If you are looking for a great book on leadership I highly recommend Colin Powell's It Worked For Me. The book begins with Colin Powell's 13 Rules of Leadership and why he has hung on to them over the years. Here they are with some of his
thoughts on each:
1. It ain't as bad as you
think. It will look better in the morning.
This
rule reflects an attitude and not a prediction. I have always tried to keep my
confidence and optimism up, no matter how difficult the situation. Things will
get better. You will make them better.
2. Get
mad, then get over it.
I’ve worked hard over the
years to make sure that when I get mad, I get over it quickly and never lose
control of myself.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your
position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
Accept that your position was faulty, not your ego. Loyalty is
disagreeing strongly, and loyalty is executing faithfully.
4. It can be done!
Don’t surround yourself with instant skeptics. At the same
time, don’t shut out skeptics and colleagues who give you solid counterviews.
5. Be careful what you choose.
You may get it. Don’t rush into things.
6. Don't let adverse facts stand in the
way of a good decision.
Superior leadership is
often a matter of superb instinct. Often, the factual analysis alone will
indicate the right choice. More often, your judgment will be needed to select
from the best courses of action.
7. You can't make someone else's choices.
You shouldn't let someone else make yours. Since ultimate
responsibility is yours, make sure the choice is yours and you are not responding
to the pressure and desire of others.
8. Check small things.
Success ultimately rests on small things, lots of small things.
Leaders have to have a feel for small things—a feel for what is going on in the
depths of an organization where small things reside. The followers, the troops,
live in a world of small things. Leaders must find ways, formal and informal,
to get visibility into that world.
9. Share credit.
People need recognition and a sense of worth as much as they
need food and water. Share the credit, take the blame, and quietly find out and
fix things that went wrong. Whenever you place the cause of one of your actions
outside yourself, it’s an excuse and not a reason.
10. Remain calm. Be kind.
In the “heat of the battle”—whether military or corporate—kindness,
like calmness, reassures followers and holds their confidence. Kindness
connects you with other human beings in a bond of mutual respect. If you care
for your followers and show them kindness, they will recognize and care for
you.
11. Have a vision.
Be demanding. Purpose is the destination of a vision. It
energizes that vision, gives it force and drive. It should be positive and
powerful, and serve the better angels of an organization.
12. Don't take counsel of your
fears or naysayers.
Fear is a normal human emotion. It
is not in itself a killer. We can learn to be aware when fear grips us, and can
train to operate through and in spite of our fear. If, on the other hand, we
don’t understand that fear is normal and has to be controlled and overcome, it
will paralyze us and stop us in our tracks. We will no longer think clearly or
analyze rationally. We prepare for it and control it; we never let it control
us. If it does, we cannot lead.
13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
Perpetual optimism, believing in your self, believing in your purpose, believing you will prevail, and demonstrating passion and confidence is a force multiplier. If you believe and you have prepared your followers, the followers will believe.
