Leadership quotes inspire people in leadership positions to do their best in the positions they hold. Quotes about lousy leadership warn leaders on certain behaviors to avoid and how they can ultimately improve the quality of their lives and services as leaders.
1. “Nothing will kill a great employee faster than watching you tolerate a bad one.” -Perry Belcher.
An excellent leader should be able to keep all employees and everyone under him on toes. They should check to ensure that the employees deliver what is expected. Tolerating inferior and substandard work sets a bad example to other employees that it is ok to misbehave as they can easily get away with it. This will also demotivate someone giving their all but getting similar treatment as an employee who does nothing. Soon, the whole organization will fall as everyone will be underdelivering.
2. “Bad managers don’t listen to their employees because it makes them feel insecure when they find that employees are smarter than themselves.”
One excellent quality of a leader is the ability to seek feedback from people under him and consider them and incorporate them to improve the organization. Failing to do so will demoralize the employees and may even cause low self-esteem. This will reflect the organization’s output because the employees will be working with many self-doubts.
3. “A bad leader can take a good staff and destroy it, causing the best employees to flee and the remainder to lose all motivation.”
No matter how good employees may be at their jobs if their leader does not offer mentorship and lead as a good example, the employees’ fire will die. They will not see the need to give their job the best when their leader is not concerned. Those who love what they do will leave hoping to get better working environments.
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4. “People don’t leave bad jobs; they leave bad bosses.”
Employees may be very interested in their job and love what their work entails, but if the boss is giving them a hard time, they will leave to find better and more conducive working environments. This will allow them to be more productive and enjoy what they do while at it.
5. “Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.”- Stephen Covey.
An organization rises and falls on the leadership. If the leadership is poor, then the organization is doomed to fail.
6. “Great and pure thoughts cannot be deposited in minds accumulated with rubbish.” -Michael Bassey Johnson.
Employees may have great ideas for improving the organization, which would take the organization to the next level. However, if the leader does not want to listen to them and only thinks that his/her way is the only way, the organization will fail.
7. “True leaders do not make choices with reference to the opinion of the majority. They make choices based on the opinion of the truth, and the truth can come from either the majority or the minority!” -Israelmore Ayivor.
An excellent leader will listen to all opinions offered with an open mind and consider all. He/she should then be able to pick and execute the one that will have the organization’s best interest at heart.
8. “Never follow a follower who is following someone who has fallen. It’s why the whole world is falling apart.” -Suzy Kassem.
Every great leader has a mentor/role model. The kind of person your leader looks up to for guidance tells you a lot about the kind of leader he/she is. If their mentor is a failure and a bad example, then the leader is likely to follow suit.
9. “A church leadership that cannot provide members with business ideas should stop demanding tithe from them. Plant greatness in the members and they pay greatly; Plant zero in them, and they pay in negatives!” -Israelmore Ayivor.
A leader who has not bothered to invest in nurturing his people should have no expectations from them.
10. “While some communities are chasing visions out, others are chasing one another away. While some leaders love breaking records, others love breaking constructed buildings. Good leaders deserve golden trophies while a gas cylinder is ok for the bad ones.” -Israelmore Ayivor.
Poor leaders will cause the downfall of the places they lead. While it is essential to give credit where it is due and celebrate excellent leaders, poor leaders deserve no recognition.
11. “Scum just like cream settles at the top.”
This quote is a reminder that sometimes the top people do not deserve their leadership positions. Following such leaders will be the beginning of the end as they will lack the required skills to lead and provide guidance.
12. “When personal agendas become more important than the team and the overarching mission’s success, performance suffers, and failure ensues” -Jocko Willink.
A leader should ensure that the whole team they lead is working towards achieving a common goal. This can be achieved through regular training sessions and seeking feedback. Failure to do so will have everyone working on personal agendas and failure to achieve the whole team’s desired common goal.
13. “I cannot believe what you say coz I can see what you do.”
This quote is a wake-up call to leaders to do as they say. People under them are more likely to copy what they do than what they say.
14. “Your actions are too loud. I cannot hear what you’re saying”
Leaders should not preach water and drink wine. Their actions should match their words as employees will follow their example.
15. “Without a plan, even the most brilliant business can get lost. You need to have goals, create milestones, and have a strategy to set yourself up for success.” -Yogi Berra.
A great leader should have a plan and a strategy in mind to help remind the team of what the set goals are and how to work to achieve them.
16. “Don’t let your ego get too close to your position so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.” -Colin Powell.
A great leader should be able to separate their emotions and personal feelings from work.
17. “More is lost in indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.” -Marcus Tullius Cicero.
The ability to think on one’s feet to make decisions quickly is what makes a great leader.
18. “No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.” -David Attenborough.
A good leader is well-versed in their field.
19. “The biggest concern of an organization should be when their most passionate people become quiet.” -Tim McClure.
Once even the most dedicated workers lose their fire, the organization is bound to fail.
20. “Leadership is about solving problems. The day leaders stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or conclude you do not care. Either case is a failure on leadership.” -Colin Powell.
A good leader’s power and influence can be told by how much their team believes in them.
21. “When you are too embarrassed to ask for help, that’s a little knock at your door saying “you’re insecure”!” -Jocko Willink.
An exemplary leader should be willing to listen ad learn from everyone on the team.
22. “There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” -Leif Babin.
Having a lousy leader guide, a good team will demoralize the whole team and discourage them.
23. “Good leaders don’t make excuses. Instead, they find a way to get it done.” -Leif Babin.
A good leader should think positively and proactively to come up with solutions.
24. “Ego clouds and disrupts everything.” -Leif Babin
An excellent leader is willing to earn from everyone and not think they know it all.
25. “Overconfidence was risky in such a hostile environment, a mistake most often made by warriors who had never truly been tested.” -Jocko Willink.
Leaders should have experience and seek mentors to guide them to avoid some grave mistakes.
26. “Good players can’t overcome bad coaching.”
No matter how good an employee is, a bad leader will kill their motivation and fire.
27. “Genuine leaders lead by encouraging, not instilling fear in their fellow workers.”
A leader who instills fear will discourage the team members and shake up their confidence, which will make working difficult.
28. “To build a strong team, you must see someone else’s strength as a complement to your weakness and not a threat to your position or authority” -Christine Caine.
As a leader, you should not be threatened by the strengths of people in the team but encourage and use them to better the whole team.
29. “Good leaders don’t tell people what to do; they give them capability and inspiration” -Jeffrey Immelt.
A leader should be able to inspire the people to work to achieve the set goals. He should also enable them through training and mentorship.
30. “Effective leaders are not problem-minded; they’re opportunity minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems.” -Stephen Covey.
A good leader should aim at creating solutions and not being part of the problem.
All these quotes paint a picture of what bad leadership is and prevents leaders from turning into such. They serve as a daily reminder of what the leaders should avoid doing to serve and lead well.
