Leadership Quotes for Servant Leaders

This list of quotes is a compilation from my own reading and studies on Servant Leadership. They are ordered by topic (category) and are all displayed in line below. Therefore, you can browse them all, or select a specific topic of interest here:

Category:

Accountability Quotes

It is a shame that so many leaders spend their time pondering their rights as leaders instead of their awesome responsibilities as leaders.

…leaders who do not hold their people accountable to a set standard are, in effect, thieves and liars. Thieves because they are stealing from the stockholder who pays them to hold people accountable, and liars because they pretend that everything is OK with their people when in fact everything is not OK.

It’s not my job to steer the ship,
The horn I’ll never blow.
It’s not my place to say how far
The ship’s allowed to go.
I’m not allowed to go on deck
Or even clang the bell
But if this damn thing starts to sink
Just watch who catches hell!

Authority Quotes

A leader – whether in the home, church, business, community, or government – has authority due to her role, but her positional power will not bring about good for individuals or organizations unless it is backed up by the capital of character.

You may obey a leader who has power and authority, but you will not strive to serve her or the cause of the organization unless you respect and care for her in addition to the ones with whom you serve.

Authority: The skill of getting people to willingly do your will, because of your personal influence.

Authority cannot be bought or sold, given or taken away.

Authority is always built on service and sacrifice.

Power people are generally threatened by authority people…

There is great joy in leading with authority, which is serving others by meeting their legitimate needs.

People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.

You have to perform at a consistently higher level than others. That’s the mark of a true professional.

Business Quotes

The world economy demands an alternative way of doing business and workers demand a different style of leadership.

The temptation for executives at the public company is to be a slave to the stock market and the financial analyst. Leadership is about relationships, not NASDAQ.

Because most corporations have taught that profitability is the sole purpose of the organization, the workforce has lost its faith in business and in people.

There is nothing wrong with creating greater shareholder value or making a profit in your company… …However there is something wrong when a Fortune 500 company doesn’t consider that its primary mission should be to exist for the sake of others, and not just for the sake of others in their exclusive shareholder family, but for the sake of making this world to the least and the last a better place.

Challenges Quotes

Grace. Loss. Fortune. Hardship. Victory. Sometimes the worst seat is best seat in the house and it comes as a result of leading.

One of the best sources of perspective is enemies. If we can learn from them, then we can profit from anyone.

The more you openly name your struggles, the less people can use your silence as a back door to blackmail you, to sabotage your leadership, or to subvert relationships within the organization.

If you are a leader, it is not possible to be at peace with all and friends with everyone.

Most people want to grow, but the price of growth is pain.

A rut… is little more than a coffin with the ends kicked out.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself; therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.

…while everyone’s focusing on keeping the boss happy, who’s focusing on keeping the customer happy?

…even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it’ll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something even if you were too small to understand why. But I think Mr. Frodo, I do understand, I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.

When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things.

Either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals.

Your early successes can be your undoing later.

I think we’re living in a time when size is not a strategic advantage, necessarily.

There’s no work-life balance without making decisions and without courage.

…most leaders get sucked down into the weeds and they spend too much of their valuable time majoring in the minors.

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.

The minute you think you’ve got it made, disaster is just around the corner.

Character Quotes

A leader – whether in the home, church, business, community, or government – has authority due to her role, but her positional power will not bring about good for individuals or organizations unless it is backed up by the capital of character.

You may obey a leader who has power and authority, but you will not strive to serve her or the cause of the organization unless you respect and care for her in addition to the ones with whom you serve.

Leadership is not about personality, possessions, or charisma, but all about who you are as a person. I used to believe that leadership was about style but now I know that leadership is about substance, namely character.

Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, habits become our character, and our character becomes our destiny.

It’s not about trying to find something to help you be a more effective leader. It’s about trying to be a better person. The other will follow.

…it’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time.

Character is the glue that bonds solid and meaningful relationships

Nothing is more deflating to morale than to have a poor outcome pinned on someone who doesn’t deserve it. It lacks integrity and overvalues the outcome at the expense of the people as well as the process.

For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.

