Colin Powell Quotes

Perpetual optimism is a force leveler

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.

A sense of shame is not a bad moral compass.

Few people make sound or sustainable decisions in an atmosphere of chaos. The more serious the situation, usually accompanied by a deadline, the more likely everyone will get excited and bounce around like water on a hot skillet. At those times I try to establish a calm zone but retain a sense of urgency. Calmness protects order, ensures that we consider all the possibilities, restores order when it breaks down, and keeps people from shouting over each other. You are in a storm. The captain must steady the ship, watch all the gauges, listen to all the department heads, and steer through it. If the leader loses his head, confidence in him will be lost and the glue that holds the team together will start to give way. So assess the situation, move fast, be decisive, but remain calm and never let them see you sweat.

Fear and failure are always present. Accept them as part of life and learn how to manage these realities. Be scared, but keep going. Being scared is usually transient. It will pass. If you fail, fix the causes and keep going.

I like Holiday Inns

We can seldom get our children to do what we tell them, but they almost never fail to imitate us.

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers.

Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.

• Tell me what you know. • Tell me what you don’t know. • Then tell me what you think. • Always distinguish which from which.

Each of us is a product of all our experiences and all our interactions with other people.

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.

I was taught to think about mission and people. Mission. What are you trying to accomplish? Don't do anything until you know what the mission is. Drilled into our hearts and into our heads.

never, never, never give up.

I get over it quickly and never lose control of myself.