These quotes about bosses will in no doubt give you the inspiration to tell your boss how appreciative you are of their leadership, or motivation to one day become the boss yourself. Traits of a great boss are highlighted in these sayings and quotations, as well as inspiring words from bosses themselves, on the best way to be a leader in the workplace.
Why not share your favorite quote or image with your boss or fellow employees. Enjoy!
1. “The best bosses break down problems into bite-sized pieces and talk and act like each little task is something that people can complete without great difficulty.” –Robert I. Sutton
2. “A Truly Great BOSS is hard to find, difficult to part with, impossible to forget.” – Unknown
3. “The Best BOSS is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself.” – Edward Bulwer
4. “In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way.” – Tina Fey
5. “The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.” – Casey Stengel
6. “A good boss asks what part she could have played in the problem. And then she asks herself what she can do better next time.” – Lisi Harrison
7. “No great manager or leader ever fell from heaven; it’s learned, not inherited.” –Tom Northup
8. “A Boss should be enough knowledgeable and capable to know to use the skills of employees” – Unknown
9. “It is a true blessing to give your time to someone who you can genuinely call your best boss ever.” – Unknown
10. “Just like how all trees need water to grow and all humans need air to live, companies need bosses like you to survive and prosper.” – Unknown
11. “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” – Tom Peters
12. “A person who feels appreciated by their boss will always do more than what is expected.” – Unknown
13. “The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
14. “I love improving, I love being creative and I love being my own boss.” – Teddy Sears
15. “Happiness is having an amazing boss.” – Unknown
16. “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” – Theodore Roosevelt
17. “Your real boss is the one who walks around under your hat.” – Napoleon Hill
18. “Remember the difference between a boss and a leader. A boss says, Go! A leader says, Let’s go!” – George E. M. Kelly
19. “A good boss makes his men realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could.” – Charles Erwin Wilson
20. “The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.” – Lee Iacocca
21. “I had very good bosses, very good companies for which I worked. I worked in industries where the results really mattered; it wasn’t the perception of results, it was just the facts.” – Sallie Krawcheck
22. “A good boss is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.” John C. Maxwell
23. “From being nothing to something, I have traveled a long journey under the guidance of my boss.” – Unknown
24. “The mediocre boss tells. The good boss explains. The superior boss demonstrates. The great boss inspires.” – Unknown
25. “The secret of successful managing is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the four guys who haven’t made up their minds.” – Casey Stengel
26. “There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through understanding and trust.” – Klaus Balkenhol
27. “Be a leader with a ladder, not a boss with an order.” –Debasish Mridha
28. “Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.” –Paul Hawken
29. “A leader leads by example not by force.” – Sun Tzu
30. “The real leader has no need to lead – he is content to point the way.” – Henry Miller
31. “To be a good boss, you must be transparent. There’s a correlation between worker happiness and workplace transparency. Leaders and managers who offer transparency will earn the respect and devotion of their team.” – David Niu
32. “People will work eight hours a day for pay, 10 hours a day for a good boss, and 24 hours a day for a good cause!” – John C. Maxwell
33. “We get through life and this is part of the education process also. In real life, we meet bad bosses and good bosses and good friends and bad friends. I think we should let the teachers do their work and not impose too much stuff on them.” – Philippe Falardeau
34. “There is only one BOSS. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” –Sam Walton
35. “Boss are the answer to all our problems and questions. Thank you for being our very own Google.” – Unknown
36. “Good leadership consists of showing average people to do the work of superior people.” – Unknown
37. “An employee’s motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager.” – Unknown
38. “Being a boss is making the people you love hate you a little more each day.” – Patrick Ness
39. “And when things start to go wrong, a good boss doesn’t just fire everybody and start over.” – Lisi Harrison
40. “The person who knows HOW will always have a job. The person who knows WHY will always be his boss.” – Alanis Morissette
Holly Jaskolka is a certified Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner, yoga instructor, and an impassioned advocate for holistic well-being. Fueled by her love for animals and wanderlust, Holly leads a plant-based lifestyle that she complements with immersive travel experiences. When she’s not jet-setting to uncover the world’s hidden gems, she’s empowering individuals to heal emotionally, particularly those grappling with the aftermath of breakups. Connect with Holly on LinkedIn.
