16
I had the privilege recently to
attend the Global Leadership
Summit sponsored by the Willow
Creek Association. The live
summit was held in South
Barrington and attended by some
8,000 people, and it also was
beamed by satellite to 170,000
attendees in 525 cities across
some 100 countries.
The
globally
known
speakers
came from all walks of life -- a
general,
an
attorney,
a
sociologist, a psychologist,
professors, researchers, best-
selling authors, CEOs, pastors,
and even an Emmy award-
winning TV producer – and they
all talked about leadership
through their respective prisms.
The information they shared
was transformational, things I
wish I had heard 30 years ago,
things that would have been
helpful in both my professional
and personal life.
In an attempt to share some
of that information, we are
including a monthly “Leadership Thought” in our
newsletter. This month’s thought comes from the
message delivered by Gen. Colin Powell, who served
as a senior level advisor to four presidents in the
roles of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
National Security Advisor and the country’s 65
th
U.S.
Secretary of State.
“People think generals run around saying ‘That’s
an order!’ I never once have said that,” said Powell,
who served 35 years in the U.S Army and rose to the
rank of four-star general. “Leadership is about
followership. Great leaders invest in followers.
People are not widgets. The old adage ‘Take care of
your troops and they will take care of you’ is true.”
Powell said that trust is the “glue and lubricant” of
successful organizations.
“Always empower people within their zone of
operation, and then trust them,” said Powell, who is
founder of the not-for-profit America’s Promise
Alliance and also the
Colin L. Powell Center
for Leadership and
Service at his alma
mater,
the
City
College of New York.
He talked about a
meeting he requested
with President Ronald
Reagan when he was
serving as Reagan’s
National
Security
Advisor. He said he
wanted
to
brief
Reagan on a problem
he was having. He
said Reagan sat in his
rocking chair in the
oval office as Powell
went into great detail,
but Powell noticed that
the president was
looking past him.
“So I talked faster and louder,” he recalled. “But
President Reagan wasn’t really paying a lot of
attention. Finally, he stood up, walked over to the
window and said ‘Colin, look, the squirrels ate the
nuts I left for them in the Rose Garden.’ “
Powell said he walked back to his office on the
other end of the White House and reflected on what
(Continued on page 17)
Leadership
Thoughts
Michael Chamness
IASA Director of
Communications
“People think
generals run
around saying
‘That’s an order!’
I never once
have said that,
Leadership is
about
followership. Great leaders invest in
followers. People are not widgets. The
old adage ‘Take care of your troops
and they will take care of you’ is true.”
— General Colin Powell, who served in
leadership positions for four presidents
General Powell: ‘Empower people and then trust them’
