What do the most successful people throughout time and history know about leadership? We’ve identified their most useful advice — and are passing it on to you.

1. "As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others." — Bill Gates

2. "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." — John Quincy Adams

"3. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. — General Colin Powell"

4. "Leadership is not bullying and leadership is not aggression. Leadership is the expectation that you can use your voice for good. That you can make the world a better place." —  Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

5. "The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." — Ronald Reagan

"6. Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. —  John F. Kennedy"

7. "You shouldn’t focus on why you can’t do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can, and be one of the exceptions." — Steve Case, co-founder of AOL

"8. A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go but ought to be. — Rosalynn Carter"

Interested in applying your leadership skills towards an MBA degree? Contact us at 855-JWU-1881 or [email protected] to learn more about Johnson & Wales’s online MBA degrees. You can also fill out the “Request Info” form on this page.