Colin Powel's American Journey

I had a bias against this guy because of his involvement in the Iraq Invasion in 2003. Even though he did speak out against it later on and resigned from office, I don't believe he has come out of it clean. But there are some good aspects of his life that he brings out in this book and that is what this note is about.

It is very impressive how Colin Powel has maintained a connection with his roots at the Bronx in spite of all his accomplishments. My American Journey to me was an admirable story of a man who was pitted to contest for the position of the most powerful office in the world and I believe his sense of humility had a large part to play in his successes. Colin Powell was brought up in a fashion not to take anything for granted and did not have qualms about work which might have hurt other people’s ego. In one of his earlier jobs, he mopped the floor of a bottling plant with the belief that all work is honorable. As can be seen from his career later on, such an attitude pays dividends in positions of leadership. It enables the leader to connect with his subordinates. Like the time when he underwent training for tanks even though he was not required to. It is natural to develop respect for a leader who comes down to the assembly line or runs the 4-mile jog with the subordinates. My primary take-away from this book is that a leader needs to earn the trust of her subordinates and in order to do this, she should break all redundant bureaucratic layers and lead from the front without letting her ego come in the way.

My favorite passage in this book was the description of Hank “The Gunfighter” Emerson’s farewell parade in which he concluded by commanding his officers (Colin Powell included) to salute the soldiers. This is another theme that I picked up from this book. That in order to maintain a winning team, it is important for the leader to have a genuine sense of responsibility for the team. This was evidenced in Powell’s description of leading the Perishing Rifles in his high-school days to the time he spent in West Germany as Commanding General and his tenure as the Chairman of Joints Chief of Staff in the White House. It was impressive to read how Powell threw support behind Norman Schwarzkopf, the CINC during the Gulf War and took the heat from Dick Cheney and other senior White House officials. Lesson learnt from Powell’s experience was that a leader should first get the best people on board, work hard on getting the team ready in meeting the target and back the team in front of her peers and superiors.

Optimism is something that comes across as a pre-requisite in every effective leader we have studied so far. The most inspiring aspect about Powell’s achievements was the fact that he accomplished those in an era in which he could easily have been discouraged due to the treatment meted out to the African-American community. Great leaders take strength from positive energy and radiate optimism themselves. Powell tended to see the good in the society and the individual and I thought this was very important in achieving the level of success that he did. The mood of the leader makes a huge difference to the team and this is a vital lesson for any budding manager.

This book gives hope to the readers, whether they are American or not. Not only is it a story of a person who did not let a humble background or his skin-color interfere with his path to glory, it holds valuable lessons in working with and managing people.. As a business student, I have found it particularly enjoyable for the lessons of people-management that it holds. Furthermore, the emphasis to family was an important aspect of this book. Powell is a man content with himself and his surroundings and aware of his responsibilities and position in a society. He had an opportunity to contest the President’s office but he chose not to. That forced me to think about a balance in life which I believe is very important in the fast-paced world of today.