John W. Gardner Quotes

It is the leader's job to hold hope high.

The only way to lead people is to show them a future: a leader is a dealer in hope.

The first and last task of aleader is to keep hope alive.

Leaders have to be dealers in hope.

Leaders deal in hope.

Great leaders inspire. They maintain a hopeful attitude, even in the face of discouraging setbacks, constant criticism and abundant opposition. People don't follow discouraged leaders. They follow those who persist with hope.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

George W. Bush was president through some of the darkest days of our history and yet his optimism never waned. He is optimistic by nature, but he also understood the importance of always communicating a sense that things will get better.

A person, who no matter how desperate the situation, gives others hope, is a true leader.

Leaders need to be optimists.

Those who lead inspire us Whether they are individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead not because we have to but because we want to.

Poor leaders push us towards the goal. Great leaders guide us through the journey.

Polls are no substitute for leadership because, at its very essence, leadership is about giving people what they don't already have - a sense of vision, inspiration, or even an adequate grasp of a particular subject.

Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.

No matter what era we're in, we need hope.

Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present.

Followers need to see how things will get better and what that future might look like. Leaders need to build that foundation of stability, and hope sits on top of that.

I don't think you lead by pessimism and cynicism. I think you lead by optimism and enthusiasm and energy.

We can live with lots of things, but we can't live without imagination, we can't live without hope.

I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.

Always the eternal optimist, President Reagan instilled confidence and optimism at a time both were in short supply in our country.

I always admired Walt's optimism. He seemed to know the direction he was going to. When I was at the studio, I remember he kept driving all of us back down to a more fundamental level all the time.

The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; in enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not abandon it to his enemy.

I can remember having meetings with my coaches when things were going bad. I told them, 'Hey, we've got to be positive. This is the time we need to step up. You've got to make sure they know everything is going to be okay. Keep teaching. Once they see you are down, you lose them and that can't happen.'

We all need a little something to believe in.