These military leadership quotes are meant to help you hunker down, get work done, and lead your team to greatness. Let’s dive in:
There’s no shortage of leadership advice for becoming a better manager.
There are cliches.
Krulak, USMC (CMC); 5 May 1997 “The Marine Corps is the military arm of the Navy.” Archibald Henderson, 1834 'This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave' Elmer Davis (1890-1958) 'The Marine Corps has just been called by the New York Times, 'The elite of this country.' 70 quotes have been tagged as marines: George S. Patton Jr.: ‘The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen.
There are platitudes.
There are pearls of wisdom that sounds like someone snagged them from the encouragement section of the Hallmark store–then put them in poster form and hung them around your office.
But if you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and lead your team to success, you don’t want sugar coating. No hand holding. Just practical advice and actionable insight to start being a better manager today.
Who better to turn to than the military?
Brave men and women faced with leading teams through do-or-die situations every day should know a thing or two about management.
Fifteen military leadership quotes for managers.
(We also broke them into some categories):
Lead with actions, not words:
“The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow.” – General Colin Powell
Put down the training manual.
This isn’t just about memorizing company policy. Worry less about the talking points and more about how your team sees you. If you show up in every situation big or small, you can expect your team to do the same.
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” – Norman Schwarzkopf
Alright, alright. You’re not actually headed into battle. But there’s no denying that there are some high-stakes situations that will face you and your team.
There’s nothing more inspiring than a leader who stays in the trenches with the rest of the team. Instead of telling your team that you understand what they are going through, show them.
Don’t wait to decide:
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
This is huge.
Too often, we wait for titles to be HANDED to us. It’s not about what’s on your business card or the signature line of your email. It’s about what you do every day.
If your actions inspire others, you’re a leader. Act accordingly.
“Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader.” – General George S. Patton
Waffle. Equivocate. Flip flop.
Whatever synonym you’d like to use, this is definitely one word you don’t want anywhere near your name. Chart a course of action. Your team is waiting.
Rerouting or starting over is still more effective than letting decision fatigue take over.
“Great powers don’t get angry, great powers don’t make decisions hastily in a crisis.” – General John Allen
There’s careful consideration, and then there’s inaction. Keep a level head, weigh your options, and then get down to work. It’s a simple as that.
Under pressure and faced with failure:
“Clarity and simplicity are the antidotes to complexity and uncertainty.”– General George Casey
One of the surest ways to set your team up for failure is to make tasks and initiatives overly complicated.
This isn’t an MBA capstone project or a final dissertation.
It’s the real world, and there’s a reason why we’ve been KISSing things since 1960 when the U.S. Navy reminded us all to Keep It Simple, Stupid.
“You manage things; you lead people.” – General Colin Powell
This is another reminder to not be tripped up by the manager title you see after your name. Your career might seem like it is about sales quotas or quarterly goals or units or items, but it is actually about people.
Don’t lose sight of your team and make sure you listen to them.
“It is necessary for us to learn from others’ mistakes. You will not live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Admiral Hyman G. Rickover
You’ve heard the saying that “it’s about progress, not perfection.” Your team is bound to make mistakes. Instead of holding others and yourself to unattainable heights and living in a world of inaction and analysis paralysis, promote positive risks. Mistakes are a stepping stone on the pathway of progress.
(Remember this post? How to confront an employee performance problem.)
“Never give an order that can’t be obeyed.” – General Douglas MacArthur
If you are watching your team struggle, the problem might not be the team, it might be the task. (or you?)
Whether you are in the initial idea generation stage or midway through putting in the work, ask yourself if you have done everything you can to set your team up for success or are you leading them straight to failure.
The company you keep:
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” – General George S. Patton
Trust your team. Have faith in the people you surround yourself with daily.
Instead of micromanaging their day or dictating down to the last crossed T and dotted I, give your team a direction and let them take the reins.
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Think you aren’t a people person? Think again.
The most successful managers realize that everything from greeting their team to how you conduct yourself in formal settings matter.
Earn your title every day:
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
– Abraham Lincoln
You know how to struggle. You know how to tackle challenges. That grit & problem solving ability to push through difficult times is what landed you in this role in the first place.
Your real character is revealed when you’re given authority.
Remember that it’s not about power or control.
It’s about leadership.
“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”
– General Dwight D. Eisenhower
It doesn’t matter what sector you are in or what credentials you have. The foremost quality that any leader possesses is character.
- How do you act when your boss isn’t looking?
- How do you act when your team isn’t around?
- Do you walk about people behind their backs?
No amount of professional development or advanced schooling can teach integrity. Foster it and preserve it at all costs.
“Leadership is a gift. It’s given by those who follow. You have to be worthy of it.” – General Mark Welsh
There may not be one single way to become the best manager. But there is a surefire way to become one of the worst: forget that you have to earn your role daily. Without a team, your title means nothing.
The biggest takeaway
You’re a manager for a reason.
In fact, you’re a manager for many reasons.
Think about all of the qualities that you possessed when you first landed your position…
What did your superior see in you? Channel those qualities every day.
If you feel uninspired or directionless, you’re struggling to listen to your team, or you’re starting to feel burnout set in, think about the military greats and the advice they doled out about getting it done as a leader.
If nothing else, the fifteenth leadership quote is easy to commit to memory and one your team will truly thank you for:
“PowerPoint makes us stupid.” – General James Mattis
Want more leadership reads? Try 3 Actions You Can Take to Stop Babysitting Your Team and Actually Lead.
Military Quotes Wit and Wisdom
Timeless quotes about the military that have almost become cliches. Read them and chuckle.
“If you see a bomb technician running, follow him.”
– USAF Ammo Troop
“Friendly fire – isn’t”
“Tracers work both ways.”
– U.S. Army Ordnance
“Never trade luck for skill.”
“If something hasn’t broken on your helicopter, it’s about to.”
“Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once.”
“Even with ammunition, the USAF is just another expensive flying club.”
“If the enemy is in range, so are you.”
– Infantry Journal
“It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.”
– U.S. Air Force Manual
“Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.”
– General MacArthur
Famous Marine Quotes Usmc
“You, you, and you … Panic. The rest of you, come with me.”
– U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
“Five second fuses only last three seconds.”
– Infantry Journal
“Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.”
– Unknown Marine Recruit
“Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death, I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing.”
– Unknown source
“You’ve never been lost until you’ve been lost at Mach 3.”
– Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
“The only time you have too much fuel is when you’re on fire.”
“If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it’s probably a helicopter — and therefore, unsafe.”
“When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.”
“What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, … The pilot dies.”
The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are:
“Why is it doing that?”
“Where are we?”
And “Oh S…! ”
“Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.”
“Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!”
“Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.”
Clean Quotes Usmc
“The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.”
– Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
Usmc Quotes Chesty Puller
“There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.”
– Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
Inspirational Quotes Usmc
“You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.”
As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks “What happened?”
The pilot’s reply: “I don’t know, I just got here myself!”
– Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)