People get work done, not buildings, not staffs in a generic sense, and not plans, but people Colin Powell More Quotes by Colin Powell More Quotes From Colin Powell The great leaders that I have worked with are people who have a good sense of empathy with other people. They can walk a factory floor, or walk through a battalion and smell if there's something wrong. Colin Powell smellempathypeople I have found that leadership is leadership is leadership. It applies whether you are in government or in corporate life or in non-profit life. Colin Powell profitgovernmentfound Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut. Colin Powell informationusenumbers Experts often possess more data than judgment. Colin Powell dataexpertsaction You don't know what you can get away with until you try. Colin Powell leadershiptryinginspirational We need to understand that we as citizens and as a government in any community throughout this country have no more important obligation than to educate those who are going to replace us. Colin Powell communitygovernmentcountry Today I can declare my hope and declare it from the bottom of my heart that we will eventually see the time when that number of nuclear weapons is down to zero and the world is a much better place. Colin Powell zeromilitaryheart I want to see policies that encourage every American to vote, not make it more difficult to vote. Colin Powell difficultvotewant Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing so just because you might not like what you find. Colin Powell call-of-dutyappearancemight We now believe it is appropriate for Saddam Hussein to be forced to change, either by the threat of war, and therefore that compels him to cooperate. If he cooperates, then the basis of changed regime policy has shifted because his regime has, in fact, changed its policy to one of cooperation. So if he cooperates, then that is different than if he does not cooperate. Colin Powell doewarbelieve When you decide to get involved in a military operation in a place like Syria, you've got to be prepared, as we learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, to become the government, and I'm not sure any country, either the United States or I don't hear of anyone else, who's willing to take on that responsibility. Colin Powell militaryresponsibilitycountry Well, the correct answer is he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? Colin Powell what-ifchristiancountry In the military we also learn principles of war which also work in a corporate setting: How do you concentrate as much of your force as possible on a critical point and take a risk elsewhere? In business that translates into focusing your investment on marketing, sales, or R&D, whichever will give you the greatest return. Colin Powell militarygivingwar You should never be so involved with your position/job that when the position is gone your entire self image is gone with it. Colin Powell selfgonejobs What you’re seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they’re directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society. Colin Powell wallpeoplethinking As I've thought about gay marriage, I don't see any reason not to say that [couples] should be able to get married. Colin Powell marriage-equalitygaycouple Generally you should act somewhere between P40 and P70, as I call it. Sometime after you have obtained 40 percent of all the information you are liable to get, start thinking in terms of making a decision. When you have about 70 percent of all the information, you probably ought to decide, because you may lose an opportunity in losing time. Colin Powell decisionopportunitythinking One thing the military does far better than business is train its own leaders. I can't go to IBM and hire a battalion commander. They don't have any. Colin Powell leadermilitarydoe With vision only, you get no follow-through. With enforcers only, the vision is realized but leaves a lot of wreckage. Colin Powell follow-throughwreckagevision The troops may whine and moan, but when they meet the standard, there's a sense of pride. Colin Powell troopspridemay
