General Collin Luther
Powell (Rtd) is considered one of the most successful African-Americans of all
time. Born in 1937, he became the first black and the youngest man, at 52, ever
to preside as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS); a post he held from
1989 until his retirement from the U.S. army in 1992. He joined politics and
went ahead to become the first Blackman to serve as the U.S. Secretary of State
during the first term of George W. Bush. Collin Luther Powell is regarded as
both a skilled military commander and an astute politician. He outlined his
recipe for success in the following words:
“Success is the result of
perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence” –
Collin Powell.
He stresses that these are
the very qualities that helped to propel him to the pinnacle of his career,
both as a military man and as a politician. These same qualities, if you
cultivate them in your life, will help you also to rise to the top of your
career, whatever it may be. Let’s look at them one-by-one:
1. Perfection.
To be perfect means to meet all requirements or lacking no essential element or
component. Another word for perfection which is more in common use is the word
“excellence”. You see the quality of your life and work – at the level of
output - is in direct correlation to your commitment to excellence. Tom Landry
said as much:
“The quality of q life is
in direct proportion to its commitment to excellence” – Tom Landry.
You will not be outstandingly
successful if you are not fully committed to pursuing and ensuring excellence
in everything you do. Life is full of the ordinary and the common and,
therefore, the ordinary and common do not catch our attention and command our
respect. Only uncommon and extra-ordinary things catch our attention and
command our respect. That is why only people who reach out for and attain
excellence in their lives and professions attain outstanding success and
command universal respect.
I encourage you to reach
out for and secure the highest and the best in your life and in all your
pursuits, including all the small details and the seemingly unimportant. Great
things are born out of small things. Attain smartly and dedicatedly to the
small things of your life and work with excellence in all things and see how
your life will turn out excellently. Excellence, in turn, will catch the
attention of those who are responsible for your promotion, and they will act in
your favor. That is how your life will keep moving forward and upward.
2. Hard work.
I have always said, and I say it again, nothing worthwhile happens in life
except by work. The great inventor and entrepreneur, Thomas Alva Edison, bears
witness to this truth. He said:
“I never did anything worth
doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by
work” – Thomas Edison.
To do anything great in
life you must first plan and then work committedly and conscientiously to
actualize your plans. There is just no other legitimate way around work. Any
unplanned and un-worked success is either a fraud or a fluke, and both cannot
stand the test of time. Only legitimate and committed work can secure genuine
success that has God’s blessings on it and man’s approval. Such success will
stand the scrutiny and test of time. Speaking about this King Solomon says, in
Proverbs 28:20;
“A faithful man shall
abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be
innocent.”
He adds further in Proverbs
22:29;
“Seest thou a man diligent
in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean
men.”
The key to meeting the men
and women who can make the difference you seek is your diligence in your in all
your pursuits. Not only that but also diligence - commitment to work – will
eventually make you great!
3. Learning from failure.
He who cannot learn from his mistakes and failures - and take necessary action
to rectify them - is bound to repeat such mistakes over and over again. Nobody
takes such fellows seriously and they never go far in life.
As success is never ending,
so also failure is never final. Just because you failed at a particular project
or attempt does not mean that you are a failure. No! No!! No!!! Far from it!
You can always do something to turn the tide in your favour and eventually
succeed. You are a failure only when you accept it by remaining in it, doing
nothing to turn things around. Australian businessman and author, Bill Newman,
said as much:
“The greatest failure in
life is to stop trying… No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but
yourself” – Bill Newman.
You are not what people or
circumstance say you are until you append your signature to it. Do not accept
and thus perpetuate your failure. You can always fight back. Learn from your
failures. Take all the necessary actions to remedy the situation. Get up one
more time. Dust yourself up and try one more time as a wiser and more matured
person. Learn all the positive lessons you can learn from all the negative
events in your life. This kind of attitude will take you very far in life, and
as you begin to come into the objects of your vision and dreams, you will soon
see that even failure can be a great teacher.
4. Loyalty.
The world tends to underestimate the value and power of loyalty. Everyone
appears to be in a hurry and many have reached the wrong conclusion that they
must cut down those ahead of them to get ahead in life. But such a behavior is
a trap; for he who sows rebellion and disloyalty digs a hole for himself, and
he will eventually fall amidst numerous troubles and shame. He who sows loyalty
will reap recognition and promotion plus peace and prosperity. Loyalty provides
the underpinnings for a stable and influential life.
“You’ve got to give loyalty
down, if you want loyalty up” – Donald T. Regan.
He who is loyal to those
ahead of him today, will have faithful and loyal followers tomorrow. Loyalty
wins the heart of your bosses, making them to trust you. That trust translates
into tangible benefits such as direct mentorship, recognitions, recommendations,
and promotions. A loyal follower today, makes a great leader tomorrow. Loyalty
is not foolishness. It is a great virtue of the mind that shows your level of
civility.
“Nothing is more noble,
nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most
sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind” – Marcus Tullius Cicero.
5. Persistence.
To make meaningful progress in life and successfully achieve or fulfill your
dreams and visions, you must be willing and able to hold on to and carry on
with your pursuits against all odds. You see, nothing good comes easy. To
arrive at the objects of your pursuits successfully, you must persist
unrelentingly, regardless the difficulties and problems you encounter along the
way. Dr. Butler advices as much:
“When things get rough, do
not move. People and pressures shift, but the soil remains the same no matter
where you go.”
William Arthur Ward gives
much the same advice:
“Success is sometimes a
series of failure held together by strong hands of determination and
persistence” – William A. Ward.
If what you are seeking is
right and good, and if its successful accomplishment will bring increase to you
and to others; then do not give it up no matter the odds against it.
Persistence is one of the major keys to success in life. It works, and is
applicable, in all areas of life. No matter what you do, if you are persistent,
you will eventually succeed. Henry Ford said:
“Many successful people
today were failures yesterday, who never gave up” – Henry Ford.
Hold on to your dreams and
pursuits tenaciously. Do not give up. As you hold on and persist, things will
begin to take shape. People will begin to come to your aid. Circumstances will
begin to bow. The winds will begin to favour you. Great things will begin to happen.
Mike Murdock said:
“Great things always happen
to those who persist. Winners are people who are willing to try one more time”
– Mike Murdock.
Keep trying and fighting
for as long - and as many times - as it takes. You will eventually run the
victory lap and sing the victory song. Like General Collin Luther Powell, your
life will be lined with many significant first and you will end up great.
Keep moving forward and upward.
See you at the top.
I love you.
Contact me on:
2348037254805
Email: arnobius67@gmail.com
