Everyone loves a good quote don’t they? Here, Parth Mavani lists a few favourites.

Reading time: 4 minutes.

I have been a quote person, always. And I have studied some great leaders. Today, I thought I’d mix both ideas. In this article, I’ll be sharing some fantastic quotes and deep-dive in the context of how business leaders can use these in their day-to-day lives.

Let’s start with two of my favorite quotes:

1. “Skills are cheap. Passion is priceless.” – Gary Vaynerchuk.

This quote applies to every leader who takes part in the hiring process. More often than not, the ‘recruiters’ try to hire based on skills. Skills are necessary, no doubt about that. But, passion and intensity will help in the long run.

Skills are trainable. You can pick a random kid from the college and train her to run omnichannel marketing campaigns. On the other hand, passion is something else. In the first case, you make them learn; in the second, they learn. And that’s what this quote teaches about leadership.

2. “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – Jeff Bezos.

This quote differentiates a ‘leader’ from a ‘boss’. A boss orders, while a leader guides. The title/position of boss and leader can be the same, but the ‘brand’ is different. 

In the case of ‘boss’, an employee becomes a ‘yes man’ in front but not when you’re not in the room. Whereas, in the case of leaders, an employee gives constructive criticism and ideas to the face and appreciates them behind their back.

3. “Kind words are easy to speak, but their echoes are endless.” – Mother Teresa.

How do you build a positive brand in front of employees? Mother Teresa has the answer: Kind words. 

Talking to the people with respect, empathy, and kindness can do wonders. Just try to appreciate an employee, tell them they did an excellent job — he/she will work with extra enthusiasm. Several such encounters, and you’ll no longer be a boss, but rather a leader. 

4. “Accountability breeds responsability.” – Stephen Covey.

A leader is someone who takes the blame. A leader is accountable for his/her own doing. And a true leader understands it’s their responsibility to build team accountability. They revolve around the 5 Cs:

• Common Purpose: The ‘Why’ of the company.
• Clear Expectations: The ‘Who’ and ‘What’ for the ‘Why’.
• Communication: The ‘How’ to achieve.
• Collaboration: Being a part of the team.
• Consequences: Assessing the results, taking the blame, and sharing the victory.

5. “Never limit your vision based on your current resources” – Michael Hyatt.

People respect an ambitious leader. Have a gigantic vision – that’s the very essence of leadership.

A leader knows where he/she is headed in their professional as well as their personal journey. Current resources don’t bind them. You won’t hear someone saying, ‘Steve Jobs was a great hardware engineer’, because he was not. But, I bet ‘Steve Jobs was a visionary’ is something you must have heard. 

Long story short: having a vision and communicating it is what leadership is at its core.

6. “Good decision comes from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions.” – Tony Robbins.

Tony Robbins describes one of the finest leadership quality with this quote: The power to make decisions.

A leader understands there’s no success without failure. Experimentation is the only way to find the next right step. A true leader never backs out from a situation where an immediate decision is necessary. He/she understands either they will succeed or learn.

7. “A penny saved is a penny earned” – Benjamin Franklin.

Indeed, leaders don’t decide their vision based on current resources, but they very well know that the resources will be needed. For those long-term investments and financial stability, they save. They rent virtual offices instead of building an office. They hire freelancers instead of full-time employees. Long story short, they save every penny they can.

 People call them frugal; I call them smart. 

8. “If I cannot be Tendulkar, then Tendulkar can also not be me.” – Harsha Bhogle.

For those who don’t follow cricket, Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the greatest cricketer of all time, and Harsha is a fantastic commentator who hasn’t played the game he talks about.

This quote teaches leaders a lesson of self-belief and boundaries. A good leader recognises their strengths and weaknesses. And they double-down on what they are good at and hire for their shortcomings.

In short, they stay in their lane.

9. “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do.” – Steve Jobs.

Let’s end this article with a quote from one of the greatest business leaders of this generation. And the quote speaks for itself. This quote teaches an essential lesson of business leadership: Never micromanage. Micromanagement:

• Annoys workers
• Destroys trust
• Leads to burnout
• Weakens the long-term goal

In fact, 85% of employees believe micromanagement leads to a negative morale.

I hope these nine quotes teach you some lessons in leadership. What new did you learn? What was your favorite quote of the nine? Let us know in the comments below.

About the author

Parth Mavani is Chief Marketing Officer at Social Media Dominates.