If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, no matter how much or how little natural leadership talent you possess, you need to become a serving leader.

The Higher the Level of Leadership, the Greater the Sacrifice: The higher you go, the more it's going to cost you. And it doesn't matter what kind of leadership career you pick. You will have to make sacrifices. You will have to give up to go up.

Not everyone wants to be out of the spotlight as she did. But it's important for a leader to learn to work in obscurity because it is a test of personal integrity. The key is being willing to do something because it matters, not because it will get you noticed.

One of the best applications of this idea is expressed in what I call the 101 percent principle: Find the one thing that you believe is the potential leader's greatest asset, and then give 101 percent encouragement in that area. Focusing on a person's strengths promotes positive growth, confidence, and success as a potential leader.

The leader is the servant who removes the obstacles that prevent people from doing their jobs.

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.

The truth is that empowerment is powerful—not only for the person being developed, but also for the mentor. Enlarging others makes you larger. It is an impact you can experience as a leader as long as you are willing to believe in people and give your power away.

Servant leaders should listen without judgment, be authentic, build community, share power, and develop people.

Success is more than just power or not violating the rights of others; it is the privilege of contributing to the betterment of others.

The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasures you have brought into other people's lives than you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them.

The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interests, and in so doing will not always be popular, may not always impress. But because true leaders are motivated by loving concern, rather than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price.

Every human being has value, and every player on a team adds value to the team in some way.