Relational Leadership Qualities of Colin Powell and How He Represented Them - Essay Example

Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible." "The Powell Principles" In the book "Exploring Leadership" ,the author sought to familiarize us with some five very unique leadership qualities which involved how a leader Modeled the way for others, inspired a shared vision and enabled others to act. Furthermore what was his or her role in challenging the norms and the Process and particularly how he encouraged the heart.Following this guidance in the analysis of any great leader's career,this essay explores whether Retired General Colin L. Powell has manifested any or all of these qualities during his political career. Background One of the very prominent and highly regarded ,American statesmen,Powell was the sixty-fifth United States Secretary of State and the first black president to be appointed to that position. Colin L. Powell was born in Harlem in 1937 and was the son of Jamaican immigrants who were very much involved in his education and personal achievement .Colin manifested both these qualities of a bright young man and a high achiever throughout his academic career. He was well aware of his humble beginnings and he makes some interesting reflections about that in his biographical accounts. "In the preface to his autobiography, My American Journey, Powell describes himself as "a black kid of no early promise from an immigrant family of limited means." The audiences who pay dearly to hear Powell speak these days understandably believe that the man who rose from such unpromising beginnings to become one of the most admired public figures in the world must have grasped the secrets of leadership early on. He clung to them dearly as he became the youngest general in the Army, then found his way to the seventh floor of the State Department. "When I go out and speak," says Powell, "I don't talk about the chairmanship and all that stuff. I talk about being a young second lieutenant at Fort Benning, Ga. Most of what I learned about leadership I learned in my first two months there."1 Colin Powell with his vision of success and promoting the rights of black minorities struggled his way to the very top as the Joint Chiefs of Staff from his rather modest background. His dynamic attitude took him all the way to the top despite the significant impediments to success minorities were facing in his time. In the year 1986 he left Washington to serve as commander of the Fifth Corps in Germany and when he returned he became the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs in Reagan's era. His excellent leadership qualities his 1991 service as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff made him a figure of national importancee during the successful Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm conducted to to expel the Iraqi army from Kuwait.He declined the opportunity to run for president in the year 1996. and has focused his efforts on his organisation ,America's Promise,since then which is an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for today's young people.This shows how his leadership has been instrumental in encouraging the youth population and also in paving the way for inspired young people. Powell's leadership His political views have been moderate and he has earned great respect with the American people as an inspiration towards all.As has been pointed out in the book "Exploring Leadership"he inspires people with his actions like a good leader should. Serving as the Secretary of State in the Bush administration, Powell was popularly perceived as moderate. Powell's great asset was his tremendous popularity among the American people. He has played a pivotal role after September 11,in the management of America's relationships with other nations in order to secure a stable coalition in the War on Terrorism.He has been a tactful leader and has paved the way for more moderate views amongst the Bush administration.He refused to go to the Iraq War unless the international community supported this decision and continued to be the saner voice amongst the Bush Administration. As a great leader he has displayed the quality of "standing up for his beliefs"when he clashed with the Bush administration and criticised them for allegedly planning an Iraq invasion even before the September 11 attacks and successfully persuaded President Bush to take case of Iraq to the United Nations and attempt to disarm Iraq by diplomatic means. His excellent oratorical skills make him an eloquent speaker.Powell has had better times in his career during the Iraq war mainly due to his moderate ideals and he earned much praise for his proposed reforms of the intelligence community and its duty to let the people know as their right to know. He has recently retired and ever since he has played the role of a conscientious leader engaged in inspiring young people to stand up for their beliefs. In 2006 he made a very popular statement in criticism of the Bush Administration when he said during a speech that "the world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of [America's] fight against terrorism."He has attended a vast majority of motivational events to inspire the young generation. His political views are well known and he stands by them.He supports abortion and affirmative action. He gained much publicity and respect for his anti-Iraq war stand and after analyzing his actions in terms of "Exploring Leadership" I think he was doing what any responsible leader would do. He was standing up for himself and the truth