The 3 Colin Powell Leadership Quotes We Need

The question came frequently: “What year did you graduate from West Point?”

But unlike so many of his military peers, Colin Powell never attended West Point.

“Well, did you go to the Citadel, or did you go to Texas A&M or Virginia Military Institute?”

Except minorities weren’t welcome at those schools in the mid-1950s.

So Powell, with his modest grades and humble South Bronx roots, blazed his own trail. City College of New York, ROTC, Army second lieutenant.

During his 35-year military career, he survived a helicopter crash while pulling three others from the burning wreckage, investigated the My Lai massacre, served as the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and eventually as secretary of state.

Powell died early Monday from complications of Covid-19. He was 84.

While his distinguished career has countless lessons in grit, service and navigating excruciating dilemmas, there are three quotes of his in particular that are relevant to leaders of any background.

“Leadership is solving problems. 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 or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

So often, we view our responsibilities as leaders as solely winning games, closing deals or motivating others to perform. We grow annoyed at anything that threatens these pursuits, particularly when our team members raise issues or concerns.  

But Powell viewed silence as detrimental to long-term success and recognized that true leadership is about addressing, and even embracing, others’ problems.

Whether it’s with a kid who can’t make practice or a teacher who abruptly needs to go on leave, let’s make sure we don’t run from the challenges of our team members or merely view them as nuisances. If those we lead are raising these issues, it means they’re still invested in our collective success. That’s a good thing.

“When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.”

Unless we have the very top job in our organization, our responsibility is to make suggestions to the person who ultimately calls the shots. We can make emotional pleas, we can present the data, we can try to convince him/her with our words. But Powell knew that once a decision was reached, that appeal or rebuttal had to end. It was now incumbent upon the entire leadership team to be the chief salesmen of the mission, even if they disagreed with it at heart.

“Never neglect small details, even to the point of being a pest. Moments of stress, confusion and fatigue are exactly when mistakes happen. And when everyone else’s mind is dulled or distracted, the leaders must be doubly vigilant. Always check ‘small things.'”

We are all vulnerable to mistakes, but so often it’s the seemingly tiny, avoidable ones that end up being our undoing. Powell realized that he was most susceptible to these when he was stressed or tired, and that it was in those instances when he needed to be particularly cognizant of his actions.

Let’s make sure that when we’re burned out, when we’re exhausted or not thinking perfectly clearly, that we become extra vigilant about the details. The seemingly trivial stuff we overlook today can lead to our downfall tomorrow.

Powell will be remembered as a trailblazer who endured countless hardships to reach the highest ranks of the military. But his resiliency, his sacrifice and his many wise words on leadership dilemmas are just as relevant to the conference room or the classroom as they are to the war room or battlefield.  

May Colin Powell rest in peace — and may his lessons continue to inspire leaders of all walks for generations to come.