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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.

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
Missions
Leaders
Role
Roles
Convey
Leader
Followers
Primaries
Vision
Primary
Purpose
Mission
Sense

More quotes by Colin Powell

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I don't think anyone would disagree with the conclusion that Saddam [Hussein] was a terrible dictator. He had gassed his own people and his neighbors. He had killed thousands of people, and he had started a couple of wars and destroyed his country.
Colin Powell
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We all hoped in 2001 that we could put in place an Afghan government under President Karzai that would be able to control the country, make sure al-Qaeda didn't come back, and make sure the Taliban wasn't resurging. It didn't work out.
Colin Powell
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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.
Colin Powell
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Let me blow that up for you again.
Colin Powell
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There are lots of countries that are having these kinds of internal civil wars in other parts of the world and nobody is talking about intervening.
Colin Powell
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The president's personal staff has a unique role.
Colin Powell
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Sometimes what my analytical mind says to me is not what I'll do.
Colin Powell
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One of the fondest expressions around is that we can't be the world's policeman. But guess who gets called when suddenly someone needs a cop.
Colin Powell
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It is the job of leaders to eliminate uncertainty.
Colin Powell
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Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude
Colin Powell
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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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The purposes of the United States should not be doubted. The Security Council resolutions will be enforced - the just demands of peace and security will be met - or action will be unavoidable. And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power.
Colin Powell
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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.
Colin Powell
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I don't want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches.
Colin Powell
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We are not trapped in what the science of management says we can do. We are capable of doing what the art of leadership says is possible.
Colin Powell
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All values are important, everyone who has ever touched my life in some way was a mentor for good or bad. Life is a blend, and a person is a blend of all the influences that have touched their lives.
Colin Powell
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I think you can improve on that natural ability with training and exposure to great leaders of the past and to management theories.
Colin Powell
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Just hit my 75th birthday, I'm feeling great!
Colin Powell
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Only when you have got a clear statement of what you want to achieve, do you ask yourself how you are going to achieve it. In the military we are taught never to go for a single answer, no matter how obvious that might be.
Colin Powell
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In my 35 years in the army I was in school for 6 years. I think corporations should take a look at whether they are investing enough in the development of their human capital.
Colin Powell