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The greatest gifts my parents gave to me were their unconditional love and a set of values.

Colin Powell

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

Choice Control Yourself
Every organization should tolerate rebels who tell the emperor he has no clothes.
COLIN POWELL

Clothes Himself Organization Rebel Tolerance
Experts often possess more data than judgment.
COLIN POWELL

Data Expert Judgement Possession
If you get the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and turn it into a useful tool.
COLIN POWELL

Dirty End Tools 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
It is not the role of the United States to dictate change, but to enter into discussions with our friends.
COLIN POWELL

Change Discussion Friendship Ourselves Role
Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.
COLIN POWELL

Age Bad Improvement News Wine
You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.
COLIN POWELL

Ability Let Go Try Yourself
The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
COLIN POWELL

Command Evidence Prove Right Wrong
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
Trust is the essence of Leadership.
COLIN POWELL

Essence Leadership Trust
Don’t just count your days, make your days count.
COLIN POWELL

Count Days 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
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
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
There is no such thing as an unimportant person in an organization.
COLIN POWELL

Important Organization Person Value Worth
It is good if your enemy underestimates you. The dumber they think you are the more surprised they are when you kill them.
COLIN POWELL

Enemy Kill Thinking Yourself
Good leaders must know how to reward those who succeed and know when to retrain, move, or fire ineffective staff.
COLIN POWELL

Goodness Leadership Move Success
One important element of leadership is taking care of the troops.
COLIN POWELL

Care Element Important Leadership Oneself
My own experience is that you get as much information as you can and then you pay attention to your intuition, to your informed instinct.
COLIN POWELL

Attention Experience Information Intuition Pay Yourself
I think whether you’re having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.
COLIN POWELL

Attitude Leadership Role Thinking Win
Get mad, then get over it.
COLIN POWELL

Let Go Mad One Liner
Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.
COLIN POWELL

Born Errors Experience Leadership Learning
Don’t let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.
COLIN POWELL

Ego Position Yourself
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
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

The greatest gifts my parents gave to me were their unconditional love and a set of values.

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The greatest gifts my parents gave to me were their unconditional love and a set of values.

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