It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership

by Colin Powell

IT AIN’T AS BAD AS YOU THINK. IT WILL LOOK BETTER IN THE MORNING.

A good night’s rest and the passage of just eight hours will usually reduce the infection.

“No challenge is too great for us, no difficulty we cannot overcome.”

“Lieutenant, you may be starving, but you must never show hunger; you always eat last. You may be freezing or near heat exhaustion, but you must never show that you are cold or hot. You may be terrified, but you must never show fear. You are the leader and the troops will reflect your emotions.”

GET MAD, THEN GET OVER IT.

“Colin, the best part about being mad and disappointed is that you get over it. Now have a nice day.” He was right. I felt better after getting my anger out, and I did get over

Captain William Louisell, observed my behavior. When I hung up, he said to me: “Don’t ever act that way in my presence or anyone’s presence again.” To make sure I’d learned the lesson he wrote in my efficiency report, “Young Powell has a severe temper, which he makes a mature effort to control.”

AVOID HAVING YOUR EGO SO CLOSE TO YOUR POSITION THAT WHEN YOUR POSITION FALLS, YOUR EGO GOES WITH IT.

My guidance was simple: “Disagree with me, do it with feeling, try to convince me you are right and I am about to go down the wrong path. You owe that to me; that’s why you are here. But don’t be intimidated when I argue back. A moment will come when I have heard enough and I make a decision. At that very instant, I expect all of you to execute my decision as if it were your idea.

Loyalty is disagreeing strongly, and loyalty is executing faithfully. The decision is not about you or your ego; it is about gathering all the information, analyzing it, and trying to get the right answer.

IT CAN BE DONE.

Maybe it can’t be done, but always start out believing you can get it done until facts and analysis pile up against it. Have a positive and enthusiastic approach to every task. Don’t surround yourself with instant skeptics. At the same time, don’t shut out skeptics and colleagues who give you solid counterviews. “It can be done” should not metamorphose into a blindly can-do approach, which leaves you running into brick walls. I try to be an optimist, but I try not to be stupid.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU CHOOSE: YOU MAY GET IT.

DON’T LET ADVERSE FACTS STAND IN THE WAY OF A GOOD DECISION.

When faced with a tough decision, use the time available to gather information that will inform your instinct. Learn all you can about the situation, your opponent, your assets and liabilities, your strengths and weaknesses, the threats and risks.

“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”

Whenever I’m faced with a difficult choice, my approach has always been to make an estimate of the situation—a familiar military process: What’s the situation? What’s the mission? What are the different courses of action? How do they compare with one another? Which looks most likely to succeed? Now, follow your informed instinct, decide, and execute forcefully; throw the mass of your forces and energy behind the choice. Then take a deep breath and hope it works, remembering that “hope is a bad supper, but makes a good breakfast.”

YOU CAN’T MAKE SOMEONE ELSE’S CHOICES. YOU SHOULDN’T LET SOMEONE ELSE MAKE YOURS.

“Why would you want to wear someone else’s T-shirt? You are your own brand. Remain free and wear your own T-shirt.”

CHECK SMALL THINGS.

SHARE CREDIT.

It is the human gesture that counts. Yes, medals, stock options, promotions, bonuses, and pay raises are fine. But to really reach people, you need to touch them. A kind word, a pat on the back, a “well done,” provided one-on-one and not by mob email is the way you share credit.

It is the way you appeal to the dreams, aspirations, anxieties, and fears of your followers. They want to be the best they can be; a good leader lets them know it when they are.

When things go badly, it is your fault, not theirs. Yo...

Share the credit, take the blame, and quietly find out and fix things that went wrong.

“Whenever you place the cause of one of your actions outside yourself, it’s an excuse and not a reason.” This rule works for everybody, but it works especially for leaders.

REMAIN CALM. ...

Calmness protects order, ensures that we consider all the possibilities, restores order when it breaks down, and keeps people from shouting over each other.

If the leader loses his head, confidence in him will be lost and the glue that holds the team together will start to give way.

assess the situation, move fast, be decisive, but remain calm and never let them see you sweat.

In the “heat of battle”—whether military or corporate—kindness, like calmness, reassures followers and holds their confidence. Kindness connects you with other human beings in a bond of mutual respect.

If you care for your followers and show them kindness, they will reciprocate and care for you. They will not let you down or let you fail. They will accomplish whatever you have put in front of them.

HAVE A VISION. BE D...

Purpose is the destination of a vision.

Leaders must embed their own sense of purpose into the heart and soul of every follower.

Every follower has his own organizational purpose that connects with the leader’s overall purpose.

DON’T TAKE COUNSEL OF YOUR FEARS OR NAYSAYERS.

as a leader, I could show no fear. I could not let fear control me.

PERPETUAL OPTIMISM IS A FORCE MULTIPLIER.

Perpetual optimism, believing in yourself, believing in your purpose, believing you will prevail, and demonstrating passion and confidence is a force multiplier. If you believe and have prepared your followers, the followers will believe.

Always do your best, no matter how difficult the job, or how much you dislike it, your bosses, the work environment, or your fellow workers. As the old expression goes, if you take the king’s coin, you give the king his due.

I never tried to fight my superiors’ priorities. Instead I worked hard to accomplish the tasks they set as quickly and decisively as I could. The sooner I could satisfy my superiors, the sooner they would stop bugging me about them, and the quicker I could move on to my own priorities. Always give the king his due first.

Every job is a learning experience, and we can develop and grow in every one.

am paying them for the quality of their work, not for the hours they work.

a lesson taught to all young infantry lieutenants: “Don’t run if you can walk; don’t stand up if you can sit down; don’t sit down if you can lie down; and don’t stay awake if you can go to sleep.”

“Always show more kindness than seems necessary, because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know.”

Being kind doesn’t mean being soft or a wuss. Kindness is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of confidence. If you have developed a reputation for kindness and consideration, then even the most unpleasant decisions will go down easier because everyone will understand why you are doing what you are doing. They will realize that your decision must be necessary, and is not arbitrary or without empathy.

The day you are not solving problems or are not up to your butt in problems is probably a day you are no longer leading.

I travel for work, not for pleasure. Any trip I take has to be necessary. It has to have a purpose and a function.

In the military the problem is posed this way: “Where should the commander be on the battlefield?” The answer: “Where he can exercise the greatest influence and be close to the point of decision”—the place where personal presence can make the difference between success and failure.