Colin Powell Rocks

It was a wonderful experience hearing former General and Secretary of State Colin Powell recently.
Here are some of the highlights.
What makes a great leader?
A great leader is someone who inspires someone to follow. He said there could be no greater compliment than for someone to say, "I'll follow you just out of curiosity."
A leader is someone who fights for their employees, solves their problems and demands the support what they need to be successful.
Trust is also another factor that is extremely important for a leader. If people don't trust and respect their leader, there is no leadership.
Here's an example of trust: and international crisis Powell had thrown in his lap one week while serving as SoS and how leadership and trust made the difference.
The Spanish Ambassador called Powell and said, "You've got an international problem that you have to solve."
What is it? Powell didn't know so he said, I'll call you back. Then he yelled at his staff demanding to know why there was in international incident in the Mediterranean and he didn't know about it.
His staff explained the problem is what's called the Parsley Island, a small patch of land off the coast of Spain about the size of a football field. The island had been Spain's but Morocco invaded the uninhabited island and put their flag on the island.
He called the Spanish officials and asked why is this "our" problem, isn't it a problem with Spain and Morocco?
No, the Spanish official explained, it's your problem, because Spain is a member of the European Union and Morocco is a member of the Arab League.
Great. He was heading home for a weekend and his grandchildren were coming to visit and he didn't want to mess with this mess.
Spain repelled the Moroccans, the event was over, so Powell said, it's over Spain has the island back, no one hurt, no harm-no foul.
Spain said, great, write up a treaty and sign it.
Powell said, why me?
Why wouldn't Spain and Morocco sign the treaty?
Spain said, no, you write up an agreement, send it to us, we'll approve it and you sign it, it will have more impact.
So Powell wrote a short document, saying it was short because there weren't any lawyers in his house that weekend, he emailed it to Spain and to Moroccan Officials. