Colin Powell Leadership

1258 Words6 Pages
Some of Powell’s defining moments came at the invasion of Panama in 1989 and two years later at the Persian Gulf War in 1991. These moments displayed some of his genius leadership skills and military planning and effectiveness. Two years after the Persian Gulf War Powell retired from the military in September 1993. Between the two leadership classes I am taking this term, my view of leadership has drastically changed. Growing up, we learn leadership mostly through movies and stories. Usually these stories have a tyrant type leader with a million followers that devote their lives to these all-powerful leaders. I thought a leader was someone who had all the answers and told those who didn’t what to do in order to achieve greatness.…show more content…
Especially in the 21st century as the leadership role is clearly changing. I was very surprised to find that a man born in New York who came up through the military system thrived on the leadership skills of listening, trusting and involving his followers. In my Executive’s Chair course I am currently enrolled in, it seems like every leader focuses and stresses on serving their followers, being transparent, and placing trust in their followers to carry out their jobs and tasks with a great amount of autonomy. It was great to be able to make the connection to Colin Powell who you may think would thrive on the strict and structured tyrant leader type that is often correlated with the military. Leadership is such an ongoing and ever changing topic that it is very important to study and take in as much knowledge as you can from courses or other tools such as books. I feel this book was a wonderful tool to accompany leadership courses. I will keep much of the knowledge with me and will be able to apply its tools and ideas to much of my life after college. It might sound cliché for a book report, but I would recommend this book to everyone who seeks the tools and ideas of one of the greatest leaders of our time. Even to those who may never be a leader, the concepts in this book, I find apply to everyday life and how you deal with people and everyday

More about Colin Powell Leadership

Open Document