It Worked For Me Summary

Colin Powell is man with ethical morals and values. In his book, It Worked for Me, he talked about a time when President Bush was going to meet with the new president of Mexico. In preparation for the trip, he’d asked the President to visit the State Department to be briefed on Mexico-related issues. At a staff meeting, Powell explained how he wanted the briefing to be handled. He said two junior Mexico desk officers were going to brief the President because they should know more about what was happening on the ground in Mexico than anyone else. When the time came for the President to be briefed, Powell said no senior officials would speak, he did not want a rehearsal or powerpoint slides. The two officers provided the President with

As a MSgt in the Air Force, we have a great deal of experience and leadership skills. We are supposed to use our leadership skills to convert direction from our superiors into mission accomplishment. In my last organization, our Stan Eval office had a civilian in charge that did not abide by Air Force Instructions (AFI), in fact, she often stated, “forget the AFIs, we do what we want.” She disregarded her team and their experience. Stan Eval’s mission is to provide commanders with a tool to validate mission readiness and effectiveness by documenting qualifications and capabilities. The civilian had things so screwed up that unqualified personnel were allowed to work missions. There were huge implications and innocent lives were lost. The civilian was fired and I was told that I would be the new Flight Chief and to fix it. Like Colin Powell, I quickly adapted to the new responsibilities and my vision was to make sure no more innocent lives were lost. I utilized individualized consideration by holding meetings to allow each individual to voice their concerns about what had gone wrong and what we could do to get the office back on the right track. I wanted to open those lines of communication so they would feel free come to me about anything. I listened to their concerns and empathized with this. I let them know that I valued them, their input, and even implemented some of their ideas. Within a few months we were back on track. Not only did my actions prevent unnecessary death, but it proved that I am a visionary leader. Also, my decision to follow the AFIs proved that I am an ethical leader, which I will tell you about