Twitter. It is huge. If you aren’t on Twitter you should be, it just may be taking over the world. The social media site is used as a marketing tool, to spread news, to entertain, and even has even changed the world.

Of all the things I like about Twitter (including all the live tweets about the OKC Thunder), my favorite aspect of this expansive social network is the ability to follow superstars throughout the world. Many Twitter users follow entertainers, and if you look at the top 5 most popular people on Twitter you easily recognize this:

I, however, follow very few entertainers (OKC Thunder players excluded, of course), but superstars in the leadership, team-building, and motivation world. People like John C. Maxwell, Tom Peters , Dave Ramsey, or even the Association of Experiential Education.

Some Twitterers, like Craig Groeschel post about their work in this world, some like Scott Williams, tweet about their blog, their family, and their everyday life (and love of the Thunder). Others, such as Petteri Tarkkonen, mostly share quotes about their passion.

I encourage you to use Twitter in whatever capacity you feel appropriate. To aid you in that process, I have collected some awesome quotes about leadership that are Twitter-ready. They are shorter than 140 characters, include the source, and even have some of the actual Twitter accounts of the people who shared their wisdom. Copy them, add a hashtag when applicable, and start sharing with your followership. If there is one thing I know about Twitter, the more you tweet, the more people will listen.

The Quotes

The challenge of leadership is both moral & one of developing the characteristics that make us respected by one another @LouisFarrakhan

Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time. @BrianTracy

I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.  – Mahatma Gandhi

Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he is best suited. – Napoleon Hill

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. – John F. Kennedy

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. – Peter Drucker

It’s not what you know; it’s what you use that makes a difference. @TheZigZiglar

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. – Peter Drucker

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Relationships are the hallmark of the mature person. @BrianTracy

Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out. @StephenRCovey

Example is leadership. – Albert Schweitzer

You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Absolute identity with one’s cause is the first and great condition of successful leadership. – Woodrow Wilson

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people. – John D. Rockefeller

I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together. – George W. Bush

Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time. – George W. Bush

Chance favors only the prepared mind. – Louis Pasteur

I forgot to shake hands and be friendly. It was an important lesson about leadership. – Lee Iacocca

Leadership does not depend on being right. – Ivan Illich

Leadership is influence. – @JohnCMaxwell

Character matters; leadership descends from character. – @RushLimbaugh

Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. -E. Nightingale

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.  - Warren G. Bennis

Leadership is, among other things, the ability to inflict pain and get away with it – short-term pain for long-term gain. – George Will

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. – Nelson Mandela

Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it. – Omar N. Bradley

The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there. – John Buchan

To have long-term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way. – Pat Riley

The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. – @TonyBlairOffice

The book you don’t read won’t help. @OfficialJimRohn

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. – @KenBlanchard

Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it. – Marian Anderson

Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership. – @RumsfeldOffice

Leadership in today’s world requires far more than a large stock of gunboats and a hard fist at the conference table. – Hubert Humphrey

There are many elements to a campaign. Leadership is number one. Everything else is number two. – Bertolt Brecht

The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. – Harvey S. Firestone

Leadership is getting someone to do what they don’t want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve. – Tom Landry

The secret to success is good leadership, & good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members better. @TonyDungy

If there is such a thing as good leadership, it is to give a good example. – Ingvar Kamprad

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. – Ralph Nader

One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency. – Arnold H. Glasow

Any person who contributes to prosperity must prosper in turn. -E. Nightingale

Honor bespeaks worth. Confidence begets trust. Service brings satisfaction. Cooperation proves the quality of leadership. – JC Penney

I think the greater responsibility, in terms of morality, is where leadership begins. – Norman Lear

Without initiative, leaders are simply workers in leadership positions. – Bo Bennett

The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. –E. Nightingale

Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned. – Harold S. Geneen

Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions. – Harold S. Geneen

Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. @TonyRobbins

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing. @Tom_Peters

Leadership must be established from the top down. – Sam Nunn

Always render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be. – Og Mandino

Education is the mother of leadership. – Wendell Willkie

Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all successful efforts. – Erskine Bowles

Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career! – Earl Nightingale

We need leadership, and we need it now. – Byron Dorgan

A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. @TonyRobbins

It is the responsibility of leadership to provide opportunity, and the responsibility of individuals to contribute. – William Pollard

We need leadership. We don’t need a doubling down on the failed politics of the past. @RepPaulRyan

The art of communication is the language of leadership. – James Humes

Leadership demands that we make tough choices. – Alan Autry

Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it. – John Naisbitt

Leadership requires the courage to make decisions that will benefit the next generation. – Alan Autry

Leadership is an active role; ‘lead’ is a verb. But the leader who tries to do it all is headed for burnout. – Bill Owens

The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there. – James Buchanan

Leadership offers an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, no matter what the project. – Bill Owens

Leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced should be done. – Vance Packard

Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better. – Bill Bradley

The very exercise of leadership fosters capacity for it. – Cyril Falls

The best way to sell yourself to others is first to sell the others to yourself. – Napoleon Hill

Actions, not words, are the ultimate results of leadership. – Bill Owens

Leadership comes in small acts as well as bold strokes. @CarlyforCA

If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room. – Anita Roddick

Ninety percent of leadership is the ability to communicate something people want. – Dianne Feinstein

I hope you can use these…I will post more Twitter-ready quotes from time-to-time, so follow along. What is your favorite quote? What is your favorite leadership quote? Let me know if I need to add it to my list!Tweet on Tweeters.

Ryan Eller
Founder, Experiential Adventure