The Powell Principles: 24 Lessons from Colin Powell, a Battle-Proven Leader (Mighty Managers Series) [Hardcover]

Oren Harari (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mighty Managers Series | Publication Date: August 23, 2004

The key to success in any setting lies in knowing how to be an effective leader. The Powell Principles outlines the decision-making habits, success strategies, and leadership philosophies of Secretary of State Colin Powell, and provides fascinating examples of how Powell has used them to overcome numerous obstacles in his climb to the top. Filled with insights that are refreshingly honest, this concise, powerful book reveals how you can dramatically improve your leadership skills and achieve unmatched levels of professional success, while inspiring others to extraordinary performance.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Powell Principles details the decision-making habits, success strategies, and leadership philosophies of Secretary of State Colin Powell. Filled with insights that are as refreshingly honest as they are grittily real, this concise, no-nonsense book reveals the keys to Powell's unprecedented success, keys that include:

• Walk the talk
• Be a dis-organizer
• Let change lead growth
• Be prepared to piss people off
• Check your ego at the door
• Push the envelope
• Let situation dictate strategy
• Challenge the pros
• Trust those in the trenches
• Prepare to be lonely

Colin Powell rose from the hardscrabble streets of the Bronx to become the man Newsweek calls "...the most respected figure in American public life." Let The Powell Principles introduce you to the principles that drove him to the top and provide you with a blueprint for inspiring anyone--including yourself--to achieve extraordinary levels of professional success.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Oren Harari is a professor of management at the McLaren Graduate School of Business, University of San Francisco, and author of the national bestseller Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 115 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071444904
• ISBN-13: 978-0071444903
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Oren Harari is a professor of management at the McLaren Graduate School of Business, University of San Francisco. A prominent author, speaker, and consultant in the areas of competitive advantage, organizational change, and transformational leadership, Harari writes a weekly column "Harari at Large" for the American Management Association's website, Mworld. He has contributed to Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Industrial Relations, Small Business Reports, and other professional publications.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent advice from a top notch man, January 21, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Powell Principles: 24 Lessons from Colin Powell, a Lengendary Leader (The McGraw-Hill Professional Education Series) (Paperback)

Colin Powell gives us his strategies for success in this wonderful book. I am a CEO of a Fortune 500 company who has struggled with some of these issues over the years. This book helped me to understand that I am not alone and that some issues, although unspoken, are shared by all in leadership roles.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read !, March 21, 2005

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Powell Principles: 24 Lessons from Colin Powell, a Battle-Proven Leader (Mighty Managers Series) (Hardcover)

Retired four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell is considered one of the most respected leaders in the U.S. Author Oren Harari's short book distills Powell's insights about leadership. As a formidable leader who has managed battles, bureaucracies and humanitarian missions, Powell has firm ideas about how a good leader behaves. Refreshingly, some of his principles are modestly anti-authoritarian. However, Harari does not develop Powell's background or explain how he implemented these principles during his long, varied career. Like the rules promulgated in similar books on leadership, many of these "lessons" seem arbitrary and redundant. Then again, it is interesting and useful to see how a leader of Powell's caliber thinks. Truncated as it may be, we recommend this short, concise collection to aspiring leaders. It is just about enough reading material for a short plane ride, but it provides a fair share of inspiration.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leadership is not rank, privilege, titles or money. It is responsibility, May 19, 2006

By 

Kai Ajala Dupe "Kai" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Powell Principles: 24 Lessons from Colin Powell, a Lengendary Leader (The McGraw-Hill Professional Education Series) (Paperback)

The title of this review is my favorite line from the book. Author Oren Harari gives a short and concise distillation of the leadership principles of former secretary of state Colin Powell. The book is presented as a collection of short sections each outlining one of twenty-four principles espoused in the book. Although much of what is covered in each principle seems like common sense and aligned with what other leadership books have to offer, there is enough that is new and fresh to make this work a worthwhile and fresh read.

One of my favorite principles of the book is presented towards the end and is entitled "Challenge the Pros". The main point of this principle encourages leaders not to be afraid to challenge the pros even in their own backyard. By pros he means consultants, attorneys, accountants and the like. Another one of my favorite principles is the notion of trusting those in the trenches. Powell believes that people in the trenches are closer to everything local --- conditions, allies, enemies, customers, employees, suppliers and competitors. I can not count how many times I have worked for an organization that totally ignores the opinions of those that are actually doing the work.

There are several other principles that I think make this book worth purchasing to add to your leadership knowledge. I also like the way the book is organized. Each lesson is presented in two or three pages with each lesson ending with three suggestions for how to implement or work to introduce the principle into your life or organization. Over the past year, I have read many books on leadership. What is most impressive about this one is that I feel I gained so much more information without having to read 300 pages! The thing that I like the most about Powell's ideas is that he is speaking from experience as a leader in the military as well as the former Secretary of State.