The book is full of short stories and inspirational quotes from Powell, but it paints a picture of a leader who is not an innovator by style, but by study. Powell has learned the appropriate places to insert his character. It is in fact this character that is exceptional. Powell as a leader excels because of strength of character. He has no gray areas in his being when it comes to conviction and personal beliefs. Another thing that Powell is very good at is intuition. Often this strength is overlooked or underplayed when examining leadership skills. Powell trusts his "gut." He knows intuitively when a certain leadership tactic will work and when it will not. He knows whom he can trust and whom he cannot. He places value in information from low levels of his bureaucracy. The implications of this book for law enforcement can be good. Particularly in larger agencies where the bureaucracy can inhibit a leaders ability to effectively move an organization in a certain direction, Powell's methods of influencing leadership can be a model. The book really makes a leader think about the workings of their organization. When you know the how, the when, where and who to influence becomes easier. Even a quick study that knows all these things needs the force of character, which sets a leader apart from those he or she leads. The book was very interesting as it detailed Powell's strategy and how he brought his skills and influence to bear on a slow moving, slow changing, bureaucracy like the military. .
This book is not a biography. To reiterate, this book is not about the life and times and personality of Colin Powell. Instead, it's about leadership, using Powell as the source and role model for the principles, and attempting to apply those principles to any setting, whether it's corporate, government, or nonprofit. This book is not a book by Powell. Since people have asked me about Powell's involvement with this manuscript, let me be clear: My relationship with Colin Powell is one that can be described as friendly and professional.
