For thirty years I have liked Colin Powell for his level headedness. I was disappointed in his United Nations speech about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But, he has seemed pretty level headed and effective at getting things done.

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

This battle plan quote is one I’ve used for decades when talking about how we can plan all we want, but at some point we have to do and ad hoc adjust to the changing conditions. Most IT planning of maintenance work is this kind of situation.

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.

Leadership is solving problems. 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 or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

Don’t let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.

Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.

It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.

Diplomacy is listening to what the other guy needs. Preserving your own position, but listening to the other guy. You have to develop relationships with other people so when the tough times come, you can work together.

My own experience is use the tools that are out there. Use the digital world. But never lose sight of the need to reach out and talk to other people who don’t share your view. Listen to them and see if you can find a way to compromise.

Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.

You need to understand, if you take out a government, take out a regime, guess who becomes the government and regime and is responsible for the country? You are. So if you break it, you own it.

The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort.

War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support.

You’re not just voting for an individual, in my judgment, you’re voting for an agenda. You’re voting for a platform. You’re voting for a political philosophy.

I always like to take my time and examine the two candidates, see not only the two candidates but the policies they will bring in, the people they will bring in, who they might appoint to the Supreme Court, and look at the whole range of issues before making a decision.