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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

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
The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
COLIN POWELL

Command Evidence Prove Right Wrong
Don’t bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.
COLIN POWELL

Help Myself People Problem Solve
You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
COLIN POWELL

Choice Control Yourself
Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
COLIN POWELL

Decision Fact Goodness Stand Way
Always be looking for the opportunities, and always be optimistic about what you can do with that opportunity.
COLIN POWELL

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

Best Method Obstacle Team
There is no such thing as an unimportant person in an organization.
COLIN POWELL

Important Organization Person Value Worth
You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.
COLIN POWELL

Ability Let Go Try 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
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
Be careful what you choose: You may get it.
COLIN POWELL

Care Choice Yourself
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
Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.
COLIN POWELL

Average Sign Yourself
Get mad, then get over it.
COLIN POWELL

Let Go Mad One Liner
Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved.
COLIN POWELL

Failure People Success
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
None of us can change our yesterdays but all of us can change our tomorrows.
COLIN POWELL

Change Future Inspirational Ourselves Past
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
You know you’re a good leader when people follow you out of curiosity.
COLIN POWELL

Curiosity Goodness Leadership People
One of the fondest expressions around is that we can’t be the world’s policeman. But guess who gets called when suddenly someone needs a cop.
COLIN POWELL

Expression Need Policemen World
Trust is the glue that holds an org together & the lubricant that moves it forward.
COLIN POWELL

Hold Move Togetherness Trust
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
Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.
COLIN POWELL

Born Errors Experience Leadership Learning
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
It takes more courage to send men into battle than to fight the battle yourself.
COLIN POWELL

Battle Courage Fight Man Yourself
The essence of leadership is building bonds of trust in your organization.
COLIN POWELL

Bond Essence Leadership Organization Trust 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’.

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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’.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Colin Powell Quotes