A Written Personal Leadership Philosophy Differentiates a Great Leader from an Average Leader
One of the most important foundations for great leaders is having an understanding of their own leadership platform — a set of beliefs, values, and personal rules related to the kind of leader they want to be.
A leadership philosophy is a set of beliefs and principles that strongly influences how you interpret reality and guides how you react to people, events, and situations. Research has shown that consistent leadership behavior and actions require a clear personal leadership philosophy.
Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic in Japan, is known in that country as the “god of management” for his writings and speeches on leadership and management. He wrote, “If you are a leader, you must have an ideology of leadership. If you lack an ideology, and attempt to decide everything on a case-by-case basis, you will never be capable of strong leadership.”
With that in mind, here are eight of my favorite quotations on leadership philosophy, from men and women who understand the importance of having a personal leadership philosophy:
Vision without action is daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. Japanese Proverb
Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders. Tom Peters
One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes…and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility. Eleanor Roosevelt
Every leader needs to remember that a healthy respect for authority takes time to develop. It’s like building trust. You don’t instantly have trust, it has to be earned. Mike Krzyzewski
We yield on the side of making our people proud. It galvanizes our organization. Howard Schultz
Earn your leadership every day. Michael Jordan
Leadership is not bullying and leadership is not aggression. Leadership is the expectation that you can use your voice for good. That you can make the world a better place. Sheryl Sandberg
Live with integrity in the moment of choice. Stephen Covey
A written leadership philosophy helps leaders demonstrate and communicate to team members and others what they expect, what they value, and how they will act in any given situation. This helps to make their workplace environment less stressful and more productive, as well as keeping them on track and aligned with their core beliefs and values.
Having a written personal leadership philosophy is one of the distinctions between great leaders and average leaders.
(You’ll find over 1000 quotations on great leadership from global business leaders, statesmen, athletes, coaches, sages, and philosophers in my recent book Great Leadership Words of Wisdom, available in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon.)
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