The best ones fit something your team is going through right now. Viktor Frankl's "The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances" works during a long, hard stretch, and Colin Powell's "Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier" fits a huddle where you're setting the tone.
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Attitude Quotes for Leaders and Their Teams
These attitude quotes are for leaders who know their team picks up on the mood they bring to work, whether it's the first huddle of a busy season or the meeting after a change nobody asked for.
A good quote gives your people a picture of the point you're making, and that picture tends to last longer than a reminder to stay positive.
Attitude shows up in small, visible moments, like how you react when a system goes down an hour before a deadline or how you talk about a decision you didn't make. Use one of these quotes to open a team meeting or a one-on-one, and let your own example connect it to what your team is dealing with this week.
The quotes on attitude below are grouped by the moments leaders run into most, from setting the tone to recognizing the person who keeps the team steady. Click Copy quote on any card to paste the quote and the name into a slide or an email.
Jump To: Setting the Tone | A Hard Stretch | Coaching | Change at Work | Recognition | Using a Quote | FAQ
Leadership Attitude Quotes for Setting the Tone
Your team can read your attitude before you say a single word, and the tone you set first thing in the morning often becomes the team's tone for the day. These quotes help you name that responsibility, in moments like these:
- The first huddle of the busy season.
- You've just come out of a tough meeting with your own manager.
- A new team member is watching how everyone handles a frustrated customer.
- Morale has dipped after several long weeks of overtime.
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"Attitude reflects leadership, captain."
Julius Campbell, in Remember the Titans
Line from the 2000 film, said to team captain Gerry Bertier
"The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances."
Viktor Frankl
Psychiatrist and author of Man's Search for Meaning
"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."
Colin Powell
Former U.S. Secretary of State
"People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude."
Attributed to John C. Maxwell
Leadership author and speaker
"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."
Attributed to Lou Holtz
Hall of Fame football coach
The line from Remember the Titans, "Attitude reflects leadership," fits the huddle right after your tough meeting, because it's a reminder that the team will match whatever attitude you bring out of that meeting. Viktor Frankl's quote works for the long stretch of overtime, since it focuses on the one thing everyone still controls.
Quotes on Attitude for a Hard Stretch
Every team hits a stretch where the work piles up faster than it gets done, and attitude is what determines how the team approaches the challenge. These quotes help you talk about it without pretending the stretch is easy. They fit times like these:
- Month-end close with two people out.
- A system outage has the team doing everything by hand.
- The third week of a staffing shortage.
- A large customer complaint lands on top of an already full week.
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"Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact."
William James
Psychologist and philosopher
"Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things."
Epictetus
Greek Stoic philosopher
"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement."
Helen Keller
Author and activist
"Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it."
Attributed to Charles Swindoll
Pastor and author
"I've never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is only a temporary situation."
Attributed to Mike Todd
Film producer
Epictetus fits the system outage, because it puts the focus on how the team responds to a problem nobody on the team caused. Helen Keller's line works for the staffing shortage, since it ties a positive outlook to getting the work done.
Quotes About Attitude and Behavior for Coaching a Negative Team Member
One team member's negative attitude can wear on everyone around them, and the conversation the leaders should initiate about it works best when it's specific and private. These quotes help you prepare for that one-on-one, in moments like these:
- Someone answers every new idea with reasons it won't work.
- A team member complains about a decision in front of new hires.
- A strong performer has turned cynical after being passed over for a promotion.
- Eye-rolling and side comments in meetings have become a pattern.
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"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do."
Dale Carnegie
Author of How to Win Friends and Influence People
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."
Maya Angelou
Poet and author
"When you choose to be pleasant and positive in the way you treat others, you have also chosen, in most cases, how you are going to be treated by others."
Attributed to Zig Ziglar
Author and motivational speaker
"Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude toward us."
Attributed to Earl Nightingale
Radio broadcaster and author
"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
Book of Proverbs
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)
Maya Angelou's line fits the person who answers every idea with reasons it won't work, because it gives them two things they can do in place of complaining. Carnegie's quote is better kept in your own notes before the conversation, as a reminder to describe the behavior you've seen and leave any label out of it.
Attitude Quotations for Change at Work
Change announcements at work tend to arrive out of the blue, before anyone has time to prepare for it, and the leader's attitude will be reflected by the team. These quotes help you talk about the change openly while keeping the team focused on what comes next. A few places they work include:
- A new system replaces one the team has used for years.
