50 Jon Gordon Quotes to Motivate You to Be a Better Leader (2021)

These Jon Gordon quotes from the best-selling author and expert in business and leadership will inspire you to be a better leader and teammate.

Jon Gordon is an author and motivational speaker who specializes in helping teams become stronger, and, ultimately, more successful. He has worked with numerous big-name brands and some of his clients include major companies like Southwest Airlines, The Los Angeles Dodgers, Campbell’s Soup, and Northwestern Mutual.

Gordon is the author of 20 books, 8 of which became best sellers. His most well-known book is The Energy Bus, published in 2007. The Energy Bus teaches readers how to face challenges in with a positive mindset in order to live a successful life.

We hope our list of Jon Gordon quotes helps motivate you to live a successful life.

Don’t forget to also check out these leadership quotes that will spark your fire.

Jon Gordon quotes about teamwork

1. “Communication builds trust. Trust generates commitment. Commitment fosters teamwork. Teamwork delivers results.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: Communication, trust, commitment, and teamwork are all parts of a successful work relationship. Whether that relationship is between employees and managers, or customers and the organization. Luckily, you can improve your communication skills with a little practice.

2. “Great team members hold each other accountable to the high standards and excellence their culture expects and demands.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: Holding yourself and the people on your team accountable leads to your best work. High standards and excellence are great goals, but remember that perfection is unattainable.

3. “Great teams care more. They care more about their effort, their work, and their team members.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: Communication and trust make a good team even better. Team members have empathy for each other and their customers. The care they display leads to better work and effort, so invest in your collaboration skills and make you team the best it can be.

4. “Team beats talent when talent isn’t a team.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: Talent is important and it is something people should be proud of. However, when talented people are not good team members, they don’t deliver to their full potential. Teams are a great way to get fresh ideas and provide a lot of benefits to their organizations.

5. “It’s all about teamwork. Sometimes you are the star and sometimes you help the star.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: Humility is a wonderful thing. With that said, it is ok to be proud of your accomplishments and who you are. However, being able to step outside the limelight and let others shine is a sign of emotional intelligence and great leadership.

6. “If you want to be truly great you have to work as hard to be a great teammate as you do to be a great player.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: Being truly great requires a lot of hard work. How do you work on being a good teammate though? It looks like investing in relationships, playing whatever role you are asked to, leading by example, having a positive attitude, and learning your strength and weaknesses!

7. “Teams rise and fall on culture, leadership, relationships, attitude and effort.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: All of these aspects of a team are important. Organizational culture helps explain how people behave and perform at work. Leadership directly shapes the morale and confidence levels of a team. How connected we feel to others on the team translates to how willing we are to help them. Your attitude and effort can make everything on a team better—or worse!

8. “We > me.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: There is strength in numbers. Every person has something to offer, and when “we” pool our knowledge, strengths, and skills together we can accomplish great things. Whether it is at work in a team setting or leveraging your support system, just know that we is greater than me!

9. “Your team doesn’t care if you are a superstar. They care if you are a super team member.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: Be amazing and be the best you that you can be. But do it from a place of how that can help other people. Bring your ‘A game’ to your team and relationships. You are a superstar and that means you can be a super team member. Your efforts can play a part of the bigger picture, and that is what really matters!

Jon Gordon quotes about leadership

10. “A leader brings out the best within others by sharing the best within themselves.” — Jon Gordon

Everyday Application: You can inspire others to shine bright and reach their potential in many ways. You set the pace and expectations of your team. When you do your best that elevates the whole ability of the team. They will want to follow you and give their best, because they see you doing it everyday!

