A Leadership Primer - Colin Powell Leadership

Thursday, January 31, 2019 8:31 AM

Clipped from: https://govleaders.org/powell.htm

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A Leadership Primer

By Oren Harari

I have little interest in celebrities. If I were the rule rather than the
exception, Hard Copy and People would go out of business fast. So,
earlier this year, when General Colin Powell made the transformation from
a human being to phenomenon, and when his nation-wide book-signing
tour became a happening to frenzied masses—well, I paid little attention.
I didn't buy the book, either.

Then I found myself on the same speaking platform as Powell. Charitably

speaking, I was the opening act in front of 1,000 bankers who were there
to see the main show. I stuck around to see it, too, and frankly, I was
impressed. Powell was witty, erudite, insightful, articulate and self-
deprecating. All commendable virtues. So I decided to buy the book. Am I
glad I did! My American Journey is a marvelous work, and it provided an
unexpected payoff. As I read it, I started to underline noteworthy phrases
and sentences and soon realized that what I was underlining were gems
of wisdom regarding effective leadership. In fact, when I was finished, I
was ready to toss out every leadership book in my library.

I'd like to share with you a compendium of advice from the general. With
the exception of the occasional paraphrase to keep grammatical
consistency (which will be noted), I present Powell's words verbatim in
bold—18 priceless lessons, to be exact. After each quotation from General
Powell, I attach my own civilian commentary which I hope you will find
useful.

LESSON ONE
"Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off."

Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which

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Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which
means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It's
inevitable if you're honourable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign
of mediocrity: You'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting
the people who need to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering
differential rewards based on differential performance because some
people might get upset. Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult
choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone
equally "nicely" regardless of their contributions, you'll simply ensure that
the only people you'll wind up angering are the most creative and
productive people in the organization.

LESSON TWO
"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 them or concluded that you do not care. Either case
is a failure of leadership."

If this were a litmus test, the majority of CEOs would fail. One, they build
so many barriers to upward communication that the very idea of someone
lower in the hierarchy looking up to the leader for help is ludicrous. Two,
the corporate culture they foster often defines asking for help as
weakness or failure, so people cover up their gaps, and the organization
suffers accordingly. Real leaders make themselves accessible and
available. They show concern for the efforts and challenges faced by
underlings—even as they demand high standards. Accordingly, they are
more likely to create an environment where problem analysis replaces
blame.

LESSON THREE
"Don't be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess
more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they
produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are
nicked by the real world."

Small companies and start-ups don't have the time for analytically
detached experts. They don't have the money to subsidize lofty elite,
either. The president answers the phone and drives the truck when
necessary; everyone on the payroll visibly produces and contributes to
bottom-line results or they're history. But as companies get bigger, they
often forget who "brung them to the dance": things like all-hands
involvement, egalitarianism, informality, market intimacy, daring, risk,
speed, agility. Policies that emanate from ivory towers often have an
adverse impact on the people out in the field who are fighting the wars or
bringing in the revenues. Real leaders are vigilant—and combative—in the

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bringing in the revenues. Real leaders are vigilant—and combative—in the
face of these trends.

LESSON FOUR
"Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own
backyard."

Learn from the pros, observe them, seek them out as mentors and
partners. But remember that even the pros may have leveled out in terms
of their learning and skills. Sometimes even the pros can become
complacent and lazy. Leadership does not emerge from blind obedience to
anyone. Xerox's Barry Rand was right on target when he warned his
people that if you have a yes-man working for you, one of you is
redundant. Good leadership encourages everyone's evolution.

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

Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are
worthless if they can't be implemented rapidly and efficiently. Good
leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to
details, every day. (Think about supreme athletic coaches like Jimmy
Johnson, Pat Riley and Tony La Russa). Bad ones—even those who fancy
themselves as progressive "visionaries"—think they're somehow "above"
operational details. Paradoxically, good leaders understand something
else: An obsessive routine in carrying out the details begets conformity
and complacency, which in turn dulls everyone's mind. That is why even
as they pay attention to details, they continually encourage people to
challenge the process. They implicitly understand the sentiment of CEO-
leaders like Quad/Graphic's Harry Quadracchi, Oticon's Lars Kolind and
the late Bill McGowan of MCI, who all independently asserted that the job
of a leader is not to be the chief organizer, but the chief dis-organizer.