The best way to deal in a transparent world is just be transparent. Let your life be authentic and let people look in. Because if they want to find out, they’re gonna find out. And so to me it’s given me a greater sense of accountability as a CEO. It’s given me a greater opportunity to lead.

Adversity doesn’t develop character as much as it reveals character.

Most of the corruption and disruption in the corporation is the result of leaders’ failure to lead themselves.

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.

Trust is a function of two things: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, your motive and your intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, and your track record. Both are vital.

Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won’t taste good.

Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks.

Losing a game is heartbreaking. Losing your sense of excellence or worth is a tragedy.

Courage Quotes

Courage never takes away fear; courage simply redistributes fear to get the job done.

Courage is fear that has said its prayers.

Buzyness, however, is moral laziness because it involves refusing to live with courage and intentionality.

A warrior’s not about perfection, or victory, or invulnerability. He’s about absolute invulnerability. That’s the only true courage.

All vision is fueled by courage.

Culture Quotes

The fundamental keys to the culture of any organization can only be achieved when everyone is on the same page.

For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.

The brand is just a lagging indicator of a company’s culture.

Ask yourself: would you be comfortable printing everything your employees, customers & partners have to say about your culture?

Decision Quotes

De-cide. Homo-cide. Sui-cide. Patri-cide. The root word Decidere means to “to cut off”.

Empowerment Quotes

Empowerment is not about “I take some of my power and give it to you”. That’s the myth.

The best minute you spend is the one you invest in people.

Fear Quotes

Courage never takes away fear; courage simply redistributes fear to get the job done.

Courage is fear that has said its prayers.

Forgiveness Quotes

Forgiving behavior is dealing with situations as they arise in an assertive manner and then letting go of any lingering resentment. As the leader, if you are not able to let go of the resentment, it will consume you and render you ineffective.

Health Quotes

…you cannot separate the health of the individual from the health of the community and of society.

Humility Quotes

For most leaders, humility comes only by wounds suffered from foolish falls.

To experience brokenness and humiliation all you have to do is lead.

Idealism may get us into the fray, but it is the loss of all we cherish that begins to form in us a heart capable of leading others reluctantly and humbly.

The more we walk the path first while becoming last and least in our organizations, the more we become like the Alpha and Omega whom we long to serve.

I learned that if you can retain the feeling of what it feels like to be a “have not” in a society of “haves”, to be down in the hierarchy, you can carry that with you into leadership positions.

I think the only way to get out of the ego is to get into yourself.

What I keep saying is, don’t be the person who has all the answers; be the person who has the best questions. And then you’ll get better answers!

It’s not about trying to find something to help you be a more effective leader. It’s about trying to be a better person. The other will follow.

We also decided that humility was defined not by self-deprecating behavior or attitudes but by the esteem with which you regard others.

Generally, you can be humble only if you feel really good about yourself—and you want to help those around you feel really good about themselves, too.

We are all important, but we are not indispensable.

You shouldn’t take pride in your natural talents any more than you should take pride in your sex, your race or color of your hair.

Your early successes can be your undoing later.

I’m willing to submit to the sovereignty of the consumer, but I just want to know what they say.

You’re not as smart as you think you are, but you’ve got more potential than you could possibly imagine. The secret from the one to other is humility.

People with humility don’t think less of themselves, they just think about themselves less.

Publicity is like poison; it doesn’t hurt unless you swallow it.

Too many leaders act as if the sheep… their people… are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep.k

Joy Quotes

In order to reclaim the joy and passion of leadership, we must walk the valley of the shadow of death and name the cost of leadership.

General Leadership Quotes

You manage things, you lead people.

Leadership: The skill of influencing people to work enthusiastically toward goals identified as being for the common good.

INTENTIONS – ACTION = SQUAT

INTENTIONS + ACTION = WILL

Forgiving behavior is dealing with situations as they arise in an assertive manner and then letting go of any lingering resentment. As the leader, if you are not able to let go of the resentment, it will consume you and render you ineffective.

We must never forget that people buy into the leader before they buy into a mission statement.

Those who follow the crowd will never be followed by the crowd.

What I keep saying is, don’t be the person who has all the answers; be the person who has the best questions. And then you’ll get better answers!

Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people.

…even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it’ll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something even if you were too small to understand why. But I think Mr. Frodo, I do understand, I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.

The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves.

We are here to add what we can to, not get what we can from life.

Part of the role of a thought leader is not to necessarily have all the answers – I certainly don’t – but it’s to be able to ask the right questions and the privilege of being able to lead the conversation.

Leaders have the privilege and responsibility of going first. The most powerful way that anybody can lead is by example.

You can only lead others as far as you are willing to go.

The temptation for executives at the public company is to be a slave to the stock market and the financial analyst. Leadership is about relationships, not NASDAQ.

Morals Quotes

(A manager) once confided in me she liked to picture in her mind’s eye that every employee was wearing one of those sandwich billboard signs. On the front side, the sign would read ‘Appreciate Me’ and on the back side ‘Make Me Feel Important.’

I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched.

The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves.

It’s easy to lose sight of the ultimate goal when you’re in the trenches.

Nothing is more deflating to morale than to have a poor outcome pinned on someone who doesn’t deserve it. It lacks integrity and overvalues the outcome at the expense of the people as well as the process.

How you use the opportunities your given to affect the world around you will determine the legacy you leave behind.

The mercenaries will always beat the draftees, but the volunteers will crush them both.

Others first. Whatever your corporate mission, paint a clear and compelling picture that others can understand and embrace. State your mission in terms that appeal to your team’s best instincts. Persuade and empower as if you are leading and mentoring volunteers.

Nothing does more to lubricate the rough spots than a good dose of encouragement.

Everybody needs encouragement, even when things are going well.

Who really benefits from discouragement? More often than not, encouragement is exactly what is needed.

Is the life you’re leading worth the price your paying to lead it?

I made a list of the happiest periods of my life & I realized that none of them involve money.

You’re not as smart as you think you are, but you’ve got more potential than you could possibly imagine. The secret from the one to other is humility.

Rarely does anyone change because of information sent to the head. But if you can reach down fifteen inches to the heart of a person, then it becomes a mandate, a mission, and a cause that builds momentum.

Motivation Quotes

(A manager) once confided in me she liked to picture in her mind’s eye that every employee was wearing one of those sandwich billboard signs. On the front side, the sign would read ‘Appreciate Me’ and on the back side ‘Make Me Feel Important.’

I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched.

The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves.

It’s easy to lose sight of the ultimate goal when you’re in the trenches.

Nothing is more deflating to morale than to have a poor outcome pinned on someone who doesn’t deserve it. It lacks integrity and overvalues the outcome at the expense of the people as well as the process.

How you use the opportunities your given to affect the world around you will determine the legacy you leave behind.

The mercenaries will always beat the draftees, but the volunteers will crush them both.

Others first. Whatever your corporate mission, paint a clear and compelling picture that others can understand and embrace. State your mission in terms that appeal to your team’s best instincts. Persuade and empower as if you are leading and mentoring volunteers.

Nothing does more to lubricate the rough spots than a good dose of encouragement.

Everybody needs encouragement, even when things are going well.

Who really benefits from discouragement? More often than not, encouragement is exactly what is needed.

Is the life you’re leading worth the price your paying to lead it?

I made a list of the happiest periods of my life & I realized that none of them involve money.

You’re not as smart as you think you are, but you’ve got more potential than you could possibly imagine. The secret from the one to other is humility.

Rarely does anyone change because of information sent to the head. But if you can reach down fifteen inches to the heart of a person, then it becomes a mandate, a mission, and a cause that builds momentum.

Passion Quotes

In order to reclaim the joy and passion of leadership, we must walk the valley of the shadow of death and name the cost of leadership.

Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people.

How you use the opportunities your given to affect the world around you will determine the legacy you leave behind.

The mercenaries will always beat the draftees, but the volunteers will crush them both.

Is the life you’re leading worth the price your paying to lead it?

I had decided to stop chasing the money & start chasing the passion.

I made a list of the happiest periods of my life & I realized that none of them involve money.

When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things.

Politics Quotes

If you lead, you will eventually serve with Judas or Peter.

