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Good leaders must know how to reward those who succeed and know when to retrain, move, or fire ineffective staff.

Colin Powell

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
The chief condition on which, life, health and vigor depend on, is action. It is by action that an organism develops its faculties, increases its energy, and attains the fulfillment of its destiny.
COLIN POWELL

Action Condition Destiny Energy Fulfillment Health Organism
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
Leadership is all about people. It is not about organizations. It is not about plans. It is not about strategies. It is all about people-motivating people to get the job done. You have to be people-centered.
COLIN POWELL

Job Leadership Motivational Organization People Planning Strategy
The essence of leadership is building bonds of trust in your organization.
COLIN POWELL

Bond Essence Leadership Organization Trust Yourself
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 commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
COLIN POWELL

Command Evidence Prove Right Wrong
Always be looking for the opportunities, and always be optimistic about what you can do with that opportunity.
COLIN POWELL

Opportunity Optimistic Yourself
Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.
COLIN POWELL

Accomplishment Latest Management Mission Team
If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.
COLIN POWELL

Achievement Attitude Development Excellence Yourself
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
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
Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them.
COLIN POWELL

Core Execution Leadership Value Yourself
Experts often possess more data than judgment.
COLIN POWELL

Data Expert Judgement Possession
Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.
COLIN POWELL

Born Errors Experience Leadership Learning
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
In other words, don’t expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say ‘we have a problem, let’s go and get it’.
COLIN POWELL

Disappointment Expectation Failure Greatness Himself Problem Word
Always do your best. Somebody is watching you.
COLIN POWELL

Best Watch Yourself
Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved.
COLIN POWELL

Failure People Success
There is no such thing as an unimportant person in an organization.
COLIN POWELL

Important Organization Person Value Worth
Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life’s cycle and it’s from failure that you gain life experience.
COLIN POWELL

Deal Experience Failure Learning Life 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
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
Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.
COLIN POWELL

Detail Double Leadership Mindset
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
Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
COLIN POWELL

Advice Counseling Fear Voice Yourself
As a leader you set the tone for your entire team. Communicate your vision.
COLIN POWELL

Communication Leadership Team Vision Yourself

Good leaders must know how to reward those who succeed and know when to retrain, move, or fire ineffective staff.

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Good leaders must know how to reward those who succeed and know when to retrain, move, or fire ineffective staff.

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