It Worked For Me (24 page)

AFTERWORD

It’s All About People

A
couple of years ago I started jotting down stories, anecdotes, and experiences that had lodged firmly in my memory and for which I felt an affection. None of them was especially heavy or deep. None offered profound thoughts on the major issues of the day or on grand strategy. They were mostly human interest stories I thought I might use in speeches and public appearances. President Reagan used to keep a file of jokes. I had something similar in mind.

Most of my stories gave me a smile. For instance, one night Alma and I went to a movie in a local mall. As we headed back to our car, the lady parked next to us spotted us approaching. “Oh,” she said, “I recognize you. You’re . . . ?” She couldn’t retrieve the name, and so I stood there for a moment to give her a chance to search her memory. Alma got into the car. After another long minute, I said to her, “Ma’am, I’m Colin Powell.” She looked at me, bewildered, and said, “No, that’s not it.” She then got in her car and drove off. I’m often recognized as somebody who should be recognized, but I’m often mistaken for somebody else. Just the other day in the Atlanta Airport, a German tourist pointed me out to his wife. “That’s General Schwarzkopf,” he told her. When these mistakes happen, Alma won’t allow me to immediately tell people I’m Denzel Washington. . . . If only we could choose who we’re mistaken for.

Over time, the stories piled up, and I began to wonder if they might form the basis for a book. Most were similar to the stories I told in the first half of my memoir,
My American Journey
—personal stories about how I grew up, learned from good and bad experiences, and developed as an Army officer. People remember those stories far more than my coverage in the second half of the book of the serious and profound events of the 1980s and ’90s—the end of the Cold War, Desert Storm, reorganization of the armed forces, the unification of Germany, and many more. Maybe historians will find interest in those pages, but seventeen years after
My American Journey
was first published, I am still asked about the personal stories, the stories about ordinary people. I have adapted many of them for this book.

When my pile of scribbled stories got to be sufficiently weighty, I showed them to a few close friends and trusted agents. Their response was gratifying. “These stories don’t just make pleasant reading,” I was told. “They show you learning something important about life and leadership. Other people may also learn from them. Why don’t you turn them into a book?”

Most of the chapters in the book that has emerged from my pile of scribbled stories are about people I have encountered in my life—family, friends, colleagues, bosses, followers, adversaries, an enemy or two, some rich, some poor, some high and mighty, some not so high and mighty.

I have learned from most of the people I’ve met, and I have tried to inspire the people I have led. Life and leadership can’t be about
me
. They have to be about
us
. They have to be about people. I remember attending a small office promotion ceremony in Washington in the early 1970s. I can’t remember who was being promoted or where the ceremony was held. But I vividly remember that Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the father of the nuclear Navy, spoke there. Rickover was as crusty and demanding a leader as anyone has ever seen, with enormous pull on Capitol Hill.

After the promotion ritual, Rickover was asked to say a few words. His words have stayed with me: “Organizations don’t get things done. Plans and programs don’t get things done. Only people get things done. Organizations, plans, and programs either help or hinder people.”

The wisdom of his words has shaped my life.

Back in 1972 I was a White House Fellow. Ever since I’ve felt close to the Fellows; every year I speak to their incoming class; and every year I make this point to them: No good idea succeeds simply because it is a good idea. Good ideas must have champions—people willing to believe in them, push for them, fight for them, gain adherents and other champions, and press until they succeed. I follow up with a related truth: Bad ideas don’t die simply because they are intrinsically bad. You need people who will stand up and fight them, put themselves at risk, point out the weaknesses, and drive stakes through their hearts.

A life is about its events; it’s about challenges met and overcome—or not; it’s about successes and failures. But more than all of these put together, it’s about how we touch and are touched by the people we meet. It’s all about the people. I hope that comes through clearly in the pages you have just read.

The people in my life made me what I am.

Acknowledgments

I thank my wife of almost fifty years, Alma, for her support and understanding as I worked on the book. Her quiet and steadfast encouragement made all the difference as I labored away in my home office, fondly known as the bunker. I couldn’t have done it without her; or without the love and needling of our children, Michael, Linda, and Annemarie.

