So, You Wanna Be a Leader?

Unlike the manager, who is responsible for the work of others,
a LEADER is responsible for the accomplishment of others.
And the difference, as Mark Twain said, is like the difference between "lightning" and "lightning bug".



Perhaps a way to begin is to consider how you can create or enhance the accomplishment, not just work, of others around you. What are your unique and personal gifts?


Some possibilities. You could be a:

1. Motivator (I know how to create enthusiasm and dedication to tasks)
2. Champion (I'm a fierce advocate for what I believe)
3. Entrepreneur (I see opportunity everywhere)
4. Change Agent (I'm not afraid of change, in fact, I embrace it and seek it out)
5. Problem Solver (I'm great at combining hard work and intuition)
6. Expert (I really know a lot about ______)
7. Facilitator (People find me easy to talk with and are willing to listen in return)
8. Artist (I have an eye for beauty and a gift for style and expression)

Some of my favorite quote on leadership:


"Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means."--Albert Einstein

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being." 

--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"You cannot push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb it himself>" 

--Andrew Carnegie

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader works in the open, and the boss is covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives." 

--Theodore Roosevelt

"Who hath not served cannot command" 

--John Florio

"A good leader takes a little more share of the blame, a little less than his share of credit." 

--Arnold Glasow

"Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be." 

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A prime function of a leader is to keep hope alive." 

--John W. Gardner

"Leadership: the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it." 

--Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The difference between perseverance and obstinancy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't." 

--Henry Ward Beecher

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality." 

--Max DePree in The Art of Leadership

"The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people." 

--Woodrow Wilson

"An army of a thousand is easy to find, but, ah, how difficult to find a general." 

--Chinese Proverb

"I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion, than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep." 

--Talleyrand

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." 

--Martin Luther King Jr.

"Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it." 

--Marian Anderson