like any conscientious leader when he said about the Iraq War "The civil war will ultimately be resolved by a test of arms. It's not going to be pretty to watch, but I don't know any way to avoid it. It is happening now.It is not a civil war that can be put down or solved by the armed forces of the United States." Colin's twelve lessons and exploring leadership After a study of Colin's career and his famous twelve lessons I feel much obliged to compare his notions of leadership with the ideas propounded by the Book "Exploring Leadership". According to Powell in his biography there are a host of lessons to learn as a leader which I believe reflect the observations made in Exploring Leadership aswell. Firstly he believes that "Good leaders sometimes make people unhappy" because good leadership comes with added responsibility and responsible decisions will inevitabley attract negative emotional reactions.Secondly he makes a very interesting point as to a leaders credibility when he says , "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems 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 a relationship". Thirdly he shows distrust in the musings on experts and elites who make decisions and form opinions on the basis of data and not common sense.Essentially he is not only an original thinker himself he advises other leaders to do the same. His most important link with the qualities of a leader in Exploring Leadership comes when he reiterates that " Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard" and advises that one should be an independent thinker who is not afraid to challenge popular opinion.He goes on to say that "Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted, the leader must be doubly vigilant." He emphasises on the inspirational quality of attempting challenging tasks when he says "You don't know what you can get away with until you try." You know the expression "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission" He has emphasised that a good leader will always look for details and not be led by shallow promises afraid to explore further. Powell has labelled the work force and the employees working for the administration as a leaders best asset. For him " 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" and he goes further to criticise useless time wasting plans which accomplish nothing for a leader "Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing". With a focus on personal awareness and development as central means to learn leadership, the authors begin by highlighting the great diversity in styles and purposes of leadership. Personal characteristics such as attention to detail or viewing the 'big picture' shape the kind of leader one may be. These differences emphasize the variety of paradigms for what it means to be a good leader. When I read" Exploring Leadership" in conjunction with Powell's life and achievements I had some very important lessons to learn. I saw that the myths like 'leaders are born, not made' or 'leadership is hierarchical' need to be disregarded and today we all have a chance at becoming leaders with the right amount of handwork just like Mr Powell. This book has defined leadership as "relational process of people together attempting to accomplish change or make a difference to benefit the common good'. Therefore a leader succeeds with his teamwork and not just his own greatness. Leadership is a personal and social skill as I have come to observe about Mr Powell through the lens of Exploring Leadership. A good leader should show the qualities of being inclusive, empowering, purposeful, ethical, and process oriented before they can display empathy or assertiveness in leadership initiatives. Group leaderships which are especially important in political and administrative careers require a lot of patience and purposefulness. Leaders are human and are allowed to make mistakes. Its how they deal with their errors of judgement which make them great leaders. From a combined study of his leadership career and this book I have seen how good leaders gracefully and tactfully deal with criticism. As can be seen from Powell's principles above it is imperative that a leader rewards and connects to his organisation and subordinates; The book Exploring Leadership goes on to say that "leadership means change - change for the greater good of the people in your group, organization, community, and world." In this regard Powell's humble principles of ego control and avoidance of stereotypes are very relevant.he believes in the intelligent selection of subordinates with the qualities of loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive and a balanced ego . In the end Colin makes a very interesting point when he admits that its is very lonely up there at the top and leaders should take things patiently and avoid over ambition.I would like to conclude with a famous slogan of Powell (which is actually an Epigram from Thucydides kept in the office of General Colin Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.) "Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most." References 1. Susan R Komives, Exploring Leadership for College Student: 2. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_12_32/ai_88582557 3. Colin L. Powell,Joseph Persico.My American Journey: 4. Karen Deyoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell 5. http://www.aarpmagazine.org/people/Articles/a2003-02-25-colinpowel 6. http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/leadership/usnews/powell.html ________________________________________________ Read More