The more you openly name your struggles, the less people can use your silence as a back door to blackmail you, to sabotage your leadership, or to subvert relationships within the organization.

…while everyone’s focusing on keeping the boss happy, who’s focusing on keeping the customer happy?

Power Quotes

A reluctant leader is highly suspicious of people who work to accumulate and hoard power.

Power: The ability to force or coerce someone to do your will, even if they would choose not to, because of your position or your might.

You can get a few seasons out of power, even accomplish some things, but over time power can be very damaging to relationships.

You can get a few seasons out of power but over time relationships will deteriorate and so will your influence.

Power people are generally threatened by authority people…

A person who is worthy of being a leader wants power not for himself, but in order to be of service.

The power appetite of leaders today, ones that are self-serving, is leading to the demise of our great nation, of great companies, and of great individuals.

The measure of a man is what he does with power.

Our craving for success without significance has made power the modern idolatry of our times.

Pride Quotes

The more I break down my pride and ego, the more joy I have in life.

Serving others breaks you free from the shackles of self and self-absorption that choke out the joy of living.

Never let your ambition surpass your moral compass.

Religion Quotes

It is God’s design to use reluctant servants to usher in glory.

In order to reclaim the joy and passion of leadership, we must walk the valley of the shadow of death and name the cost of leadership.

If you lead, you will eventually serve with Judas or Peter.

The more we walk the path first while becoming last and least in our organizations, the more we become like the Alpha and Omega whom we long to serve.

Each of you has been blessed with one of Gods wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.

I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched.

A leader lives with people to know their problems. A leader lives with God in order to solve them.

I realized that I needed to be more like the shepherd than the hired hand in protecting my team.

Sacrifice

“Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice.”

Servant leadership is designed to increase the self-determination, self-confidence and self-sacrifice of everyone.

Servant Leadership Quotes

The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first…

It is God’s design to use reluctant servants to usher in glory.

What originally led us to serve others by leading them seldom remains our North Star.

You may obey a leader who has power and authority, but you will not strive to serve her or the cause of the organization unless you respect and care for her in addition to the ones with whom you serve.

The more we walk the path first while becoming last and least in our organizations, the more we become like the Alpha and Omega whom we long to serve.

To have a healthy and thriving business, there must be healthy relationships with the C.E.O.S. in the organization and I’m not referring to the Chief Executive Offficers. I am talking about the Customers, the Employees, the Owner (or stockholders), and the Suppliers.

Our top-down pyramid style of management is a very old concept borrowed from centuries of war and monarchies.

Slaves do what others want. Servants do what others need.

Who then is the greatest leader? The one who has served the most.

I don’t necessarily have to like my players and associates but as their leader I must love them. Love is loyalty, love is teamwork, love respects the dignity of the individual. This is the strength of any organization.

Serving others breaks you free from the shackles of self and self-absorption that choke out the joy of living.

The only one among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.

There is great joy in leading with authority, which is serving others by meeting their legitimate needs.

Each of you has been blessed with one of Gods wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.

Servant leadership teaches us that you have to lay your cards on the table.

I learned that if you can retain the feeling of what it feels like to be a “have not” in a society of “haves”, to be down in the hierarchy, you can carry that with you into leadership positions.

I think the only way to get out of the ego is to get into yourself.

Project authenticity and vulnerability, be present, be accepting, and see your role as being useful, as being the servant.

My conclusion: Management is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team.

People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Servant-leadership is more than a concept, it is a fact. Any great leader, by which I also mean an ethical leader of any group, will see herself or himself as a servant of that group and will act accordingly.

A person who is worthy of being a leader wants power not for himself, but in order to be of service.

This is a service station, we offer service. There is no higher purpose.

I realized that I needed to be more like the shepherd than the hired hand in protecting my team.

Others first. Whatever your corporate mission, paint a clear and compelling picture that others can understand and embrace. State your mission in terms that appeal to your team’s best instincts. Persuade and empower as if you are leading and mentoring volunteers.

If you’re truly obsessed over customers, it’ll cover a lot of errors.

…the best leaders are servant leaders – they serve those they lead.

I’m willing to submit to the sovereignty of the consumer, but I just want to know what they say.