LESSON SIX
"You don't know what you can get away with until you try."

You know the expression "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission?"
Well, it's true. Good leaders don't wait for official blessing to try things
out. They're prudent, not reckless. But they also realize a fact of life in
most organizations: If you ask enough people for permission, you'll
inevitably come up against someone who believes his job is to say "no."
So the moral is, don't ask. I'm serious. In my own research with colleague
Linda Mukai, we found that less effective middle managers endorsed the
sentiment, "If I haven't explicitly been told 'yes,' I can't do it," whereas
the good ones believed "If I haven't explicitly been told 'no,' I can."

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the good ones believed "If I haven't explicitly been told 'no,' I can."
There's a world of difference between these two points of view.

LESSON SEVEN
"Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing
so (just) because you might not like what you find."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant
or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms. It's a
mindset that assumes (or hopes) that today's realities will continue
tomorrow in a tidy, linear and predictable fashion. Pure fantasy. In this
sort of culture, you won't find people who proactively take steps to solve
problems as they emerge. Here's a little tip: Don't invest in these
companies.

LESSON EIGHT
"Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't
accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much
matter. Endeavours succeed or fail because of the people
involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish
great deeds."

In a brain-based economy, your best assets are people. We've heard this
expression so often that it's become trite. But how many leaders really
"walk the talk" with this stuff? Too often, people are assumed to be empty
chess pieces to be moved around by grand viziers, which may explain
why so many top managers immerse their calendar time in deal-making,
restructuring and the latest management fad. How many immerse
themselves in the goal of creating an environment where the best, the
brightest, the most creative are attracted, retained and-most importantly-
unleashed?

LESSON NINE
"Organization charts and hence titles count for next to nothing."

Organization charts are frozen, anachronistic photos in a workplace that

ought to be as dynamic as the external environment around you. If
people really followed organization charts, companies would collapse. In
well-run organizations, titles are also pretty meaningless. At best, they
advertise some authority—an official status conferring the ability to give
orders and induce obedience. But titles mean little in terms of real power,
which is the capacity to influence and inspire. Have you ever noticed that
people will personally commit to certain individuals who on paper (or on
the org chart) possess little authority—but instead possess pizzazz, drive,
expertise and genuine caring for team-mates and products? On the flip
side, non-leaders in management may be formally anointed with all the

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side, non-leaders in management may be formally anointed with all the
perks and frills associated with high positions, but they have little
influence on others, apart from their ability to extract minimal compliance
to minimal standards.

LESSON TEN
"Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your
position goes, your ego goes with it."

Too often, change is stifled by people who cling to familiar turfs and job
descriptions. One reason that even large organizations wither is that
managers won't challenge old, comfortable ways of doing things. But real
leaders understand that, nowadays, every one of our jobs is becoming
obsolete. The proper response is to obsolete our activities before
someone else does. Effective leaders create a climate where people's
worth is determined by their willingness to learn new skills and grab new
responsibilities, thus perpetually reinventing their jobs. The most
important question in performance evaluation becomes not, "How well did
you perform your job since the last time we met?" but, "How much did
you change it?"

LESSON ELEVEN
"Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The
situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's
mission."

Flitting from fad to fad creates team confusion, reduces the leader's
credibility and drains organizational coffers. Blindly following a particular
fad generates rigidity in thought and action. Sometimes speed to market
is more important than total quality. Sometimes an unapologetic directive
is more appropriate than participatory discussion. To quote Powell, some
situations require the leader to hover closely; others require long, loose
leashes. Leaders honour their core values, but they are flexible in how
they execute them. They understand that management techniques are
not magic mantras but simply tools to be reached for at the right times.

