“Speak softly and carry a big stick” Theodore Roosevelt. What's your understanding of this in relation of leadership & management?

A true Leader is a Mentor,Coach and a Teacher, one who understands the psyche  of his student and moulds himself as per need, he is soft spoken yet  has to have a stick in his hand.

Being diplomatic yet aggressive And firm.

True.specially when you are female I consider it necessary a leader or manager carrying a big stick..when I was assign as an Accounts manager during my Internship in the start I use to speak softly and give clear instructions to every one but the result is  every one took it so easily and I did not  get any response or result then I use a big stick and receive100% result back.

Theodore Roosevelt : Speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far -

He believed that the threat of force rather than force itself was often sufficient to deter.

I believe that this theory is more than ever very useful in management  and leadership , sadly some people still needs to see a big stick to understand.

STICK & CARROT method,,,, 

It means implementing the stick and the carrot strategy. My take here is that might nor be sutable to all. I suggest using the stick or the carrot ot both as the situation dictates.

"Be firm but polite" is all how it can be expressed in simple terms. 

Leadership / Management  should be polite, should respect the individuals, their feelings and respect their views but the same time mesaage must also be communicated clearly that such approach of politeness should not be taken as a sign weakness and after all, we mean business.

I echo with the answers of Mohammad Tohamy Hussein, and Alamgheer Hussain Hashmi..