Sometimes all it takes to motivate your team members is one quote to encourage hard work or new endeavours. With this selection of leadership quotes at their fingertips, each member will feel empowered to embrace challenges and realize their full potential.
The best leaders are those that provide people with the skills needed to develop their talents and abilities, creating a better world by motivating others towards their goals without selfish motives or personal ambitions.
1. Martin Luther King Jr.
Once graduated from Morehouse College in 1948, King returned to Atlanta where he co-pastored his father’s church as co-pastor, using his free time evangelizing and protesting segregation.
Influenced by Morehouse professors George Kelsey and Benjamin E. Mays as well as Mohandas K. Gandhi, King developed a profoundly nonviolent philosophy of human rights that guided his entire life. He employed grassroots organizing, peaceful demonstrations, and civil disobedience tactics in pursuit of unattainable goals.
In 1963, Martin led marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama’s state capital, drawing national attention as TV footage showed police using nightsticks and pressurized water jets against peaceful demonstrators – leading to passage of Voting Rights Act that year. Later he broadened his focus to address poverty issues and Vietnam War opposition – until finally being assassinated April 1968.
2. Stephen Covey
Stephen Covey was an internationally acclaimed leadership authority, family expert, and teacher. He wrote numerous bestselling books including his timeless bestseller: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which became one of the most influential business books of the 20th Century.
Franklin Covey established and later merged his leadership center, Covey Leadership Center, with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey – an international training firm with millions of copies sold worldwide.
He championed positive change and believed that people’s actions, not their environment, determine who they become. For greater success in life, proactive choices must be prioritized over reactive ones – this is why he encouraged all to create mission statements and shape their futures with careful thought and planning – creating this mindset can help ensure you live your ideal life!
3. Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln stands out in American memory as an outstanding President who waged a civil war that successfully preserved the Union, ended slavery, and laid the path toward civil rights for African-Americans.
Lincoln was an adept pragmatic in employing government tools to advance shifting war aims. He managed competing interests such as those held by military leaders, Congress members, foreign powers and ordinary citizens he felt represented them all effectively.
In January 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all slaves living within rebelling states. It marked the first time an explicit declaration like this had ever been issued by a president; and was thus one of the strongest blows ever struck against rebellion. But Lincoln remained confident despite this proclamation; four more years would pass before it would finally end despite it all.
4. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey has proven herself one of the world’s most influential and successful women with her long list of life-altering accomplishments, from producer to actress to talk show host and self-made billionaire philanthropist who has touched millions of lives positively through charity efforts.
She uses her platform to share messages of empowerment and encouragement to empower individuals to live the best lives possible. In addition to offering advice about personal growth, overcoming obstacles, and healing from trauma.
Winfrey advises us all to trust our intuition and listen to that small voice within. Doing this will bring success; though it requires courage to remain true to oneself in an often judgemental society, being true to ourselves ultimately pays off and is why she has become such a successful icon; living proof that dreams do come true and an inspirational role model for all of us.
5. Bill Gates
Bill Gates boasts an extraordinary collection of rare real estate, cars, books and artifacts ranging from rare books, documents and other objects to rare documents and documents relating to computer history. Additionally, his passion lies in collecting rare books. Additionally, he holds various investments portfolios as well as owns his own private island. Bill met co-founder Paul Allen in high school; they shared an interest in computers. After dropping out two years into their college studies to start Microsoft with Allen together – it quickly become successful business that made Bill an overnight millionaire at 26!
Bill and Melinda Gates have an exceptional commitment to social responsibility. Together they established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which invests in education, world health and poverty alleviation initiatives. Bill serves as co-chair while Melinda oversees operations. Together they pledged most of their wealth as donations.
6. Jack Welch
Jack Welch transformed General Electric over two decades as Chairman and CEO. Wall Street applauded his work while the public held him in high regard.
He closed factories, restructured businesses and reduced what had once been an opaque nine-tier management structure. Furthermore, he advocated that the company move away from selling products and towards equipment services instead.
But Welch also employed an approach known as “rank and yank,” which prioritized short-term gains over long-term sustainability. While not inherently bad, this strategy had long-term negative repercussions for both employees and companies alike. Many GE workers felt its impact when union membership declined as union membership decreased as Welch pushed outsourcing and decimated American manufacturing jobs.
7. John Lennon
Here is a selection of his thoughts on fame, music and peace to mark what would have been his 80th birthday.
Lennon was deeply influenced by early rock’n’roll, especially those artists characterized by whimsical rhymes, playful neologisms, and catchy tunes with catchy, sing-song melodies that combined playful elements with rebellion against adult rules of language and decorum. These artists gave him great pleasure.
Lennon learned to accept his contradictions after he and Ono welcomed a son together in 1975, prompting Lennon to stop recording music altogether. In “Watching the Wheels” from Double Fantasy, Lennon reminds us not to fear change but embrace it instead.
8. Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was an unparalleled innovator. A master at developing ground-breaking products that transformed industries, he was an inspiring role model who showed people they could achieve the impossible with hard work and persistence.
No matter your opinions of his ruthless business practices, there’s no doubt that Jobs left an impressive legacy of innovation and success behind him. From founding Apple as we know it to revolutionizing music with iTunes and the iPhone to founding Pixar Animation Studios; his legacy speaks for itself.
His genius was evident in the products that bear his name, even in his last years as he battled illness he continued to create innovative technologies like Macbook Air, iPod and iPhone. His ability to foster innovation among others and inspire them was truly amazing; many will miss him dearly.
9. Bill Gates
Gates was one of the richest men in the world thanks to his technological innovation and business acumen in co-founding Microsoft Corporation, becoming one of the richest men on earth. While still holding a seat on its board, his efforts now are directed through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation towards climate change research, clean energy innovation, Alzheimer’s research, interdisciplinary education initiatives, world health concerns and world peace issues.
His impressive business acumen and creative approach to problem-solving have won him praise from both critics and supporters. His philanthropic endeavors, such as working to eradicate polio and sharing the stage with a beaker of poop to bring awareness of poor sanitation practices, are equally impressive. Even experienced changemakers need motivational boosts occasionally – and great quotes can do exactly that.
10. Bill Gates
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft Corporation with Paul Allen in 1975 and led it to become a global leader in both business and personal software. After retiring from day-to-day operations at Microsoft in 2020, he turned his focus toward philanthropy – including founding the Gates Foundation – with an emphasis on climate change/clean energy innovation/Alzheimer’s disease healthcare issues and interdiciplinary education initiatives.
Gates was always fascinated with computers and technology as a child, particularly the Altair 8800 microcomputer, which could run BASIC programs. After reading about it in Popular Electronics magazine in January 1975, he immediately reached out to Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems to request a demonstration. Working alongside Allen, Gates created and sold for $500 their BASIC interpreter for Altair, helping launch both their careers at Microsoft.