Several years ago, I saw former Secretary of State Colin Powell on MTV as part of a forum with young people around the world. Secretary Powell, a four-star general, was incredibly impressive, fielding often difficult, sometimes hostile, questions from the crowd.
From that moment, I was a big fan of his. [If you're unfamiliar with Secretary Powell, here's a good bio.]
Last summer, a friend of mine gave me a book written by a University of San Francisco management professor titled "The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell." It includes 18 "lessons" gleaned from observing and studying Powell's leadership style.
As Powell said recently at a speech at Mississippi State: "The essence of leadership is your followers; leaders have to dedicate themselves to their followers."
Powell's leadership principles are widely available online, and you may have seen them before, but I thought they were compelling enough to share here:
THE LEADERSHIP SECRETS OF COLIN POWELL
Lesson #1: "Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off." Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.
Lesson #2: "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." Real leaders make themselves accessible and available.
Lesson #3: "Don't be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world."
Lesson #4: "Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard." Learn from the pros, observe them, seek them out as mentors and partners. But remember that even the pros may have leveled out in terms of their learning and skills. Sometimes even the pros can become complacent and lazy. Leadership does not emerge from blind obedience to anyone.
Lesson #5: "Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant." Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can't be implemented rapidly and efficiently.
Good leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to details, every day. (Think about supreme athletic coaches like Jimmy Johnson, Pat Riley and Tony La Russa).
Bad ones — even those who fancy themselves as progressive "visionaries" — think they're somehow "above" operational details.
Lesson #6: "You don't know what you can get away with until you try." You know the expression "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission?" Well, it's true. Good leaders don't wait for official blessing to try things out. They're prudent, not reckless.
But they also realize a fact of life in most organizations: If you ask enough people for permission, you'll inevitably come up against someone who believes his job is to say "no."
So the moral is, don't ask. I'm serious.
Lesson #7: "Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find."
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms. It's a mindset that assumes (or hopes) that today's realities will continue tomorrow in a tidy, linear and predictable fashion. Pure fantasy. In this sort of culture, you won't find people who proactively take steps to solve problems as they emerge.
Lesson #8: "Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavours succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds."
Lesson #9: "Organization charts and hence titles count for next to nothing." Titles mean little in terms of real power, which is the capacity to influence and inspire. Have you ever noticed that people will personally commit to certain individuals who on paper (or on the org chart) possess little authority—but instead possess pizzazz, drive, expertise and genuine caring for teammates and products?
On the flip side, non-leaders in management may be formally anointed with all the perks and frills associated with high positions, but they have little influence on others, apart from their ability to extract minimal compliance to minimal standards.
Lesson #10: "Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it."
Real leaders understand that, nowadays, every one of our jobs is becoming obsolete. The proper response is to obsolete our activities before someone else does. Effective leaders create a climate where people's worth is determined by their willingness to learn new skills and grab new responsibilities, thus perpetually reinventing their jobs.
Lesson #11: "Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission."
Flitting from fad to fad creates team confusion, reduces the leader's credibility and drains organizational coffers. Blindly following a particular fad generates rigidity in thought and action. Management techniques are not magic mantras but simply tools to be reached for at the right times.
Lesson #12: "Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier." The ripple effect of a leader's enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues.
I am talking about a guns ho attitude that says "we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the "realist"; give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.
Lesson #13: "Powell's Rules for Picking People" — 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."
Lesson #14: "Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand."
Effective leaders understand the KISS principle, or Keep It Simple, Stupid. They articulate vivid, overarching goals and values, which they use to drive daily behaviors and choices among competing alternatives.
Their visions and priorities are lean and compelling, not cluttered and buzzword-laden. Their decisions are crisp and clear, not tentative and ambiguous. They convey an unwavering firmness and consistency in their actions, aligned with the picture of the future they paint.
The result? Clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership, and integrity in organization
Lesson #15: Don't take action if you have only enough information to give you less than a 40 percent chance of being right, but don't wait until you have enough facts to be 100 percent sure, because by then it is almost always too late.
Today, excessive delays in the name of information-gathering needs analysis paralysis. Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk.
Lesson #16: "The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise."
Lesson #17: "Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you've earned it. Spend time with your families." Corollary: "Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard."
Lesson #18: "Command is lonely." Ultimately, the essence of leadership is the willingness to make the tough, unambiguous choices that will have an impact on the fate of the organization
I've seen too many non-leaders flinch from this responsibility. Even as you create an informal, open, collaborative corporate culture, prepare to be lonely.
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