The Best Business Quotes From Thought Leaders

If you’re looking for inspiration this summer, we’ve discovered some of the best business quotes from today’s thought leaders.

We're excited to share them with you!

What is a Thought Leader?

According to Thought Leadership Lab:

“Thought leaders are the informed opinion leaders and the go-to people in their field of expertise. They are trusted sources who move and inspire people with innovative ideas; turn ideas into reality, and know and show how to replicate their success. They create a dedicated group of friends, fans and followers to help them replicate and scale those ideas into sustainable change not just in one company but in an industry, niche or across an entire ecosystem.”

For us at CFS, we are inspired by thought leaders from a range of fields and varying positions. From sales and marketing, to entrepreneurs and business moguls, to tech and design—the list is long!

Essentially, innovation inspires us. Originality inspires us. Discovery based thinking, learning, and selling inspires us.

With that said, we hope you enjoy the quotes below from thought leaders in today’s market. You will find authors, speakers, CEOs, and investors—each with something valuable to share.

Best Business Quotes from Thought Leaders

“Once you free yourself from the need for perfect acceptance, it’s a lot easier to launch work that matters.”—Seth Godin, Author

“Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.”—Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler

“I think that's the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.” —Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla Motors

“Law of the Universe: Nothing happens until something moves. Law of Business: Nothing happens until someone sells something.” —Jeb Blount, Author of Fanatical Prospecting

“In order to get to the next level of whatever you're doing, you must think and act in a wildly different way than you previously have been. You cannot get to the next phase of a project without a grander mind-set, more acceleration, and extra horsepower.” —Grant Cardone, Entrepreneur, Speaker, and Author

“When we tell people to do their jobs, we get workers. When we trust people to get the job done, we get leaders.” —Simon Sinek, Speaker and Author of Start with Why

“Never try directly to diminish or minimize something which is important to another person. By making a direct challenge to a crucial criterion you are more likely to strengthen it than to diminish it. Your best strategy is to begin by accepting that the criterion is legitimately important.” ―Neil Rackham, Author of Spin Selling

“Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have.” —John C. Maxwell, Speaker and Author

“The difference between the real winners is how long they take to feel sorry for themselves. My winners feel it… but they come back up and say ‘hit me again.’” —Barbara Corcoran, Speaker, Investor, and Founder of The Corcoran Group

“On listening: When you’re listening to any prospect, do so as if you’re hard of hearing. Visualize them, and listen as if you need to read their lips.” —Art Sobczak, Sales Expert and Author

“There’s little point in killing an idea by saying it might fail. Any idea might fail. If you’re doing anything worthwhile at all, you’ll suffer a dozen failures. Start failing so you can start succeeding” —Harry Beckwith, Speaker and Author

“Happy Employees Develop Happy Customers” —Aaron Ross, Author of Predictable Revenue

“Is it better for your prospects to be told how great you are or discover how great you are? Start practicing discovery based selling.” —Charles Bernard, Speaker and CEO of Criteria for Success

“Purpose is a better motivator than money. Money, while necessary, motivates neither the best people nor the best in people. Purpose does.” ―Nilofer Merchant, CEO, Strategist, and Author

“Generating ideas is not a problem. Incubation is. Acceleration is.” —Rita Gunther McGrath, Speaker and Author

“The future is what I create today. Every day.” —Chris Brogan, Author and Journalist

“In discovery-driven planning, learning is the essential unit of progress. A course correction isn’t equivalent to failure, it’s an opportunity to re-calibrate so you can move more quickly up the learning curve.” —Whitney Johnson, Author of Disrupt Yourself

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” —Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder of Facebook

“I wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t fail… a lot. The good, the bad, it’s all part of the success equation.” —Mark Cuban, Investor, Owner of Landmark Theaters and the Dallas Mavericks

“Management is about telling people what to do, and leadership is about allowing people to do what they’re capable of doing.” —Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller

“One of the best predictors of ultimate success in either sales or non-sales selling isn't natural talent or even industry expertise, but how you explain your failures and rejections.” —Daniel Pink, Author

“Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.” —Stephen Covey, Speaker and Author

“Contrary to popular belief, my experience has shown me that the people who are exceptionally good in business aren't so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more.” —Michael Gerber, Author

“I don't know where we should take this company, but I do know that if I start with the right people, ask them the right questions, and engage them in vigorous debate, we will find a way to make this company great.” ―James C. Collins, Author and Lecturer

“The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.” —Malcolm Gladwell, Author

“The best entrepreneurs know this: every great business is built around a secret that’s hidden from the outside. A great company is a conspiracy to change the world; when you share your secret, the recipient becomes a fellow conspirator.” —Peter Thiel, Author and Co-Founder of PayPal

“When you create something that one person in this world loves, there will surely be more. Go all in to create a solution that someone can’t live without and don’t compromise anything to appeal to the masses. People always pay more for a bespoke suit than a one-size-fits-all T-shirt. ” —Jeremy Pound, Author and CEO of Juicy Results

What are your favorite quotes from thought leaders? Share with us in the comments below, we’d love to hear more about your favorite thought leaders!