It Worked for Me

Key Concepts

My Thirteen Rules

1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.

2. Get mad, then get over it.

3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

4. It can be done.

5. Be careful what you choose. You may get it.

6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.

7. You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.

8. Check small things.

9. Share credit.

10. Remain calm. Be kind.

11. Have a vision. Be demanding.

12. Don’t take counsel of your fears of naysayers.

13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Great leaders push people to outcomes they cannot imagine

“But great leaders have a special touch that separates them from managers. Good management gets 100 percent of a team’s designed capability. Great leaders seek a higher ground. They take their followers to 110, 120, 150 percent of what anyone thought was possible. Great leaders do not just motivate followers; they inspire them. The followers are turned on by their leaders.” (p. 99)

“Over time I developed for my intelligence staffs a set of four rules to ensure that we saw the process from the same perspective and to take off their shoulders some of the burden of accountability.”

Tell me what you know. 

Tell me what you don’t know. 

Then tell me what you think. 

Always distinguish which from which.” (p. 115-6)

A leader must control his time

“In fact, don’t accept any calendar commitment without my knowledge. I am a nut about my calendar. I must control my time. It’s the only real asset I have. No appointment is accepted, no event is scheduled, without my personal approval.” (p. 142)

“The meeting starts when I said it would, with or without you. Show up late for an appointment and you might find it canceled. Meetings that start late and go too long waste everyone’s time.” (p. 144)

Organizations need to be introspective to improve

“It requires honest participation, a focus on learning, and a commitment not to use AARs as a means to assign grades. High-performing organizations understand the need for this kind of evaluation. I have also seen others whose leadership doesn’t have the guts to look into the mirror.” (p. 170)

“Every organization needs to be introspective, transparent, and honest with itself. This only works if everyone is unified on the goals and purpose of the organization and there is trust within the team. High-performing, successful organizations build cultures of introspection and trust and never lose sight of their purpose.” (p. 174)

The importance of agile problem solving

“Plans are neither successful nor unsuccessful until they are executed. And the successful execution of a plan is more important than the plan itself.” (p. 216)

“I was trained to expect a plan to need revision at the moment execution starts, and to always have a bunch of guys in a back room thinking about what could go right or wrong and making contingency plans to deal with either possibility.” (p. 216)

“The leader must be agile in thought and action. He must be ready to revise a plan, or dump it, if it isn’t working or if new opportunities appear. Above all, the leader must never be blinded by the perceived brilliance of his plan or personal investment in it. The leader must watch the execution from beginning to end and do what it tells him.” (p. 216)

 Quotables

“I try to be an optimist, but I try not to be stupid.” (p. 11)

“As the saying goes, ‘Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.’” (p. 12)

“One way is to leave the top floor and its grand accoutrements and get down into the bowels for real. Don’t tell anyone you are coming. Avoid advance notices that produce crash cleanups, frantic preparations, and PowerPoint presentations.” (p. 18)

“I never saw a good unit that wasn’t always stretching to meet a higher standard.” (p. 25)

“A busy bastard never leaves the office until late at night. He has to go in on weekends. He shows up in the morning at hours suitable only for TV traffic announcers, failing to recognize that a couple dozen staff people have to show up at the same time to make sure he gets the support he can’t do without and to prove they’re as committed to the job as he is.” (p. 40)

“I always keep in mind a lesson taught to all young infantry lieutenants: ‘Don’t run if you can walk; don’t stand up if you can sit down; don’t sit down if you can lie down; and don’t stay awake if you can go to sleep.’” (p. 44)

“It ain’t brain surgery. Every person in an organization has value and wants that value to be recognized. Every human being needs appreciation and reinforcement.” (p. 47)

“I’ve lived by the proposition that solving problems is what leaders do. The day you are not solving problems or are not up to your butt in problems is probably a day you are no longer leading.” (p. 50)

“Problems have to be solved, not managed. You can’t get away with burying them, minimizing them, reorganizing around them, softening them, or assigning blame somewhere outside your responsibility.” (p. 51)

“Leaders need to watch all their subordinates; work with all of them, encourage the hotshots, but invest in the others. Always be prepared to change your mind, however firmly made up, when dealing with those infinitely faceted beings we call people.” (p. 70)

“At the end of the course, a wise old sergeant said to me, ‘Well, Lieutenant Powell, you are off to a good start. You might make it in the Army. But let me tell you something about leadership. You’ll know you are a good leader if your troops will follow you if just out of curiosity.’” (p. 76)

“So everything you do as a leader has to focus on building trust in a team. Trust among the leaders, trust among the followers, and trust between the leaders and the followers.” (p. 76)

“Finally, real leadership and unfailing respect are a retail issue. They happen on the ground, where the troops are. They don’t come out of directives from on high.” (p. 81)

“Leaders who do not have the guts to immediately correct minor errors or shortcomings cannot be counted on to have the guts to deal with the big things.” (p. 92)

“Because you have to have spice in the stew, I also look for characters. An organization is invigorated when a handful of slightly felonious, offbeat eccentrics are on the team.” (p. 98)

“‘What is a leader?’ people ask me. My simple answer: ‘Someone unafraid to take charge. Someone people respond to and are willing to follow.’” (p. 102)

“Knowing I had a problem was important, but it was more important to start the process of finding a solution.” (p. 122)

“In my own experience, a deep breath is always a good first reaction to a first report. Try to let a hot potato cool a bit before you pick it up.” (p. 128)

“One of the first questions a commander considers when faced with a mission on the battlefield is ‘How much time do I have before I execute?’ Take a third of that time to analyze and decide. Leave two-thirds of the time for subordinates to do their analysis and make their plans. Use all the time you have.” (p. 146)

“Without competition, we all become dull, unfocused, and flabby—mentally and physically.” (p. 158)

“I am pretty good at knowing and analyzing my strengths and weaknesses; but I keep the latter private.” (p. 167)

“Maintaining mutual trust and accountability meant keeping my people close to me, with very short and direct lines of communication and authority and the fewest possible bureaucratic layers between us.” (p. 177)

“No good idea succeeds simply because it is a good idea. Good ideas must have champions—people willing to believe in them, push for them, fight for them, gain adherents and other champions, and press until they succeed.” (p. 277)

“Bad ideas don’t die simply because they are intrinsically bad. You need people who will stand up and fight them, put themselves at risk, point out the weaknesses, and drive stakes through their hearts.” (p. 277)