Leaders I feel should guide as far as they can — and then vanish. Their ashes should not choke the fire they have lit.

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) British writer [Herbert George Wells]

Experiment in Autobiography, ch. 9, sec. 2 “The Samurai — In Utopia and in the Fabian Society (1905-1909)” (1934)
    (Source)

Variant: "Leaders should lead as far as they can and then vanish. Their ashes should not choke the fire they have lit."