It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership

by Colin Powell

Problems have to be solved, not managed.

don’t measure your success by your rank or position, but by the contribution you are making.

After an officer I knew was promoted from colonel to brigadier general, an inadequacy surfaced that had not been detected earlier, and he broke under the burdens and expectations that were placed on him. One morning he committed suicide in his garage. We missed signs and portents we should have seen. He would have served successfully for many more years as a colonel, but we raised him up to a position beyond his potential.

I believe that when you first take over a new outfit, start out trusting the people there unless you have real evidence not to. If you trust them, they will trust you, and those bonds will strengthen over time.

he needs to preserve a zone of privacy, a place for himself that his followers can’t enter. They need to be kept at a distance. There is an old expression attributed to Aesop: “Familiarity breeds contempt.” It might be better said that too much familiarity brings everyone down to the same level.

Don’t reorganize around a weak follower. Retrain, move, or fire them.

No matter what your job, you are there to serve. It makes no difference if it is government, military, business, or any other endeavor. Go in with a commitment to selfless service, never selfish service.

It is always we.

“Organizations don’t get things done. Plans and programs don’t get things done. Only people get things done. Organizations, plans, and programs either help or hinder people.”