LESSON TWELVE
"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."

The ripple effect of a leader's enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is

the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame
engender those same behaviours among their colleagues. I am not talking
about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance
incompetence with a "what, me worry?" smile. I am talking about a guns
ho attitude that says "we can change things here, we can achieve
awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the

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awesome goals, we can be the best." Spare me the grim litany of the
"realist"; give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.

LESSON THIRTEEN
"Powell's Rules for Picking People"—Look for intelligence and
judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see
around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy
drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done."

How often do our recruitment and hiring processes tap into these
attributes? More often than not, we ignore them in favour of length of
resume, degrees and prior titles. A string of job descriptions a recruit held
yesterday seem to be more important than who one is today, what she
can contribute tomorrow or how well his values mesh with those of the
organization You can train a bright, willing novice in the fundamentals of
your business fairly readily, but it's a lot harder to train someone to have
integrity, judgment, energy, balance and the drive to get things done.
Good leaders stack the deck in their favour right in the recruitment phase.

LESSON FOURTEEN
(Borrowed by Powell from Michael Korda): "Great leaders are almost
always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate
and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand."

Effective leaders understand the KISS principle, or Keep It Simple, Stupid.

They articulate vivid, overarching goals and values, which they use to
drive daily behaviours and choices among competing alternatives. Their
visions and priorities are lean and compelling, not cluttered and
buzzword-laden. Their decisions are crisp and clear, not tentative and
ambiguous. They convey an unwavering firmness and consistency in their
actions, aligned with the picture of the future they paint. The result?
Clarity of purpose, credibility of leadership, and integrity in organization

LESSON FIFTEEN
Part I: "Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the
probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of
information acquired." Part II: "Once the information is in the 40
to 70 range, go with your gut."

Powell's advice is don't take action if you have only enough information to
give you less than a 40 percent chance of being right, but don't wait until
you have enough facts to be 100 percent sure, because by then it is
almost always too late. His instinct is right: Today, excessive delays in the
name of information-gathering needs analysis paralysis. Procrastination in
the name of reducing risk actually increases risk.

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

Too often, the reverse defines corporate culture. This is one of the main
reasons why leaders like Ken Iverson of Nucor Steel, Percy Barnevik of
Asea Brown Boveri, and Richard Branson of Virgin have kept their
corporate staffs to a bare-bones minimum. (And I do mean minimum—
how about fewer than 100 central corporate staffers for global $30 billion-
plus ABB? Or around 25 and 3 for multi-billion Nucor and Virgin,
respectively?) Shift the power and the financial accountability to the folks
who are bringing in the beans, not the ones who are counting or
analyzing them.

LESSON SEVENTEEN
"Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a breakneck
pace. Take leave when you've earned it. Spend time with your
families."

Corollary: "Surround yourself with people who take their work

seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play
hard."

Herb Kelleher of Southwest Air and Anita Roddick of The Body Shop would
agree: Seek people who have some balance in their lives, who are fun to
hang out with, who like to laugh (at themselves, too) and who have some
non-job priorities which they approach with the same passion that they do
their work. Spare me the grim workaholic or the pompous pretentious
"professional;" I'll help them find jobs with my competitor.

LESSON EIGHTEEN
"Command is lonely."

Harry Truman was right. Whether you're a CEO or the temporary head of
a project team, the buck stops here. You can encourage participative
management and bottom-up employee involvement, but ultimately, the
essence of leadership is the willingness to make the tough, unambiguous
choices that will have an impact on the fate of the organization I've seen
too many non-leaders flinch from this responsibility. Even as you create
an informal, open, collaborative corporate culture, prepare to be lonely.

Well, there it is—a primer worthy of perusal by any aspiring leader and
one a lot more useful than the infamous Quotations from Chairman Mao. I
hope these lessons provide you the same road to success that they

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hope these lessons provide you the same road to success that they
provided General Powell. Good luck!

The author of this article, Oren Harari, is a professor at the University of

San Francisco and a consultant and speaker.

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