A leader’s formula

Simon Sinek - British-born American author and motivational speaker

Leadership is a practice and we can all be students. 

John C. Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor

Good leaders ask great questions that inspire others to dream more, think more, learn more, do more, and become more.

Lao Tzu - Chinese philosopher

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

Peter Drucker - Austrian management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

Peter Drucker - Austrian management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

Peter Drucker - Austrian management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.

Peter Drucker - Austrian management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation

Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing.

Socrates - Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy

Let him that would move the world first move himself.

Ken Wilber - American philosopher and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory, a systematic philosophy which suggests the synthesis of all human knowledge and experience.  

Becoming a leader is the same as becoming a fully integrated human being

Jocko Willink - American retired naval officer who served in the Navy SEALs. He is also a podcaster and author

Leaders must always operate with the understanding that they are part of something greater than themselves and their own personal interests.

Jocko Willink - American retired naval officer who served in the Navy SEALs. He is also a podcaster and author

Leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities, between one extreme and another.

Epictetus - Greek Stoic philosopher

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

Nathaniel Branden - Canadian–American psychotherapist and writer known for his work in the psychology of self-esteem

Integrity is congruence between what you know, what you profess, and what you do.

William Harry McRaven - Retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command

I realized that the past failures had strengthened me, taught me that no one is immune from mistakes. True leaders must learn from their failures, use the lessons to motivate themselves, and not be afraid to try again or make the next tough decision.

Debbie Ford - American self-help author, coach, lecturer and teacher, most known for The New York Times best-selling book, The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, which aimed to help readers overcome their shadow side with the help of modern psychology and spiritual practices

Each aspect within us needs understanding and compassion. If we are unwilling to give it to ourselves how can we expect the world to give it to us?

Stephen Covey - American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall. 

Stephen Covey - American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  

Seek first to understand, then to be understood. 

Stephen Covey - American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.

Dale Carnegie - American writer and lecturer, and the developer of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

Dale Carnegie - American writer and lecturer, and the developer of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills

Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied.

Ryan Holiday - American marketer and author. He is the former director of marketing for American Apparel and a media columnist and editor-at-large for the New York Observer

And that’s what is so insidious about talk. Anyone can talk about himself or herself. Even a child knows how to gossip and chatter. Most people are decent at hype and sales. So what is scarce and rare? Silence. The ability to deliberately keep yourself out of the conversation and subsist without its validation. Silence is the respite of the confident and the strong.

Ralph Waldo Emerson - American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

Amy Cuddy - American social psychologist, author and speaker. She is known for her promotion of "power posing", a controversial self-improvement technique whose scientific validity has been questioned

Powerful people initiate speech more often, talk more overall, and make more eye contact while they’re speaking than powerless people do. When we feel powerful, we speak more slowly and take more time. We don’t rush. We’re not afraid to pause. We feel entitled to the time we’re using.

Amy Cuddy - American social psychologist, author and speaker. She is known for her promotion of "power posing", a controversial self-improvement technique whose scientific validity has been questioned

A confident person — knowing and believing in her identity — carries tools, not weapons.

Robin Sharma - Canadian writer, best known for his The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari book series. Sharma worked as a litigation lawyer until age 25, when he self-published MegaLiving, a book on stress management and spirituality.

It’s about knowing who you are, what you stand for, and then having the courage to be yourself—in every situation rather than only when it’s convenient. It’s about being real, consistent, and congruent so who you are on the inside is reflected by the way you perform on the outside.

James Kerr has 38 years experience in the martial arts and has served as an AAU (American Athletics Union) certified martial arts coach and tournament judge

Leaders create leaders by passing on responsibility, creating ownership, accountability and trust.

James Kerr has 38 years experience in the martial arts and has served as an AAU (American Athletics Union) certified martial arts coach and tournament judge

Humility does not mean weakness, but its opposite. Leaders with mana understand the strength of humility. It allows them to connect with their deepest values and the wider world.

Ryan Holiday - American marketer, author and bookstore owner. He is the former director of marketing for American Apparel

Impressing people is utterly different from being truly impressive.

Ryan Holiday - American marketer, author and bookstore owner. He is the former director of marketing for American Apparel

Greatness comes from humble beginnings; it comes from grunt work. It means you’re the least important person in the room—until you change that with results.

Brendon Burchard - #1 New York Times best-selling author and "the world's leading high performance coach". His latest book, High Performance Habits, was a The Wall Street Journal best-seller and named by Amazon as one of its top three best business and leadership books of 2017

We learn that the more we are true to ourselves, the more we can connect with and contribute to the world.

Donald Robertson - Cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist, writer, and trainer. He specializes in the treatment of anxiety and in the relationship between ancient philosophy and modern psychotherapy

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be; just be one.

John Calvin Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. His books have sold millions of copies, with some on the New York Times Best Seller List

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

John Calvin Maxwell - American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. His books have sold millions of copies, with some on the New York Times Best Seller List

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

Jim Kouzes - Coauthor with Barry Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over 2.5 million copies in print. He's also the Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

Exemplary leaders know that if they want to gain commitment and achieve the highest standards, they must be models of the behavior they expect of others.

Jim Kouzes - Coauthor with Barry Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over 2.5 million copies in print. He's also the Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

Leading by example is more effective than leading by command.

Jocko Willink - American author, podcaster, and retired naval officer who served in the Navy SEALs

Leaders must always operate with the understanding that they are part of something greater than themselves and their own personal interests.

Jocko Willink - American author, podcaster, and retired naval officer who served in the Navy SEALs

A good leader has nothing to prove, but everything to prove.

Austin Kleon - New York Times bestselling author of five books: Steal Like an Artist; Show Your Work!; Keep Going; Steal Like An Artist Journal; and Newspaper Blackout. Kleon's works focus on creativity in today's world

Teaching people doesn’t subtract value from what you do, it actually adds to it. When you teach someone how to do your work, you are, in effect, generating more interest in your work. People feel closer to your work because you’re letting them in on what you know.

OliviaFox Cabane - American author, public speaker, and the co-founder of Kindearth.Tech

Being charismatic does not depend on how much time you have but on how fully present you are in each interaction.

OliviaFox Cabane - American author, public speaker, and the co-founder of Kindearth.Tech

Goodwill means that you wish someone well without necessarily knowing how they’re feeling. Empathy means that you understand what they feel; perhaps you’ve had a similar experience in the past. Compassion is empathy plus goodwill: you understand how they feel, and you wish them well.

David Rock - Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer NeuroLeadership Institute. Dr. Rock has authored four successful books including Your Brain at Work, a business best-seller, and has written for and been quoted in hundreds of articles about leadership, organizational effectiveness, and the brain which can be found in Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, CNBC, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., USA Today, BBC, The Boston Globe and more

Many great leaders understand intuitively that they need to work hard to create a sense of safety in others. In this way, great leaders are often humble leaders, thereby reducing the status threat. Great leaders provide clear expectations and talk a lot about the future, helping to increase certainty. Great leaders let others take charge and make decisions, increasing autonomy. Great leaders often have a strong presence, which comes from working hard to be authentic and real with other people, to create a sense of relatedness. And great leaders keep their promises, taking care to be perceived as fair.

Jason Selk - One of the premier performance coaches in the United States, with dozens of professional athletes and Fortune 500 executives as his clients

Greatness will not magically appear in your life without significant accountability, focus, and optimism on your part. Are you ready to commit fully to turning your potential into a leadership performance that will propel you to greatness.

Eric Greitens - American politician, author, and former Navy SEAL who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018

I begin with humility, I act with humility, I end with humility. Humility leads to clarity. Humility leads to an open mind and a forgiving heart. With an open mind and a forgiving heart, I see every person as superior to me in some way; with every person as my teacher, I grow in wisdom. As I grow in wisdom, humility becomes ever more my guide. I begin with humility, I act with humility, I end with humility.

John Gottman - American psychological researcher and clinician who did extensive work over four decades on divorce prediction and marital stability. He is also an award-winning speaker, author, and a professor emeritus in psychology

Human nature dictates that it is virtually impossible to accept advice from someone unless you feel that that person understands you.

Warren G. Bennis - American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership studies

The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon.

Raymond M. Kethledge - United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Time is an unrenewable resource. You can’t get it back. All these things we’ve done to exchange information, to access information at our fingertips, have actually taken away our time for restoring the soul. You’re giving away your soul’s ability to be moved. If we’d spend more time in solitude, we’d value ourselves more.

Raymond M. Kethledge - United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

A leader has not only permission, but a responsibility, to seek out periods of solitude.

Raymond M. Kethledge - United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

A leader needs to have presence, to show up to the moment grounded in one’s self, as centered as one can be, ready to hear, to listen, to discern.

The Dhammapada - Collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.

Michael Hyatt - American author, podcaster, blogger, speaker, and the CEO and founder of Michael Hyatt & Company. He has written several books about leadership, productivity, and goal setting 

Self-leadership always precedes team leadership. 

Marcus Tullius Cicero - Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher and Academic Skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire 

Esse quam videri. ("To be, rather than to seem.")

William H. McRaven - Retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014

True leaders must learn from their failures, use the lessons to motivate themselves, and not be afraid to try again or make the next tough decision.

Fred Rogers - American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001

Listening and trying to understand the needs of those we would communicate with seems to me to be the essential prerequisite of any real communication. And we might as well aim for real communication.

Fred Rogers - American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001

Listening is where love begins: listening to ourselves and then to our neighbors.

Shad Helmstetter - Author of more than twenty books in the field of personal growth. His ground-breaking classic on the subject of self-talk, "What to Say When You Talk to Your Self," is published in over 70 countries, and is in its 45th printing in 30+ years of publication

A lot of people have lived richer lives because someone who cared took the time to listen.

Aristotle - Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Lyceum, the Peripatetic school of philosophy, and the Aristotelian tradition

Men cannot know each other till they have ‘eaten salt together’.

Carol Dweck - American psychologist. She is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck is known for her work on mindset

As growth-minded leaders, they start with a belief in human potential and development—both their own and other people’s. Instead of using the company as a vehicle for their greatness, they use it as an engine of growth—for themselves, the employees, and the company as a whole.