“Despite comprising just 8% of the entire U.S. population, military veterans own around 30% of U.S. businesses.” –Hugo
It’s no surprise that American military members come home to be leaders in their fields: From General George Washington to the stormy sands of the Middle East, American military leaders have left a legacy of defending the weak and serving those in need and returning to their lives to take roles of leadership.
As a nod to their prowess on the battlefield and their work to lead Americans at home, we’ve compiled some of our top quotes in leadership from great Americans:
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” —Theodore Roosevelt
“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” —Calvin Coolidge
“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” — General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur
“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten; then he who continues the attack wins.”
– General Ulysses S. Grant
“Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.” – Colin Powell
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.” – Colin Powell
“Discipline is the soul of an army.”
— George Washington
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that’s assault, not leadership.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
“If there is not the war, you don’t get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don’t get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.” – Theodore Roosevelt,
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt
