My responsibility, our responsibility as lucky Americans, is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given us, as we continue our American journey together. Colin Powell More Quotes by Colin Powell More Quotes From Colin Powell Actually, there is no more important task for a leader than to pick people. To make sure you have the very best people working for you. Colin Powell importantleaderpeople I think leadership is both a trained thing and a natural gift. Colin Powell natural-giftsnaturalthinking You have to create circumstances where your first-tier leader knows what you are trying to accomplish, because he is the one who's going to get it done. Colin Powell leaderdonetrying Great leaders are those who are able to look reality in the face, however painful it may be, and deal with it. Colin Powell leaderrealitylooks Always find different ways to accomplish the mission. Then run a counter-analysis and list the advantages and disadvantages. When you have done that, you are ready to make a decision. Colin Powell decisionrunningway Even the greatest of all strategists must occasionally take into account the presence of an enemy. Colin Powell strategistaccountsenemy 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 mass-destructionregretweapons I worked with the Nato Military Committee. The Head of the Luxembourg Armed Forces had equal standing with me, and I had to respect that. He was the leader of the armed forces of a sovereign country. I had to make sure he never thought that I was looking down on them, merely because they had less power than we did. With that kind of approach you can develop bonds of trust. I tried to do the same thing with my colleagues when I was Secretary of State. Colin Powell leadermilitarycountry In my 35 years in the army I was in school for 6 years. I think corporations should take a look at whether they are investing enough in the development of their human capital. Colin Powell armyschoolthinking How often have we seen politicians take a principle position only to give it up three days later? That is what makes democracy so fascinating. Colin Powell democracyprinciplesgiving I think that military, corporate, and non-political organizations are pretty much similar. Colin Powell organizationmilitarythinking We are not sure to what extent Saddam's [Hussein ] own people were conveying an incorrect picture to him. But this body of evidence was believed not only by President George W. Bush. President Bill Clinton used that same body of intelligence before bombing Iraq in 1998. Colin Powell iraqpresidentpeople I don't think anyone would disagree with the conclusion that Saddam [Hussein] was a terrible dictator. He had gassed his own people and his neighbors. He had killed thousands of people, and he had started a couple of wars and destroyed his country. Colin Powell couplewarcountry One important element of leadership is taking care of the troops. Colin Powell elementscareimportant The best leaders are those who break that mission down into the organization's constituent parts, so that everybody understands their role and how it all builds into the whole. Colin Powell rolesorganizationleader I have seen many organizations where there is this sense of purpose in the headquarters but it never gets cascaded down to everybody within the organization. Colin Powell headquartersorganizationpurpose Good and solid analysis and a formal way of looking at a problem [are the core ingredients of good decisions]. Colin Powell analysisdecisionway In the military, we are also taught to only use one third of the available decision-making time, so that our subordinates have time to go through their own decision processes when they learn what we want them to do. Colin Powell decisionmilitaryuse This is something else that is drilled into us in the military: Make sure you know who your replacement is, in case you become a casualty. So you have to have depth within an organization. Colin Powell depthorganizationmilitary Only when you have got a clear statement of what you want to achieve, do you ask yourself how you are going to achieve it. In the military we are taught never to go for a single answer, no matter how obvious that might be. Colin Powell militarymattermight
