Product Description

"The Powell Principles" details the decision-making habits, success strategies, and leadership philosophies of Secretary of State Colin Powell. Filled with insights that are as refreshingly honest as they are grittily real, this concise, no-nonsense book reveals the keys to Powell's unprecedented success, keys that include: walk the talk; be a dis-organizer; let change lead growth; be prepared to piss people off; check your ego at the door; push the envelope; let situation dictate strategy; challenge the pros; trust those in the trenches; and prepare to be lonely. Colin Powell rose from the hardscrabble streets of the Bronx to become the man Newsweek calls "...the most respected figure in American public life." Let "The Powell Principles" introduce you to the principles that drove him to the top and provide you with a blueprint for inspiring anyone - including yourself - to achieve extraordinary levels of professional success.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #633974 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780071411097
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
The Powell Principles details the decision-making habits, success strategies, and leadership philosophies of Secretary of State Colin Powell. Filled with insights that are as refreshingly honest as they are grittily real, this concise, no-nonsense book reveals the keys to Powell's unprecedented success, keys that include:

• Walk the talk
• Be a dis-organizer
• Let change lead growth
• Be prepared to piss people off
• Check your ego at the door
• Push the envelope
• Let situation dictate strategy
• Challenge the pros
• Trust those in the trenches
• Prepare to be lonely

Colin Powell rose from the hardscrabble streets of the Bronx to become the man Newsweek calls "...the most respected figure in American public life." Let The Powell Principles introduce you to the principles that drove him to the top and provide you with a blueprint for inspiring anyone--including yourself--to achieve extraordinary levels of professional success.

About the Author

Oren Harari, Ph.D., is a professor of management at the McLaren Graduate School of Business, University of San Francisco. A prominent author, speaker, and consultant, he is the author or coauthor of six previous books and has contributed to Harvard Business Review and numerous other professional publications.

Customer Reviews

Excellent advice from a top notch man
Colin Powell gives us his strategies for success in this wonderful book. I am a CEO of a Fortune 500 company who has struggled with some of these issues over the years. This book helped me to understand that I am not alone and that some issues, although unspoken, are shared by all in leadership roles.

A Good Read !
Retired four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell is considered one of the most respected leaders in the U.S. Author Oren Harari's short book distills Powell's insights about leadership. As a formidable leader who has managed battles, bureaucracies and humanitarian missions, Powell has firm ideas about how a good leader behaves. Refreshingly, some of his principles are modestly anti-authoritarian. However, Harari does not develop Powell's background or explain how he implemented these principles during his long, varied career. Like the rules promulgated in similar books on leadership, many of these "lessons" seem arbitrary and redundant. Then again, it is interesting and useful to see how a leader of Powell's caliber thinks. Truncated as it may be, we recommend this short, concise collection to aspiring leaders. It is just about enough reading material for a short plane ride, but it provides a fair share of inspiration.

Leadership is not rank, privilege, titles or money. It is responsibility
The title of this review is my favorite line from the book. Author Oren Harari gives a short and concise distillation of the leadership principles of former secretary of state Colin Powell. The book is presented as a collection of short sections each outlining one of twenty-four principles espoused in the book. Although much of what is covered in each principle seems like common sense and aligned with what other leadership books have to offer, there is enough that is new and fresh to make this work a worthwhile and fresh read.

One of my favorite principles of the book is presented towards the end and is entitled "Challenge the Pros". The main point of this principle encourages leaders not to be afraid to challenge the pros even in their own backyard. By pros he means consultants, attorneys, accountants and the like. Another one of my favorite principles is the notion of trusting those in the trenches. Powell believes that people in the trenches are closer to everything local --- conditions, allies, enemies, customers, employees, suppliers and competitors. I can not count how many times I have worked for an organization that totally ignores the opinions of those that are actually doing the work.

There are several other principles that I think make this book worth purchasing to add to your leadership knowledge. I also like the way the book is organized. Each lesson is presented in two or three pages with each lesson ending with three suggestions for how to implement or work to introduce the principle into your life or organization. Over the past year, I have read many books on leadership. What is most impressive about this one is that I feel I gained so much more information without having to read 300 pages! The thing that I like the most about Powell's ideas is that he is speaking from experience as a leader in the military as well as the former Secretary of State.