Quote

Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.

Colin Powell

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Colin Powell
Age: 87
Born: 1937
Born: April 5
Diplomat
Former United States Secretary Of State
Politician
Soldier
New York City
New York
Colin Luther Powell
Leader
Dulled
Everyone
Doubly
Must
Vigilant
Mind
Distracted
Never
Productivity
Neglect
Details
Leadership

More quotes by Colin Powell

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With vision only, you get no follow-through. With enforcers only, the vision is realized but leaves a lot of wreckage.
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It takes more courage to send men into battle than to fight the battle yourself.
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Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.
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I can think of nothing that Saddam Hussein can do diplomatically (to avoid war). I think that time is now over. He's had his chance, he has had many chances over the last 12 years and he has blown every one of those chances.
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Nobody is ready to leave Iraq to be interviewed.
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It is the job of leaders to eliminate uncertainty.
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You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere if only out of curiosity.
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Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.
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Nobody has ever said in the United States government that we are going to war next month. No decision has been made by the president because, as he said to the United Nations, he wants the United Nations to live up to its responsibilities and he wants Saddam Hussein to cooperate.
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It's nice to say let's be bipartisan. But we're a partisan nation. We were raised as a partisan nation.
Colin Powell
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Generally you should act somewhere between P40 and P70, as I call it. Sometime after you have obtained 40 percent of all the information you are liable to get, start thinking in terms of making a decision. When you have about 70 percent of all the information, you probably ought to decide, because you may lose an opportunity in losing time.
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An organization that is not facing up to people who are not getting the job done, is going to have difficulties.
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Foe means enemy. Now, will we have differences of opinion with the Russians? Yes. Will they get mad at us from time to time, and we get mad at them? That's part of the normal diplomatic relations.
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Be careful what you choose: You may get it.
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The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people.
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Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them.
Colin Powell
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My responsibility, our responsibility as lucky Americans, is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given us, as we continue our American journey together.
Colin Powell
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Politics is different, because the mission is always to get the necessary votes. A good politician goes through everything in terms of mission and vision, and resourcing, but at the end of the day politicians have to make compromises in order to achieve consensus.
Colin Powell
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Treat people kindly. When you are kind to somebody and I don't mean necessarily buddy-buddy, just show kindness and consideration. Show that people are worthy and you respect them and you are glad they're with you.
Colin Powell
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For all the hardship, I was still excited to be on the trail, testing my endurance, feeling especially alive as strength and fatigue flowed alternately through my limbs.
Colin Powell