient Chinese proverb.  And it has been attributed in recent times to former pastor and current leadership expert, John Maxwell.  And if we can take one thing from the varied attribution of this maxim it is that defining and exhibiting leadership has been a problem for a very long time.

chinese_proverb.v2True leadership is something that is sorely lacking in today’s culture just like it must have been to the ancient Chinese.  However, it is not that we don’t have good people in elected or appointed positions of leadership.  We do.  I am just not sure that I see very much actual leadership being displayed by them.  What I do see is a lot of “leaders” just walking about.  The thing that many leaders are missing is followers.  And if followers don’t define a leader, they at least do identify one.

And it is in this vein that I launch this new web enterprise on Leadership.  It is my goal to take a look at leadership from as many angles as possible.  Some of those views will be:

  • What does leadership look like from a Biblical perspective?
  • What does leadership look like from a secular perspective?
  • What does leadership look like from a business perspective?
  • What does leadership look like from a military perspective?
  • What does leadership look like from a family perspective?
  • What does it take to be a good or great leader?
  • Who in history can be role models for leadership today?
  • Who is demonstrating leadership today?
  • Can anyone or everyone be a leader?
  • What resources exist to make better leaders?
  • How many followers do you have to have to be considered a leader?

Leadership has become a passion of mine in recent times.  I am passionate about both being a leader and developing leaders around me.  I believe that our society and today’s culture is devoid and desperate for real leaders.  Maybe not on a grand scale.  But we are longing for someone to inspire us to greatness.  And to lead us to be more than we can be by ourselves.

Are you interested in being a leader?  Will you join me in the journey of discovery of what it means to be a leader?

Join the conversation.  I am not looking for a silly interchange.  So I am requiring you to take the step of registering to join the discussion.  Most of you who will be drawn to this topic are already active on other forums or outlets for expression and probably are accustomed to the process.  So register below and leave a reply.  Leave a comment.  Be a part of the dialog.  You just may inspire someone with what you say.