Colin Powell's Leadership Advice
LESSON ONE: "Being responsible sometimes means pissing people
off."
LESSON TWO: "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 THREE: "Don't be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts
often possess more data than judgement. Elites can become
so inbred that they produce haemophiliacs who bleed to death as
soon as they are nicked by the real world." 
LESSON FOUR: "Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their
own backyard."
LESSON FIVE: "Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled
or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant."
LESSON SIX: "You don't know what you can get away with until you
try."
LESSON SEVEN: "Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink
from doing so (just) because you might not like what you
find."
LESSON EIGHT: "Organisation 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 NINE: "Organization charts and hence titles count for next
to nothing."
LESSON TEN: "Never let your ego get so close to your position that
when your position goes, your ego goes with it."
LESSON ELEVEN: "Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest
management fads. The situation dictates which approach best
accomplishes the team's mission."
LESSON TWELVE: "Perpetual optimism is multiplier."
LESSON THIRTEEN: "Powell's Rules for Picking People"--Look for
intelligence and judgement 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 FOURTEEN: "Great leaders are almost always great
simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to
offer a solution everybody can understand."
LESSON FIFTEEN: Part I: "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." Part II: "Once the information
is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut."
LESSON SIXTEEN: "The commander in the field is always right and the
rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise."
LESSON SEVENTEEN: "Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a
breakneck pace. Take leave when youve 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 EIGHTEEN: "Command is lonely."
