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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

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

Hard Work People Play Serious Work
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
The greatest gifts my parents gave to me were their unconditional love and a set of values.
COLIN POWELL

Gift Greatness Love Myself Parents Value
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
The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.
COLIN POWELL

Day Leadership Problem Soldier Yourself
I regret that the presentation I made at the UN turned out to be wrong. It was wrong on the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, but pretty much right on intentions and capabilities.
COLIN POWELL

Capability Intention Myself Presentation Regret Weapon Wrong
The best way to create a winning team is to train them, give them everything they need to get the job done and second, make sure they know what the job is and what the job will be. So you connect strategy to resources.
COLIN POWELL

Best Connection Creation Job Resources Team Training Way 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
We are not trapped in what the science of management says we can do. We are capable of doing what the art of leadership says is possible.
COLIN POWELL

Art Leadership Management Possible Science
But just as they did in Philadelphia when they were writing the constitution, sooner or later, you’ve got to compromise. You’ve got to start making the compromises that arrive at a consensus and move the country forward.
COLIN POWELL

Arrival Compromise Constitution Country Start Writing Yourself
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
You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
COLIN POWELL

Choice Control Yourself
Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.
COLIN POWELL

Age Bad Improvement News Wine
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
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

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.

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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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