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Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

Colin Powell

The best method of overcoming obstacles is the team method.
COLIN POWELL

Best Method Obstacle Team
Always be looking for the opportunities, and always be optimistic about what you can do with that opportunity.
COLIN POWELL

Opportunity Optimistic Yourself
We can seldom get our children to do what we tell them, but they almost never fail to imitate us.
COLIN POWELL

Children Failure Imitation Ourselves
You should never be so involved with your position/job that when the position is gone your entire self image is gone with it.
COLIN POWELL

Image Job Position Yourself
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
COLIN POWELL

Failure Hard Work Inspirational Learning Preparation Result Secret Success
If you get the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and turn it into a useful tool.
COLIN POWELL

Dirty End Tools Yourself
You know you’re a good leader when people follow you out of curiosity.
COLIN POWELL

Curiosity Goodness Leadership People
Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.
COLIN POWELL

Average Sign Yourself
We are not going to dwell on those things that divide us. We are going to rejoice in those things that keep us together to make this a better country – to reach down and back to touch every young person in need!
COLIN POWELL

Country Division Ourselves Person Rejoice Togetherness
Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
COLIN POWELL

Force Multiply Optimism
An organization that is not facing up to people who are not getting the job done, is going to have difficulties.
COLIN POWELL

Difficult Face Organization People
None of us can change our yesterdays but all of us can change our tomorrows.
COLIN POWELL

Change Future Inspirational Ourselves Past
Always do your best. Somebody is watching you.
COLIN POWELL

Best Watch Yourself
Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them.
COLIN POWELL

Core Execution Leadership Value Yourself
One important element of leadership is taking care of the troops.
COLIN POWELL

Care Element Important Leadership Oneself
Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.
COLIN POWELL

Born Errors Experience Leadership Learning
Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
COLIN POWELL

Advice Counseling Fear Voice Yourself
My responsibility, our responsibility as lucky Americans, is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given us, as we continue our American journey together.
COLIN POWELL

Country Journey Responsibility Togetherness Try
You can’t get it all done yourself. The best leaders are not afraid of picking people who are better than they are and who may one day replace them.
COLIN POWELL

Afraid Best Leadership Pick Replacement Yorself
A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.
COLIN POWELL

Choice Friendship Himself Mirror Reflection
Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.
COLIN POWELL

Accomplishment Art Leadership Management Possible
First you train the followers to accomplish the mission. Second, you resource them: Make sure that they have the tools to do the job. Third, you reward them: You give them medals or bonuses.
COLIN POWELL

Accomplishment Follow Job Medal Reward Tools Training Yourself
Have a sense of humor to break the tension in times of great toil.
COLIN POWELL

Break Greatness Hard Time Tension Time
Give me the right people and I don’t much care what organization you give me. Good things will happen. Give me the wrong people and it doesn’t matter what you do with the organization. Bad things will happen.
COLIN POWELL

Care Goodness Organization People Right Yourself
The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow.
COLIN POWELL

Follow Forever Important Learning Personal Soldier
Experts often possess more data than judgment.
COLIN POWELL

Data Expert Judgement Possession
A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.
COLIN POWELL

Determination Dreams Hard Work Magic Reality Sweat

Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

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Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

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