11. “As a leader, it is so important that your words equal your actions.” — Jon Gordon

12. “Great leaders know that success is a process, not a destination.” — Jon Gordon

13. “Leaders inspire and teach their people to focus on solutions, not complaints.” — Jon Gordon

14. “Leadership is not just about what you do but what you can inspire, encourage and empower others to do.” — Jon Gordon

15. “People follow the leader first and the leader’s vision second.” — Jon Gordon

16. “Transformational coaches invest in the root and, over time, it produces a lot of fruit.” — Jon Gordon

17. “Trust is the force that connects people to the leader and his/her vision.” — Jon Gordon

Jon Gordon quotes about overcoming challenges

18. “No challenge can stop you if you have the courage to keep moving forward in the face of your greatest fears and biggest challenges. Be courageous.” — Jon Gordon

19. “Remember, life gives us warnings for a reason. Learn from this. Do things differently.” — Jon Gordon

20. “Don’t look at your challenges; look up and look out into the future.” — Jon Gordon

21. “Don’t focus on your circumstances. Focus on the right beliefs that will help you build your success.” — Jon Gordon

22. “You and your team face a fork in the road each day. You can settle for average and choose the path of mediocrity or you can take the road less traveled and chase greatness.” — Jon Gordon

23. “Adversity is not a dead-end but a detour to a better outcome than you can imagine!” — Jon Gordon

24. “You haven’t failed until you stop trying.” — Jon Gordon

25. “Often the difference between success and failure is belief.” — Jon Gordon

Jon Gordon quotes about attitude

26. “3 things you can control every day: 1. Attitude 2. Effort 3. Actions to be a great teammate.” — Jon Gordon

27. “Being positive won’t guarantee you’ll succeed. But being negative will guarantee you won’t.” — Jon Gordon

28. “Don’t tell the world your mission statement. Show the world you are on a mission.” — Jon Gordon

29. “How you see the world determines the world you see.” — Jon Gordon

30. “Lead with optimism, enthusiasm and positive energy, guard against pessimism and weed out negativity.” — Jon Gordon

31. “My life is a gift not an obligation and I Get To make the most of it.” — Jon Gordon

32. “One negative person can create a miserable office environment for everyone else.” — Jon Gor

33. “One person can’t make a team but one person can break a team. Stay positive!” — Jon Gordon

34. “Positivity is like a boomerang. The more we put it out there, the more it comes back to us.” — Jon Gordon

35. “Your optimism today will determine your level of success tomorrow.” — Jon Gordon

36. “There is certainly a lot of negativity in the world and choosing positive energy helps us deal with the negative people and negative situations that can knock us off course.” — Jon Gordon

Jon Gordon quotes on mental toughness

37. “Thoughts are magnetic. What we think about we attract.” — Jon Gordon

38. “When you believe, the impossible becomes possible.” — Jon Gordon

39. “What you believe will become what is true.” — Jon Gordon

40. “The goal in life is to live young, have fun, and arrive at your final destination—as late as possible—with a smile on your face because this would mean that you truly enjoyed the ride.” — Jon Gordon

41. “Positive energy and positive people create positive results.” — Jon Gordon

42. “Throughout the day, anytime you find yourself feeling stressed or wanting to complain, stop for 10 seconds, and breathe. Count your breaths and your blessings.” — Jon Gordon

43. “It’s about mental toughness. Mental toughness is everything.” — Jon Gordon

More inspiring Jon Gordon quotes

44. “It is imperative that you make sure that you go through a self-evaluation process on an almost daily basis to make sure that your actions are in line with your words.” — Jon Gordon

45. “You must do what you say and say what you do.” — Jon Gordon

46. “I believe you become great when you help others become great.” — Jon Gordon

47. “It’s easy to be average. It’s hard to be great. But it’s well worth the effort.” — Jon Gordon

48. “Successful people do ordinary things with extraordinary consistency, commitment and focus.” — Jon Gordon

49. “The key to success is to be a lifelong learner who continuously works hard to improve.” — Jon Gordon

50. “We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it. Purpose keeps you fresh.” — Jon Gordon

How tough is your mental state?

Our mindset affects every area of our life, from our money to our relationships to our happiness. When you face a challenge, is your first instinct to get mad, frustrated, or upset? Or are you solution-oriented? Do you keep a positive perspective?

Through his books, his relations with his clients, and the audiences that he has spoken in front of, Jon Gordon has helped millions of people around the world keep a positive perspective in order to help them find success in life.

Our perspective is everything. If you go through life with a negative attitude, you are unlikely to find success. You will also likely end up as a bad teammate and an even worse leader. Keeping a positive mindset is the first step on the way to bettering your life.

Did you enjoy these Jon Gordon quotes and sayings? Which quote was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.