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Don’t bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.

Colin Powell

You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
COLIN POWELL

Choice Control Yourself
All values are important, everyone who has ever touched my life in some way was a mentor for good or bad. Life is a blend, and a person is a blend of all the influences that have touched their lives.
COLIN POWELL

Important Influence Life Live Touch Value
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
Always be looking for that which you do well and that which you love doing, and when you find those two things together — man, you got it.
COLIN POWELL

Love Man Togetherness Yourself
Always do your best. Somebody is watching you.
COLIN POWELL

Best Watch Yourself
Trust is the essence of Leadership.
COLIN POWELL

Essence Leadership Trust
Maybe we don’t put our young people in situations often enough where they’re allowed to fail. When you fail you gain experience, and with enough experience, you don’t fail as often.
COLIN POWELL

Allow Enough Experience Failure People Situation Young Yourself
Leaders have followers. The primary role of a leader is to convey to those followers a sense of purpose, vision, and mission.
COLIN POWELL

Follow Leadership Mission Primary Purpose Role Vision
Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.
COLIN POWELL

Blood Death Expert Judgement Reality World
Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.
COLIN POWELL

Born Errors Experience Leadership Learning
Preferring members of any one group for no reason other than race or ethnic origin is discrimination for its own sake. This the Constitution forbids.
COLIN POWELL

Constitution Discrimination Origin Reason
Don’t bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.
COLIN POWELL

Help Myself People Problem Solve
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
If you get the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and turn it into a useful tool.
COLIN POWELL

Dirty End Tools Yourself
Be careful what you choose: You may get it.
COLIN POWELL

Care Choice Yourself
Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done.
COLIN POWELL

Balance Criticism Drive Ego Intelligence Judgement Loyalty

Don’t bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.

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Don’t bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.

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