Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders. Mary Parker Follett More Quotes by Mary Parker Follett More Quotes From Mary Parker Follett The leader is one who can organize the experience of the group ... and thus get the full power of the group. The leader makes the team. This is pre-eminently the leadership quality - the ability to organize all the forces there are in an enterprise and make them serve a common purpose. Mary Parker Follett common-purpose team leadership I do not think that we have psychological and ethical and economic problems. We have human problems, with psychological, ethical and economical aspects, and as many others as you like. Mary Parker Follett psychological problem thinking Conflict is resolved not through compromise, but through invention. Mary Parker Follett invention conflict compromise We are not wholly patriotic when we are working with all our heart for America merely; we are truly patriotic only when we are working also that America may take her place worthily and helpfully in the world of nations . . . Interdependence is the keynote of the relations of nations as it is the keynote of the relations of individuals within nations. Mary Parker Follett patriotic heart america Most people are not for or against anything; the first object of getting people together is to make them respond somehow, to overcome inertia. Mary Parker Follett together people commitment The divorce of our so-called spiritual life from our daily activities is a fatal dualism. Mary Parker Follett daily-activities divorce spiritual Imitation is for shirkers, like-minded-ness for the comfort lovers, unifying for the creators. Mary Parker Follett role-models lovers comfort Experience may be hard but we claim its gifts because they are real, even though our feet bleed on its stones. Mary Parker Follett adversity real feet What people often mean by getting rid of conflict is getting rid of diversity, and it is of the utmost importance that these should not be considered the same. Mary Parker Follett acceptance mean people Concepts can never be presented to me merely, they must be knitted into the structure of my being, and this can only be done through my own activity. Mary Parker Follett my-own structure done It is possible to conceive conflict as not necessarily a wasteful outbreak of incompatibilities, but a normal process by which socially valuable differences register themselves for the enrichment of all concerned. Mary Parker Follett normal differences healing All polishing is done by friction. Mary Parker Follett friction done if you wish to train yourself for higher executive positions, the first thing for you to decide is what you are training for. Ability to dominate or manipulate others? That ought to be easy enough, since most of the magazines advertise sure ways of developing something they call 'personality.' But I am convinced that the first essential of business success is the capacity for organized thinking. Mary Parker Follett business personality thinking And the most successful leader of all is one who sees another picture not yet actualized. He sees the things which belong in his present picture but which are not yet there. Mary Parker Follett leader successful leadership While leadership depends on depth of conviction and the power coming therefrom, there must also be the ability to share that conviction with others. Mary Parker Follett conviction depth leadership One of the greatest values of controversy is its revealing nature. The real issues at stake come into the open and have the possibility of being reconciled. Mary Parker Follett conflict issues real It is not opposition but indifference which separates men. Mary Parker Follett indifference inspirational men we should think not only of what the leader does to the group, but also of what the group does to the leader. Mary Parker Follett groups leadership thinking Another idea that is changing is that the leader must be one who can make quick decisions. The leader to-day is often one who thinks out his decisions very slowly. Mary Parker Follett leadership ideas thinking Power-over is resorted to time without number because people will not wait for the slower process of education. Mary Parker Follett power numbers people