It Worked for Me

I chose the book titled, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership by one of the most interesting men in the world, Colin Powell. His career background and list of accomplishments is remarkable. From being raised in the Bronx NY with an immigrant family, he grew to defy the stereotypes to establish an advanced career from a ROTC trainee, to a top rank general, then to the first African American who was appointed as the United States Secretary of State. Upon completing this book, I now understand why it indeed in noted as a #1 national bestseller. Powell took the initiative to share a selection of his own personal stories and experiences which over the years of his career, taught him vital lessons in regards to life and leadership. Within the first chapters of the book, he teaches you what he called the Thirteen Rules. These thirteen rules are the main key factors for the entire book. These rules depicted his personal stories and elaborated how to effectively display leadership, hard work and respect for others both in life and the workforce. Overall this was an incredible, entertaining and intriguing book to read! What started as just a class assignment soon turned into an addictive, brilliant and delightful experience. This book has phenomenal resources of information, theories, and intellectual insight that could be applied to various occasions. The substantial amount of valuable knowledge this book provides is essential to apply to an individual’s daily living. Powell excelled in providing the critical knowledge and tools needed to effectively uphold the image of a good character in both leadership and relationships. I personally believe this is a book that every individual need to read in their lifetime. I personally always respected Mr. Powell just by his actions alone; however I developed a whole new sense of respect for him, his character and his disciplinary lifestyle. I will definitely be keeping this in my personal library.

There is no end to the number of books about leadership and management theory. You know from the very title that this is going to be one of the better ones. By giving his book the title It Worked for Me, Secretary Powell makes it clear that he has no pretensions about applying his system to everyone. These are simply the strategies that helped make his incredible career a success, and the readers can decide for themselves what to take from it. The writing is concise and easy to read. It packs much more value for the amount of time you’ll spend reading it than most books. Powell illustrates his principles with many examples from his experience as an officer and Secretary of State. In this way, you also learn a great deal about his life, which is helpful if you don’t feel like reading his entire autobiography first. Although his status in American history will be tarnished by his role in facilitating the Iraq War, there’s no doubt that Secretary Powell’s extraordinary talent and character were of great benefit to his country. He has delivered a great benefit to the reading public by publishing this book.

GEN(R) Powell is an effective professional speaker - motivational, encouraging, humorous. This book reads like a collection of short speeches each with a specific lesson to be shared. As the title of the book states, the collection is of principles and ideas that worked for him throughout his professional life. Many apply to most people. Some are focused at people at the top of their profession. All have something of value or to consider for any reader. Readers of and about GEN(R) Powell will find some familiar stories from his youth and time in the Army. New stories included in this book are from his time as Secretary of State and his relationship with leaders from other nations. He is a great story teller. He is also very effective at gleaning lessons from his stories and distilling them into simple language for the reader. The result is an easy reading book with some insights into the man, some ideas that can apply to each of us, and an enjoyable recollection of some recent history. Some reviewers critique the book for not being a "tell all" expose of his time as Secretary of State. Some seem to want a gushing apology for his UN speech leading up to our invasion of Iraq. He addresses that speech and the faulty intelligence that he relied on and reported in two chapters of this book. He takes responsibility for the content and the errors while also providing background of how the speech came to be and why he was convinced the information he had was accurate. He states clearly that this speech is a blot on his record. However, he reminds readers that he tries to learn from his mistakes - big and small. Once a mistake is made what else can you do? You can seek to make it right, if possible. You can determine what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future. Or you can ignore it and pretend it didn't happen. GEN(R) Powell took the first two options. I would have appreciated a little more introspection from GEN(R) Powell specifically on mistakes or poor decisions from his life and how he dissected them to learn from them. In a couple of places, he admits that he does not like to discuss his faults with others. He acknowledges the need to identify your weaknesses and seek to improve but is not comfortable divulging those with others, especially strangers. So be it. I can't fault him for that. In all the book is worth reading. As a collection of very short chapters full of simple and clear lessons supported by anecdotes, I have a feeling this is not a book I'll read from cover to cover again but it is certain to be one that I pick up when facing specific challenges or preparing a speech of my own. Or maybe just to reflect on one of our nation's successful leaders and listen to his stories again.

Any person in a leadership position should purchase this book. I know Powell became a bit of a controversial person however, I’ve always been a big fan. This book provides some insights into his career, but also gives an understanding of how to lead effectively.

Gostei da leitura até esperava mais do conteúdo mas acredito que o que eu vá gostar mais seria o outro livro de Powell, My American Journey, que comprarei depois. Mas esse livro você vê que ele é um homem que fez a diferença por onde passou e deixou um legado positivo.

All aspects of the book. Very interesting.

Excelente libro

Fantastic book. Must read for all. Practical and genuine

Born in New York General Colin Powell is a faszinating Person with a really interesting character. His firm convictions and ideas of how to live and interact with your Society and especially of how to behave as a leader are not only good ideas but should furthermore be an inspiration to all of us. This book is highly recommendable for everyone. Both concerning the subject and also in relation to the authors life and thinking. Habe das Buch auch in deutsch gelesen. Hier hat es den Titel "Leadership. Lehren, die mich durchs Leben führten." Gute Übersetzung, genauso gut zu lesen, wie das englische Exemplar.