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The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.

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
Leadership
Echelon
Unless
Rear
Commander
Wrong
Commanders
Right
Proved
Always
Otherwise
Field
Fields

More quotes by Colin Powell

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The claims made about Iraq's WMD capabilities before the invasion were inaccurate, wrong, and in some cases, deliberately misleading.
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Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.
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Leaders have followers. The primary role of a leader is to convey to those followers a sense of purpose, vision, and mission.
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Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.
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Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.
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Just hit my 75th birthday, I'm feeling great!
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We need stable regimes in this part of the world [the Mideast] who will be partners and friends of ours, because the fact of the matter is we do rely on imported oil to fuel our economy and to fuel our nation.
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Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.
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Trust is the glue that holds an org together & the lubricant that moves it forward.
Colin Powell
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There is no such thing as an unimportant person in an organization.
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We are not dictating. We are not telling them [Saudi Arabia] how they should do it or who they should look like. We are their friends. We have mutual interests and we will help them in any way that is possible.
Colin Powell
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One important element of leadership is taking care of the troops.
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Let it [racism] be a problem to someone else... Let it drag them down. Don't use it as an excuse for your own shortcomings.
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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.
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Diplomacy never stops, and, with or without an election, it never stops.
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Don't just count your days, make your days count.
Colin Powell
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I understand that and I have had very candid discussions with Saudi leaders in the past. I respect their culture and their heritage and their traditions, but I think that they now, as they move forward, will have to start examining these traditions and these practices to see whether or not change is appropriate.
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.
Colin Powell
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Have a sense of humor to break the tension in times of great toil.
Colin Powell
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If you are black, if you are Puerto Rican or Hispanic, be proud of that. But don't let it become a problem. Let it become somebody else's problem.
Colin Powell