What can we learn about building trust from the world’s greatest leaders, teachers, writers and philosophers?
JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING
We recently highlighted the greatest quotes on building trust from:
This week, in honor of our Memorial Day heroes, we turn our attention to the words (and worlds) of our military leaders. This article pulls together twenty of their most inspiring quotes. Regardless of your role in life- a parent, teacher, business, religious or military leader, the following quotes contain many messages about character, competence and consistency, the key ingredients for building trust.
- “I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.” Ulysses F. Grant
- “I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.” Robert E. Lee
- “Character as we used to say when I was in elementary school, is what you are. Reputation is what others think you are. The reason that some fail to climb the ladder of success, or of leadership if you want to call it that, is that there is no difference between reputation and character. The two do not always coincide. A man may be considered to have sterling character. Opportunity might come to that man; but if he has the reputation for something he is not, he may fail that opportunity. I think character is the foundation of successful leadership.” General Lucian K. Truscott
- “The people when rightly and fully trusted will return the trust.” Abraham Lincoln
- “A good battle plan that you act on today can be better than a perfect one tomorrow.” General George S. Patton
- “Dependability, integrity, the characteristic of never knowingly doing anything wrong, that you would never cheat anyone, that you would give everybody a fair deal. Character is sort of an all inclusive thing. If a man has character everyone has confidence in him. Soldiers must have confidence in their leader.” General Omar N. Bradley
- “Great leaders clarify expectations, roles, and responsibilities. They take action when issues arise, rewarding results, not activity. ” General John E. Michel
- “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower
- “I would place character as the absolutely number one requirement in leadership. By character, I mean primarily integrity. A man whose superiors and, even more important, whose subordinates can depend upon that leader taking action based on honesty and judgment. If he does not base his action on honor, he is worthless as a leader.” General J. Lawton Collins
- “Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well-tried before you give them your confidence.” George Washington
- “I would put character way up on the list. If you want to select an officer for your command you want one who is confident of his abilities, who is loyal and who has good character. It is the man of good character that I am going to seek out. There are a lot of good people who know the ‘smart’ way of getting things done, but they also ride roughshod over people that they are supposed to be working with. I don’t want that.” General Mark Clark
- “Leadership is the art of inspiring people to enthusiastically take action toward the achievement of uncommon goals.” Col John R. Boyd, USAF
- “There are many qualities that go into a man of sterling character. I don’t know how to break it down. A man of high character has integrity, he is honest, he is reliable, he is straightforward in dealing with people. He is loyal to his family, his friends, his superiors.” General William H. Simpson
- “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” General George S. Patton
- “The moral is to the physical as three to one.” Napoleon Bonaparte
- “No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency.” Theodore Roosevelt
- “History shows that weakness is provocative.” Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
- “I get accused all the time of using the word integrity when I mean character and character when I mean integrity. I think character is everything in leadership. It is what we try to build in all our young officers. It means the truth to me. That’s the only way I can put it. To stand up and tell the truth and not be in the gray areas.” General Jacob Devers
- “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” Douglas McArthur
- “Experts often possess more data than judgment.” Colin Powell
My favorites are #7, #9 and #15. How about yours?
Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust, and runs the world’s largest membership program for those interested in the subject. She is also the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series and the Executive Editor of TRUST! Magazine. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.
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