- Two teams are merging under one manager.
- A process the team helped design is being replaced by a decision from above.
- A reorganization changes who people report to.
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"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
John F. Kennedy
35th President of the United States
"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."
Dan Millman
Author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior
"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."
Attributed to Wayne Dyer
Author and speaker
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
Attributed to Leo Tolstoy
Novelist
"Change is disturbing when it is done to us, exhilarating when it is done by us."
Attributed to Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Harvard Business School professor
Millman's line fits the new system rollout, because it points the team's energy at learning the new system. Kennedy's quote works when two teams are merging, since it acknowledges the past while keeping the focus on the future the two teams will share.
Sayings About Attitude for Recognizing a Steady Team Member
Most teams have someone who stays steady when things get hard, and that person often goes unrecognized. Saying so in front of the group shows everyone the attitude you want more of. These are examples of moments where one fits:
- Someone kept a frustrated customer calm during an outage.
- A team member volunteered for the shift nobody wanted.
- A new hire's energy lifted a tired team in their first month.
- A long-time employee welcomed a change they had every reason to resist.
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"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Essayist and poet
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
William Shakespeare
Playwright and poet
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."
Attributed to William Arthur Ward
Author and educator
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
Attributed to Herm Albright
Writer
"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up."
Attributed to Mark Twain
Author and humorist
Emerson's line fits a thank-you to the new hire, because it credits the energy they brought to a tired team. For the long-time employee who welcomed the change, Shakespeare's quote opens a note about how much their outlook shaped the team's outlook, and the free recognition ecards give you a place to send it.
How to Use a Quote with Your Team
An attitude quote works best when you admit your own frustration first, then turn the team's attention to what they can do about the problem.
RACHEL'S HUDDLE AFTER THE OUTAGE
Rachel supervises an eight-person claims team. The claims system went down for half a day, and 60 claims piled up. At the next morning's huddle she said she'd been frustrated by the outage too, read the line from Remember the Titans, "Attitude reflects leadership," and asked one question: what would make catching up easier?
The team suggested splitting the backlog by claim type and having two people cover the phones while the others worked through it. The backlog was cleared in two days, where Rachel had expected it to take four.
At the next huddle she thanked the team by name for how they handled the catch-up.
Rachel showed her own frustration first, then asked a question that put the team in charge of the fix. A leader who admits a hard day and still focuses on the next step gives the team permission to do the same.
For more quotes sorted by topic, see the leadership quotes for managers, and for picking a quote that fits your message, see Famous Leadership Quotes.
More for Leaders
If the conversation about a negative attitude needs a plan and follow-up, the Performance Coaching Toolkit walks you through it. For change that takes nerve to lead, see the courage quotes.
When you want to thank someone for the attitude they bring, the free recognition ecards let you send the quote and your note together.
Attitude Quotes FAQ
The questions below address what leaders most commonly ask about attitude quotes.
Click on the (+) sign below to expand each question. Click the (-) sign to collapse it again.
What are the best attitude quotes for work?
Who said "attitude reflects leadership"?
It's a line from the 2000 film Remember the Titans. Julius Campbell says "Attitude reflects leadership, captain" to his teammate Gerry Bertier, and leaders have used it ever since as a reminder that a team tends to take on its leader's attitude.
Did Abraham Lincoln say "people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be"?
There's no record of Lincoln saying it in his letters or speeches, and the credit to him appears long after his death. That's why the line doesn't appear on this page with his name.
How do I talk to an employee about a negative attitude?
Describe the specific behavior you've seen and the effect it has on the team, then ask what's behind it before you suggest anything. Keep the conversation private, and follow up in a week or two on what changed.
What does "Attributed to" mean on these quotes?
It means the quote is widely credited to that person, but there's no dated source behind it, like a book or an interview. Every quote without it traces back to a source you can cite.
Can I use these quotes in my training materials?
Yes. Click Copy quote on any card, and the quote and the name go to your clipboard together, ready to paste into a slide or a handout. Keep the name with the quote when you use it.
More Leadership Quotes
Richard Gorham has led teams in financial services for more than 30 years, from retail branches and operations to investments and insurance, and he still leads a team today.
He founded Leadership-Tools.com in 2002 to give managers free, practical tools like the ones he used in his various leadership roles. Every tool here has been used in a real workplace and comes with a filled-in example you can follow.
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