Financial Times

Leadership lessons from a soldier and Statesman
General Colin Powell leaves many lessons to leaders in business, governance and civil society in Sri Lanka. He sums up that “leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible”.
Born in New York City in 1937, a son of Jamaican immigrants, he was raised in the South Bronx and was educated in the New York City public schools, and at City College of New York. He received a commission as a second lieutenant upon graduation and subsequently gained a MBA.

General Powell served in Vietnam, and as a battalion commander in Korea. He was later the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired from the U.S. Army and served as founding chairman of America’s Promise, an organization challenging Americans to make children and youth a national priority. General Powell was selected to serve as the Secretary of State and was the first African-American to hold this high office. With the peace talks re-starting in Geneva last week, may our leaders include in the philosophy of negotiation and action on the ground, a lesson from General Powell who says “We must build a better future even as we deal with the security challenges before us.

That is how we'll overcome those challenges, because it's not enough to fight against a negative, like terrorism. We must focus on what inspires us, on what brings the good people of the world together. We've got to fight for the positive — for liberty, for freedom, for democracy”.

General Powell will succeed Henry Kissinger as the 8th Chairman of the Eisenhower Fellowships Programme. The South Asian Eisenhower Fellows meeting in Colombo last week to discuss where South Asia is headed into the Twenty First Century and specifically looking at leadership issues in the Region must realize that the future of the country and region will be decided by the young.

General Powell believes that one must “Challenge young people by having high expectations of them; engage them with the opportunity to realize those expectations through constructive, character-building activities”.
It is our fervent hope that an institution like “America’s Promise” will develop in Sri Lanka, to drive the future of the nation on the back of young village leaders, with high competency but yet retaining unspoiled positive village values and ready to serve the village communities. Here are some lessons from the soldier and statesman:

* Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.

* The day soldiers stop bringing their problems to you is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

* Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess data than judgments. Elites can become so in bred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.

*Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own back yard.
*Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.

*You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.

*Keep looking below surface appearances. Don’t shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find.

*Organization doesn’t really accomplish anything. Plans don’t accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don’t much matter. Endeavours succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds

*Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing *Never let ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.

*Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplish the team’s mission.
*Rules for picking people. Look for intelligence and judgment, and most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego, and the drive to get things done.

*Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.

*Use the formula P = 40 to 70, in which P stands for probability of success and numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.

*The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise

*Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, and those who work hard and play hard.
(The writer could be reached at - wo_owl@yahoo.co.uk).

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