Colin Powell Quotes

I haven't raised my voice for eight to 10 years in the kitchen. And I won't have anybody shouting. If I hear of anybody having a go at anyone else, they'll get disciplined.

Somebody has to take responsibility for being a leader.

Managers have very tough jobs. I always respected their job but demanded respect in return.

The great irony of management is that the higher up you go, the less actual control you have. When you are but a humble coder, you make the computer do exactly what you want; when you're a manager, you only hope that people understand what you want, and then trust/pray that they do it both correctly and in a timely manner.

In politics, as in business, leadership is crucial.

Nobody is going to delegate a lot of power to a secretary that they can't control.

If I'm a leader, I have a mission.

There is only one way to respond to the issue of leadership and that is to lead.

I micromanage the selection of the cabinet.

Any time you are in a position of command, your views are colored by your desire for success of the mission.

Even though I'm a chairman, I don't always get my way.

I've put a lot of thought into being a leader.

I think I have learnt more about business from fighting than anything else - from any book, from any, like - fighting is an incredible megastore for doing business.

You shut the door, you tell the boss exactly what you think. But when the door opens, the job of the vice president is to stand right next to the president and implement the policy that he's decided. And I'm prepared to do that.

When you get offered the captaincy, you've got to have a go. In India, where it went well, I was playing well, and anything that needed doing, I'd do it myself. When I wasn't playing well, it was tough.

You want to be respected by your bosses and peers.

An important part of leadership is being able to hold two things in your mind at once: Dealing with the reality, whatever it may be, and focus on hope for the future. Any leader helping an organization through challenges needs to be able to do both.

As a former NCAA basketball player, many of the skills I now rely on as a leader took root on the basketball court: teamwork, integrity, and resilience are just some of the traits I've carried over into my professional game.

The competitor in me wants to play, but it's not my job to make that decision. That's what the coaches are paid for.

At a certain point in my career, I was probably having a difficult time 'holding space.' So you get a character that has to be commanding in order for him to resonate and make sense.

The coach is the boss at the end of the day. I do whatever he tells me and don't ask questions.

One thing I am is a leader and if I'm not allowed to lead, then I have to follow. So then I want to be the best follower that I can.

As a manager you're going to have some bad times, some really bad times. If you're going to walk away, then in my view you do not have the make-up to be a manager or a leader of men.

When I was working in the Pentagon, I had to own the recommendations I made up the chain of command.

Just because you're made England captain, it doesn't mean that you suddenly know everything about captaincy.