Team Building Quotes for Leaders and Their Teams

Leadership and Teamwork Quotes for Team Leaders

A team leader sets the standard for how the team works together, from how responsibilities are shared to how the strongest performers are recognized. These quotes about leadership and teamwork help the leader make that standard clear to the team. A few places they work include:

• A new leader's first meeting with the team.
• A team with one or two standout performers who tend to work alone.
• Two groups merged into one team after a reorganization.
• A team setting its goals for the coming year.

Lencioni's line fits the new leader's first meeting, because it tells the team on day one that how they work together will matter as much as the results. Babe Ruth's quote works for the team with standout performers who tend to work alone, when the leader wants them to see how the whole team's results depend on them.

Communication Quotes for Teams

Many teamwork problems trace back to lack of communication, like a handoff that missed a detail or a change one shift heard about and the next one didn't. The leader sets the example for how information moves across the team, and these communication quotes for teams help start that conversation. A few places they work include:

• A handoff between shifts that keeps missing details.
• A team that hears about changes from customers before they hear about them from you.
• A meeting where the same two people do all the talking.
• A new process that each person has started doing a little differently.

Whyte's line fits the handoff between shifts, because it reminds the team to confirm the next shift understood the details of the update. Ralph Nichols's quote about the need to be understood works for the meeting where the same two people do all the talking, when the leader wants to hear from the rest of the team. For an activity to go with these quotes, Lost in Translation in the free Team Building Activities Guide shows a team how easily a message changes as it's passed along.

Teamwork Quotes for Team Meetings

A team meeting is the one place the whole team hears the same message at the same time, and a teamwork quote at the start gives the leader a simple way to set the focus for the meeting. These teamwork quotes work well in moments like these:

• The weekly team meeting before a busy stretch.
• A meeting to plan coverage for vacations and time off.
• The kickoff for a project that needs help from every person on the team.
• A quarterly review where the team looks at its results together.

Henry Ford's line fits the project kickoff, because it gives the leader a way to say the hard part comes after the first meeting and people start getting into doing the work. Luccock's quote works for the meeting to plan vacation coverage, since it reminds the team that every person's part matters when someone is out.

Quotes About Working Together and Collaboration

Cooperation is doing your part when you're asked, and collaboration is when people choose to share their best ideas because they want the team to succeed. The leader builds collaboration by asking for ideas and giving credit to the people who offer them. These quotes about working together fit times like these:

• Two departments that need to share a process for the first time.
• A problem no single person on the team can solve alone.
• A team member who keeps a better method to themselves.
• A brainstorming session for next year's plan.

The proverb fits the two departments sharing a process, because it gives the leader a way to explain why the slower start is worth it. Ken Blanchard's quote works for the brainstorming session, when the leader wants everyone's best ideas on the table before the team picks a plan.

Positive Team Building Quotes and Phrases

A short, positive phrase can become something the team says to each other, like a line on the whiteboard during a busy month or the slogan for a team event. These team building phrases are short enough to remember, and they work well in moments like these:

• The title slide for a team meeting or an offsite.
• A team slogan or banner for a team building event.
• A whiteboard in the team's work area during a busy month.
• A thank-you note to a team that covered for each other.

Maxwell's book title fits the slogan for a team event, because it's short and the whole team already knows it. If you'd like the team to write its own slogan, the Team Battle Cry activity in the free Team Building Activities Guide walks the team through it.

How to Use a Team Building Quote with Your Team

Team building quotes are received best when the leader ties the quote to one problem the team can see, then asks the people closest to the work how to fix it.

Tom used the quote to name the problem, then let the two shifts design the fix together. When the team builds the solution, they're more likely to keep using it after the meeting.

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

The free Team Building Activities Guide has twelve activities you can run with your team, each with the time, setup and debrief questions. To turn the team's energy into a shared target, see team goal setting.

For more tools to lead your team, see the Leading Teams tools.