My agent, Marvin Josephson, did yeoman service again in working with HarperCollins to publish the book. Marvin was my agent for
My American Journey
, close to twenty years ago. During the years between the two books, he served as a dear friend and close confidant. He is the best at what he does.

Tony Koltz, a distinguished author and collaborator, was my right-hand partner and indispensable colleague in bringing order and precision to the book. I am deeply appreciative of his hard work and dedication to the project. When I engaged Tony, I didn’t know I would also pick up the assistance of his wife, Toni Burbank. Toni is a well-known and highly respected editor who served as the tiebreaker when Tony and I got into a disagreement. She usually voted for Tony, and both of them were usually right. I occasionally overruled them just to prove Generals are in charge, or think they are.

Peggy Cifrino and Leslie Lautenslager have been my beloved assistants for going on twenty years, to include my time in the State Department. Peggy runs my office and my life. Leslie works at the Washington Speakers Bureau, and I am her account. She moves me around the world with efficiency and courtesy. We have been a great team for a long time. They both have worked on the book from the very beginning, offering ideas, commentary, and criticism. A lot of this book draws from the way they go about their jobs. They are treasures.

My thanks to Edwin Lautenslager, Leslie’s brother, who organized the first rough draft of the book, which gave me something to show people. While he got me started, it was Margaret Lautenslager, his and Leslie’s mom, who did the final read with the discerning eye of a demanding schoolteacher grading a pupil.

I can’t say enough about the team at HarperCollins. They immediately saw merit in the book, and I am deeply appreciative of all they have done to shape it, promote it, and bring it to the public. Special thanks to Tim Duggan, my editor, for his thoroughness and all his suggestions. His most important contribution was understanding what I was trying to do and helping to make the vision a reality. My thanks to the entire HarperCollins team includes Brian Murray, CEO; Jonathan Burnham, publisher; Kathy Schneider, associate publisher; Tina Andreadis, publicity director; Beth Harper, publicist; and Emily Cunningham, assistant editor; and all who work for them.

Susan Lemke and her staff, who manage my papers at the National Defense University, provided superb assistance in locating obscure papers and ancient photos at the drop of a hat.

I received invaluable guidance from a close group of friends who read the manuscript as it developed. The most anticipated comment was from my former collaborator, Joe Persico, who worked with me on my memoir,
My American Journey
. I was greatly relieved when Joe complimented me and Tony on the manuscript.

Marybel Batjer, one of my closest friends and colleagues, provided excellent suggestions. Tina Brown and Harry Evans gave me early encouragement and perceptive observations for which I am grateful. Grant Green and Bruce Morrison were very helpful with the chapter on Brainware. Larry Wilkerson helped with the UN chapter that he lived through with me.

I also benefitted from so many others, too numerous to mention. This is especially the case with the GIs I served with who provide most of the inspiration for this book. I thank them all.

—Colin Powell

About the Author

C
OLIN POWELL was born in New York City in 1937. He is a retired four-star general in the United States Army and has earned numerous military and civilian honors. He has served four presidential administrations in a variety of roles, most recently as Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He lives in Virginia.

TONY KOLTZ has co-authored with Tom Clancy the memoirs of Generals Fred Franks, Chuck Horner, Carl Stiner, and Anthony Zinni. He has also co-authored two additional books with General Zinni. He lives in New York City.

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Cover Photograph © Brooks Kraft

Cover Design by Milan Bozic

A
LSO BY
C
OLIN
P
OWELL

My American Journey

Copyright

IT WORKED FOR ME.
Copyright © 2012 by Colin Powell. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Powell, Colin L.

It worked for me : in life and leadership / Colin Powell with Tony Koltz. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-0-06-213512-4 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-0-06-221724-0 (Signed Edition)

1. Powell, Colin L. 2. African American generals—Biography. 3. United States—Politics and government—1993–2001—Quotations, maxims, etc. 4. Leadership—United States. I. Koltz, Tony. II. Title

E840.5.P68A3 2012

973.931092—dc23

[B] 2012002970

EPub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN: 9780062135148

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