Gen. Colin Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. During his military career, Powell also served as National Security Advisor, as Commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, holding the latter position during the Persian Gulf War. Powell was the first, and so far the only, Jamaican American to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under U.S. President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005, the first black person to serve in that position.
General Powell visited Carly in her studio to talk about his life, his experience, and the unlikely lessons he learned from a very average upbringing. In this episode, they discuss:
- How Colin Powell’s titles (National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State, General) weren’t what made him a leader
- What he learned talking through the parking lot attendants at the State Department
- His definition of character, and it’s significance in leadership and problem solving
- How a leader must define purpose and mission for an organization
- What Gen. Powell calls the “celebrification of American society”
- The difference between leaders and managers, and what it takes to make up the difference
- What to do when your superiors are on the wrong track
- That leaders must have a bias to action, to not walk past a problem, no matter the size
- The importance of humility in leadership
- His upbringing in the Bronx, and his “long run of mediocrity”
- The ROTC officers who changed his life and unlocked his potential
- How he strove to improve, even at the Coca Cola bottling plant
- What satisfaction means for him
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