I love collecting leadership quotes that apply to parenting, and parenting quotes that apply to leadership. Here are some of my favorites, both in their original form and after I edited them ever so slightly.
| Leadership quotes | …edited for parenting |
| “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch | “Before you are a parent, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a parent, success is all about growing others.” |
| “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” – Richard Branson | “Train children well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” |
| “As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.” – Madeleine Albright | “As a parent, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.” |
| “Treat employees like they make a difference and they will.” – Jim Goodnight | “Treat children like they make a difference and they will.” |
| “Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” – Tom Peters | “Household management is about arranging and telling. Parenting is about nurturing and enhancing.” |
| “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” – John C. Maxwell | “Parenting is not about bragging rights. It is about one life influencing another.” |
| “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.” – Dolly Parton | “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent parent.” |
| “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 | “A parent takes children where they want to go. A great parent takes children where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” |
| “A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward.” —Ovid | “A parent should be slow to punish and swift to reward.” |
| Parenting quotes | …edited for leadership |
| Don’t yell at your kids. Lean in real close and whisper, it’s much scarier. – unknown | Don’t yell at your employees. Lean in real close and whisper, it’s much more effective. |
| “Perfect parenting does not exist, and it is the imperfections that lead to resilient children.” – Rev. Dr. Katharine Schori | “Perfect leadership does not exist, and it is the imperfections that lead to resilient employees.” |
| “At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents.” – Jane D. Hull | “At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to an employee’s success is the positive involvement of leaders.” |
| “The child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.” – Benjamin Spock | “The team supplies the power but the leaders have to do the steering.” |
| “What a child doesn’t receive, he can seldom later give.” – P.D. James | “What an employee doesn’t receive, he can seldom later give.” |
And I sometimes find a quote that combines them both:
| “I am endlessly fascinated that playing football is considered a training ground for leadership, but raising children isn’t.” —Dee Dee Myers |
Do you have a favorite leadership quote that works for parenting? A parenting quote that works for leadership? Please share it in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
–Karen
Image courtesy of smarnad / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
© 2014 by Karen Catlin. All rights reserved.
Karen Catlin 
Wow! This is really great Karen. Thanks. Very insightful.
Thanks, Donna! Do you have a favorite?
Love your quotes, Karen. I like how they reflect that parenting and leadership both involve respecting the humanity of the other. It is a powerful skill to be able to see through the eyes of our teammates and the eyes of our children.
You’ve said it so well…parenting and leadership both involve respecting the humanity of the other. Love it. Thank you!