James M. Kouzes Quotes

The best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present.

If you think you're a leader and you turn around and no one is following you, then you're simply out for a walk.

It always takes a group of people working together with a common purpose in an atmosphere of trust and collaboration to get extraordinary things done.

There's nothing more demoralizing than a leader who can't clearly articulate why we're doing what we're doing.

Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow.

Leaders strengthen credibility by demonstrating that they are not in it for themselves, instead they have the interests of the institution, department, or team and its constituents at heart. Being a servant may not be what many leaders had in mind when they chose to take responsibility for the vision and direction of their organization or team - but serving others is the most glorious and rewarding of all leadership tasks.

Challenge is the opportunity for greatness. People do their best when there is an opportunity to change how things currently stand. Maintaining the status quo facilitates mediocrity. Those who embrace this practice do not wish to rest on their laurels. They motivate others to exceed their limits and look for innovative ways to improve the organization.

Leadership isn’t the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It’s a process ordinary people use when they’re bringing forth the best from themselves and others. Liberate the leader in everyone, and extraordinary things happen.

Leaders must know where they are going if they expect others to willingly join them on the journey.

A leader with integrity has one self, at home and at work, with family and with colleagues. He or she has a unifying set of values that guide choices of action regardless of the situation.

There is no freeway to the future, no paved highway from here to there. There is only wilderness, uncertain terrain. There are no roadmaps, no signposts. So pioneering leaders rely upon a compass and a dream

Do what you say you will do.

You must unite your constituents around a common cause and connect with them as human beings.

Leaders encourage others to continue the quest and inspire others through courage and hope. Leaders give heart by visibly recognizing others' contributions to the common vision. With a thank you note, a smile, an award, and public praise, the leader lets others know how much they mean to the organization.

It is striking how our language reveals the visual nature of our thoughts about the future state of affairs. When we invent the future, we try to get a mental picture of what things will be like long before we have begun the journey. Visions are our windows on the world of tomorrow.

If we're going to be authentic in our leadership, we will have to be willing to serve, and we have to be willing to suffer.

You can't lead others to places you don't want to go yourself. If you don't feel a burning passion for something, how in the world can you inspire and encourage others to share it?

Only those leaders who act boldly in times of crisis and change are willingly followed.

We have to recognize that however smart we are, we're not smarter than everyone else combined. . . . We can't lose sight of the fact that no matter how important our own contributions are, we couldn't have gotten anywhere without the help and hard work of lots of other people.

The word "story" is short for the word "history." They both have the same root and fundamentally mean the same thing. A story is a narrative on an event or series of events, just like history.