Having celebrated Veteran’s Day this past week, my thoughts
revolved around great military leaders and their abilities to lead in the most
stressful of situations. One such contemporary leader, General Colin Powell,
authored a no-nonsense “Leadership Primer” with the following lessons for us
all to consider.
Lesson 1 – “Being responsible sometimes means pissing people
off.”
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.”
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.”
Lesson 5 – “Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is
dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.”
Lesson 6 – “You don’t know what you can get away with until
you try.”
Lesson 7 – “Keep looking below surface appearances. Don’t
shrink from doing so just because you might not like what you find.”
Lesson 8 – “Organization doesn’t really accomplish
anything. Plans don’t accomplish anything either. Theories of management don’t
much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the PEOPLE involved. Only by
attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.”
Lesson 9 – “Organizational charts and fancy titles count
for next to nothing.”
Lesson 10 – “Never let your ego get so close to your
position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.”
Lesson 11 – “Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest
management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the
team’s mission.”
Lesson 12 – “Perpetual optimism is a force
multiplier.”
Lesson 13 – “When picking people look for
intelligence, judgment, and most critically a capacity to anticipate, to see
around the 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 the argument, debate and doubt, to offer
a solution everybody can understand.”
Lesson 15 – “Don’t take action if you only
have enough information to give you less that a 40% chance of being right, but
don’t wait until you have enough facts to be 100% sure, because by then it’s
almost always too late.”
Lesson 15 – “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 breakneck pace. Take a leave when you’ve earned it. Spend time
with your family. Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously,
but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.”
Lesson 18 – “Command is lonely.”
“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more
than the science of management says is possible.”
I find it curious that great leadership is
great leadership…no matter the industry.
Be good to yourself…
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