Leadership Tone Quotes

As a leader you set the tone for your entire team. Communicate your vision.

Leaders set the tone for their peers. Peers look up to them and say, 'They're doing it, so I'm doing it.'

I like a President who tells jokes instead of appointing them.

There is something only a CEO uniquely can do, which is set that tone, which can then capture the soul of the collective.

In my own life, I have noticed when I have been meeting directors, that the same sentence with the same inflection can be said by a man, like: "Get me this." But if the same thing is said by a woman, it's seen as harsh and unacceptable. That always fascinates me.

You need to set a tone at the top that inspires trust - and encourages open and honest 2-way communication. So you hear the brutal facts, and you listen to the good news and the bad news - so that, in the spirit of continuous improvement, you can make changes.

When a crisis occurs, I feel that one of my greatest responsibilities is to set a tone of calm no matter what the problems. Sometimes I have to fake confidence a lot. I also have to fake calm.

Gandhi and Mandela and Churchill and JFK and Reagan and Thatcher and Sarkozy and Franklin and Washington set the tone to an incredible degree-their "personal style" was their "brand." ("It" starts with personal style of the tip-top leadership team. Sorry to be politically insensitive, but who would give a hoot about Tibet if it weren't for the look and style of the Dalai Lama?) Boss at any level: You're either on the "it" boat-or not.

A President has a character, and the whole administration takes its character from the President's.

I think one of the things I've learned is that the tone of an organization is set from the top down. And if you have men running an organization that want to honor women, that's a whole different experience than if they don't.

Barack Obama may have found the answer to his biggest rhetorical challenge: When millions of voters are unemployed or underemployed, how does a president simultaneously sound realistic and optimistic?

Much of a leader's responsibility in creating a positive, high-performance culture is setting the right tone and acting on it consistently. That day-to-day execution - the tenor and tone - really makes the difference. One deviation - one exasperating meeting - and the CEO legitimizes bad behavior.

When you're the lead and on most of the call sheets, some people have expectations of you and whether you like it or not, you kind of set the tone.

We need a little more 'Hail to the Chief.'

We learn about MLK's 'I Have a Dream' speech. Take that same speech and put it in the voice of a woman. Would it be as inspirational? Would it have as much gravitas to it?

The mood of the country is set by its leaders and they are failing us by not setting a compassionate moral tone in a complex time.

I don't want to see a president of the United States saying things which change the character of the generations of Americans that are following.

Here's why I think there's something a little odd with George Bush. Because a lot of the times when he speaks, his words don't match his face. Something is askew. You can't talk about the war with a smile on your face. He does it constantly. If you're the President, you should go We're going to talk about the war, I must have a frowny face. The only time you can smile when you're talking about the war in Iraq is when you go, Well, two Iraqis walk into a bar, hahaha.

I always kid the president in different circumstances. Mr. President, a country's never going to be more optimistic than the president.

It all begins with the initial tone coming from the cabinet, but EQ at the board is very important.