10 Quotes on Leadership That Will Make You LOL

What do Bill Gates, Tina Fey, and Lao Tzu, the 6th-century Chinese philosopher, have in common? Wait for it -- they’ve all made our unofficial list of 10 laugh-out-loud-worthy quotes about leadership.

While business leaders aren’t exactly known for their comedic pearls -- and why should they be, they’re too busy multitasking and winning -- observations about leadership can make for some laughs.

Without further ado, here’s the list. Enjoy.

When being admired just isn't good enough.

NBC | Wikipedia

While Michael Scott from the NBC television series The Office was an HR nightmare, he’s spot on about this: It would rule to have your employees fear how much they love you.

Why yell when you can ... cry?

Viben On Films | Youtube

Bawling at work is generally discouraged, but if you’re Tina Fey, with a few Emmys under her belt, bawling works.

Newsflash: Working hard leads to more hard work.

Wikimedia Commons | Walter Albertin | Library of Congress

You’d think that his winning four Pulitzers and more than 40 honorary degrees would score Robert Frost some more me-time; but Frost -- who spent the bulk of his career teaching in academia -- seems to have had some seriously long office hours.

Insecurity? Bah!

Wikimedia Commons | Library of Congress

No guts, no glory, right? Confidence is key!

Clichés are fun, but the point is this: If you’re gonna lead then own it. You can’t convince others to follow you if you aren’t comfortable leading.

Divide and conquer-ish.

caseystengel.org

Street-smart Casey Stengel had a point about the whole divide and conquer thing. Leaders have to manage the haters -- get some thick skin -- and cultivate trust and loyalty with the rest.

Know-it-alls are annoying -- unless they're me, of course.

Isaac Asimov | Facebook

Leaders are supposed to let the world know that they know everything, right? Hm. Well...

Geeks shall rule the earth.

JStone | Shutterstock.com

Don’t be fooled by the smile. He was not joking.

Lead yourself away from all the meetings.

tsowell.com

This Stanford University economist is widely respected for his expertise, but this might be his most insightful yet.

What deadline?

Wikimedia Commons | Michael Hughes

Leaders and employees can all relate to that crushing, anxiety-inducing thing called a deadline. Reality is, though, a great leader can’t be too cavalier about deadlines. That kind of attitude will kill your business quick. No joke.

Mask your panic.

Lao Tzu | Facebook

Be cool. Like the Fonz. Or Lao Tzu. Either is fine.

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