James MacGregor Burns

“To be a leader is to be a teacher.”

“Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.”

“The ultimate test of practical leadership is the realization of intended, real change that meets people's enduring needs.”

“A crisis of leadership is the mediocrity of the followers.”

“All leaders are actual or potential power holders, but not all power holders are leaders.”

“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”

“Transformational leadership... occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.”

“I define leadership as leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations—the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations—of both leaders and followers.”

“The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.”

“Transactional leadership... occurs when one person takes the initiative in making contact with others for the purpose of an exchange of valued things.”

“The leader's task is to release the fullest potential of their followers.”

“The American system of government is not a system of majority rule. It is a system of concurrent majorities.”