Leadership: The ability to hide your panic from others…
Posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 11:15 pm by Gary Winters
I came across some thought-provoking quotes on leadership today that I hadn’t seen before, so I thought I’d share them with you.
“Leadership has been defined as the ability to hide your panic from others.”
Anonymous
“A leader is (someone) who makes decisions. Sometimes they turn out right and sometimes then turn out wrong; but either way, a leader makes them.”
Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co., Leaders are Made . . . Not Born, Leadership in the Office (AMACOM, 1963)
“Rough waters are truer tests of leadership. In calm water every ship has a good captain.”
—Swedish proverb
What do these quotes mean to you?
I have a growing collection of leadership quotes that inspire me. If you have any you’d care to share, please offer them as a comment below. I’ll add them to my list and share them in future posts as well.
3 Comments
Don Larson
Hi Gary,
I disagree with the first quote, except in physical battle. The other two I agree with.
Don
Gary Winters
Don, on one level I don’t agree with the first quote either, but here’s where it makes sense. Suppose you’re a leader about to launch a new product, or marketing campaign, or call for an onside kick to start the second half of the SuperBowl. Inside, you may be “quaking in your boots,” but for the staff, or the team, you want to appear to be confident and calm. You might feel “panic” inside but you don’t want to rattle the others, and you certainly don’t want them catching your “dis-ease.” So…you hide your panic, and with quiet confidence, you launch the product or campaign or second half of the SuperBowl.
Jim Elliott
“It is a curious thing, … but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who… have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”
This happens to come from J K Rowling in the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. But, even though it doesn’t come from one of the popular leadership books of the day, I like this quote. It speaks to me about the potential that is often latent inside ourselves and our peers, a potential that is only realized when the right circumstances arise, and someone finds that they have what it takes to be a leader.