I recently watched a speech from Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity and he spoke on a similar topic. In talking about people being afraid of trying something new or leading something he said, “Don’t be afraid to take a risk and step out into uncharted waters.� People don’t want to be a leader of something they have never done before. He also said, “If you are only winning at everything you do then you are in the wrong league. We need to accept many challenges in our lives that we need to live.� I thought Millard was a very motivated and successful person much like the people quoted on the post.

Leadership is not an easy thing and doesn’t come naturally to everyone but anyone that puts the time and heart into can be a leader. Everyone, including myself needs to “step out into the uncharted waters.�

Some would argue that pride is what keep us from change, but I think most of the time my problem is that I get too comfortable. I can find safety in my daily tasks and it makes me not strive to reach for anything more. The same comfort I find soon becomes fear when faced with change, however. Change is inevitable and I think that a true leader is one who is not only prepared for change, but excited about it. Leaders don’t let themselves get stuck in a rut. They are always striving for more and ready to let the next wave hit.

I like to take a step back and look at my life from the outside when looking at my leadership qualities. On the inside I see myself as fearful of failure and full of self doubt. But from the outside, I see the power of accomplishment when I have lead others to finish a task. This feeling of stepping back and looking at what has been done by my hands should be enough to not let me fear the next task. Those who are strong leaders feel this often and, although they may fail, they have accomplished something in their name and wont be afraid to do it again.

All of these quotes give insight into the mind and leading style of each leader. A few quotes in particular really hit home with me and led me to check out the speaker’s website and read more about them.

I liked Jack Welch’s quote on crisis management because of how candid and frank it was. Welch’s list was very honest and to the point which is necessary when learning how to react, from a public relations standpoint, in a crisis situation. Our professors should use his quote when teaching us crisis management.

I also liked Malcolm Gladwell’s quote, “What would happen if we took our instincts seriously?� I believe instincts are very important and should always be taken into consideration. Most of the time, our first instincts are right. That is an extremely important lesson to learn in business. There is not always time to research and consider all options; in such cases instincts come in handy.

These quotes were very interesting, motivating and thought provoking. I’m sure that was a great conference to be a part of. Thank you for sharing some of the highlights with us.

Group projects are used all of the time in our department at Auburn. I find myself in different situations where I am sometimes the leader while other times someone else emerges into that position. It is easy to resent a leader and their opinions. I think the best kind of leader listens to what everyone has to say. I once heard a quote, “”A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.”

I love the quote by Marcus Buckingham, “Basic human instinct is to fear the unknown. Leaders traffic in the unknown. The challenge of the leader is to turn fear into confidence.” The best kind of leaders don’t use themselves and their ideas to get things done, they use the people around them because often times other people’s ideas are better. Woodrow Wilson once said, “The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.” I couldn’t agree more.

However, it can be scary to be in a leadership position. All the pressure is on you. How do you know if people like your ideas and direction? What if people don’t think you are doing a good job and don’t want to work for you? It can be a stressful position that requires natural skill and poise.

I also like Rudy Giuliani’s quote: “Change requires leadership. Leadership requires courage. Courage requires overcoming fear. Change causes fear. Repeat.� It shows that leadership is a combination of many things, and it requires confidence. It shows that things may not always go the way you want them to, but you have to keep overcoming each obstacle.

I liked this post on leadership. It was insightful and I love reading quotes, especially from well-respected people. I always remember a good quote and they give me guidance.

Bill Marriott’s quote was interesting—are the employees leaving the notes anonymously? Or is it a part of the management’s plan when Mr. Marriott visits a particular plan? After all you definitely want the “head hancho� to think that all of the employees are just peachy. However, I’m glad Mr. Marriott sees this as a benefit and that it drives him to be a better leader. Some receiving these notes could do the opposite and become egotistical or arrogant, knowing that they are a good leader and forget about striving to continue leading positively.

I think Marcus Buckingham makes a valid point that leaders do fear. They are not always sure of their decisions and have no clue about what to do, but that is their life and what they perceive as normalcy.

Thanks for providing these quotes for everyone, especially the students. I know that quotes sometimes help me have confidence or at least help me understand why a particular aspect is so important to my future career.

From this statement, it shows that leadership is not just something by itself. Instead, it consists of a number of different characteristics that together form what we consider to be leadership. Giuliani shows to be a leader, you must have courage, which overcomes fear. But to change, you must also have leadership.

The fact that leadership isn’t a single thing makes it so much deeper, yet also something more difficult to have. I believe that anyone can be a leader. Some may be a leader more naturally than others, but leading is possible, with practice and being educated. But to be full of leadership, this is something that people are born with. Of course there are many ways to build your leadership skills, but there has to be something naturally that brings those skills out. Leadership isn’t something that should be taken lightly. For those that are natural born leaders, I hope they take the gifts they have and spread them to those following in their footsteps.