The key to your impact as a leader is your own sincerity. Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe.
— Sir Winston Churchill

I don’t base my actions on popularity. If you’re in a position of leadership, you can’t wait to determine how it’s going to affect you in terms of good or bad. You have to lead and do what you think is good.
— Douglas Wilder

I learned from my dad what true leadership is. He taught me that in politics everybody is not going to support me in everything I do. “What’s important,” he said, “is that you stick to your core values.” If people don’t support you, then so be it. It goes back to being true to yourself.
— Christine Todd Whitman

If you are looking for leaders, how can you identify people who are motivated by the drive to achieve rather than by external rewards? The first sign is passion for the work itself – such people seek out creative challenges, love to learn and take great pride in a job well done. They also display an unflagging energy to do things better.
— Daniel Goleman