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Quotes On Leadership - Character


"Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy."
- Norman Schwarzkopf

What I like about quotes on leadership is that they can show a whole way of thinking in a few words. This quote by Norman Schwarzkopf is a good example.

As a leader you need a strategy. To ask people to follow you without having an overview of what you are going to do is hard. When you have a clear strategy it is easier for followers to come with you as they see the road ahead.

But sometimes you don't have a strategy. Perhaps you are facing unknown territory where even your best guess is likely to be wrong. Sometimes the best you can do is to move forward in the hope that things become clear and this is where character becomes critical.

If your followers trust you and know that you are a person of exceptional character they are likely to walk the road ahead with you, no matter that that road is unclear and that you don't have a map. They will walk with you because you are you.

If you want to be a leader focus on who you are rather than what you know about the road ahead.
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