Wilma Mankiller Quotes

Though every human being on the planet has an inclination for leadership, most of us do not have the courage to cultivate it.

You can't just wait for everybody to give you approval - you will just be waiting.

But I mean, I'm a confident kid. I want to be a kid that kind of drives the bus, doesn't just be a passenger.

Don't wait for anyone to deputize you or authorize you or empower you. You have to just start out with yourself...and put one foot in front of the other.

Leaders are not born or made - they are self made

Realizing your potential as a leader is your responsibility.

I think I have a natural ability to lead.

I've always felt that I'm a natural leader.

Most people who want to get ahead do it backward. They think, 'I'll get a bigger job, then I'll learn how to be a leader.' But showing leadership skill is how you get the bigger job in the first place. Leadership isn't a position, it's a process.

Anyone who waits for someone else to make a change automatically becomes the follower.

The opportunity of a lifetime is to pick yourself. Quit waiting to get picked; quit waiting for someone to give you permission; quit waiting for someone to say you are officially qualified... and pick yourself.

You have to choose to manifest your leadership nature.

Eventually, if you're the train that's leaving the station, people will race to catch up with you. I think that's one of the things I've figured out. You can't wait for permission to act, you just do; then people are like, "Oh, look at that person just doing over there. Maybe I'll come join them."

You are your own most important resource for making your life work. Life rewards action. Until your knowledge, awareness, insights, and understandings are translated into action, they are of no value.

Don't wait for mentors to seek you out. Don't ever wait for your phone calls to be returned, your letters to be answered, your faxes to be responded to. Keep going out and asking question.

Put your future in good hands. Your own.

Successful people move on their own initiative but they know where they are going before they start.

When there is a start to be made, don't step over! Start where you are.

We have the best leaders and the most depth of leadership we've ever had. If I get hit by a truck, maybe it would get me out of the way and it would go better.

Don't worry. Don't apologize. Don't cower behind the defeated security of there is no 'room for someone like me'. There isn't room for any one of us. It's up to you to make a place for yourself in the world. So get to work.

I realized that if I was going to achieve anything in life I had to be aggressive. I had to get out there and go for it... I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it's an illusion to me.

Without leadership ability,a person's impact is only a fraction of what it could be with good leadership.

If you want something, you don't wait for the world to deal it out for you. You take it.

The people who are going to be succeeding are not going to be waiting around for anyone's permission.

Leadership doesn't come from age.