The companies that are successful, they start out to make meaning, not to make money.

If you start out to solely make money, you will attract the wrong kind of employees.

Servant leadership is designed to increase the self-determination, self-confidence and self-sacrifice of everyone.

The role of a servant leader is stimulate what is already within the person.

Servant leaders inspire for transformation.

The world economy demands an alternative way of doing business and workers demand a different style of leadership.

Throughout the history of the world, the courageous leaders saw their defining moments not as steps to more status but a calling to serve sacrificially for the sake of others.

Because servant leadership is more of an art than a science, it often can be measured through the visceral responses of the followers.

If the compass is servant leadership then employees know which direction is true north.

Servant leadership can provide the right kind of light to see farther into the future and with greater clarity than when the darkness of adversity strikes.

Adversity, under servant leaders, provides room for all to grow and learn from their experiences.

Servant leadership does not require perfection; what it needs is a process involving dignity and civility and competencies that will equip, inspire and encourage others to become servant leaders.

Servant leadership is intentional action that seeks the best for others.

Servant leaders are committed to people and process. They are not looking for short-term gains at the expense of long-term benefits.

There is nothing wrong with creating greater shareholder value or making a profit in your company… …However there is something wrong when a Fortune 500 company doesn’t consider that its primary mission should be to exist for the sake of others, and not just for the sake of others in their exclusive shareholder family, but for the sake of making this world to the least and the last a better place.

The fundamental problem within organizations today is applied power without a moral imperative… …Without the moral imperative that all organizations should exist for the sake of others, leadership is driven by self-serving goals and narcissistic means.

At the end of the day, have your gifts and talents been used to line shareholders pockets or have you left the world incrementally better by applying your talent to help others?

The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than rule.

The name on the front of the jersey is what really matters, not the name on the back.

When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.

You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you’ll lose again, and then losing becomes a habit.

In the past a leader was a boss. Today’s leaders must be partners with their people… they no longer can lead solely based on positional power.

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.

Too many leaders act as if the sheep… their people… are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep.k

Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough.

True heroism is remarkably sober. Very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.

Success Quotes

Few people are successful unless other people want them to be.

We all know that the time spent is not necessarily an indicator of success.

There is no success without a successor.

It is the employees who determine a company’s success or failure.

Technology Quotes

As the CEO, one of my main jobs is to get visibility for Thomas Nelson and I don’t know of an easier, better way to do it, with greater leverage, than with Social Media.

In the age of Twitter and Facebook, everyone has a megaphone.

Toxic Leadership Quotes

A seagull manager is one who periodically flies into the area, makes a lot of noise, dumps on the people, maybe eats their lunch, and flies away.

It is a shame that so many leaders spend their time pondering their rights as leaders instead of their awesome responsibilities as leaders.

You can get a few seasons out of power but over time relationships will deteriorate and so will your influence.

It’s not my job to steer the ship,
The horn I’ll never blow.
It’s not my place to say how far
The ship’s allowed to go.
I’m not allowed to go on deck
Or even clang the bell
But if this damn thing starts to sink
Just watch who catches hell!

Who really benefits from discouragement? More often than not, encouragement is exactly what is needed.

The power appetite of leaders today, ones that are self-serving, is leading to the demise of our great nation, of great companies, and of great individuals.

Our craving for success without significance has made power the modern idolatry of our times.

Transactional leadership supports the premise that employees are tools to utilize for corporate gain.

If you ignore our spirituality and our social needs, you will never be more than a transactional leader.

Transparency Quotes

Servant leadership teaches us that you have to lay your cards on the table.

Project authenticity and vulnerability, be present, be accepting, and see your role as being useful, as being the servant.

Others first. Whatever your corporate mission, paint a clear and compelling picture that others can understand and embrace. State your mission in terms that appeal to your team’s best instincts. Persuade and empower as if you are leading and mentoring volunteers.

The best way to deal in a transparent world is just be transparent. Let your life be authentic and let people look in. Because if they want to find out, they’re gonna find out. And so to me it’s given me a greater sense of accountability as a CEO. It’s given me a greater opportunity to lead.

Trust Quotes