Aiden Wilson Tozer Quotes

True leaders understand that leadership is not about them but about those they serve. It is not about exalting themselves but about lifting others up.

The true leader is always led.

Jesus gave us a model for the work of the church at the Last Supper. While his disciples kept proposing more organization - Hey, let's elect officers, establish hierarchy, set standards of professionalism - Jesus quietly picked up a towel and basin of water and began to wash their feet.

Governor Romney has a record of tremendous accomplishments. But he never asks for accolades. He just asks, 'How can I help?' That's the mark of a true leader: A humble focus on getting the job done.

Good leaders must first become good servants.

Leadership is about being a servant first.

All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power. If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them. The Master is above the people, and no one feels oppressed. She goes ahead of the people, and no one feels manipulated. The whole world is grateful to her. Because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her.

I've learned how to be open and bold about my faith, but in terms of my influence, I just try to lead in a godly way. What that means for me is to serve them, whether it's just doing the dirty work, like cleaning up sweat on the floor, or deferring to other people, or carrying equipment bags.

I've found that South Africa has produced good leaders. These are people who realize that when there is danger, they should be in the forefront and when there is victory to be celebrated, they should be in the background, allowing their colleagues and the ordinary civilians - the man in the street - to rejoice and to celebrate that victory.

The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve him, but the number of people he serves.

The moment you discover in life that it's not about yourself, that it is about investing in others, I think you're entering a steadier state to be a great leader. Because above all, I think the main quality of a leader is to be a human being. There's no reason you are special because you happen to have this job or these responsibilities.

The first step to leadership is servanthood.

The true leader isn't really looking for leadership. He's trying to set an example and be in the proper way to get the most productive results and don't realize it. When the followers get something done, if the leader has been what he should, they'll feel like they did it, not him. That's the way it should be.

[President Truman] was free of the greatest vice in a leader, his ego never came between him and his job.

Servanthood does not nullify leadership; it defines it. Jesus does not cease to be the Lion of Judah when He becomes the lamblike servant of the church.

Let us be servants in order to be leaders.

A leader is not someone who says: Follow me.......A leader is someone who says: I'll go first.

Power flows to those who serve.

Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.

The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way.

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.

I never thought in terms of being a leader. I thought very simply in terms of helping people.

Few things kill likeability as quickly as arrogance. Likable leaders don't act as though they're better than you because they don't think that they're better than you. Rather than being a source of prestige, they see their leadership position as bringing them additional accountability for serving those who follow them.

I think a great leader is somebody who realizes it's not about them, it's about the people that they're serving, that they're really other-directed rather than self- directed.

One of the topics I'm most passionate about is servant leadership - the greatest leaders recognize that they're here to serve, not to be served.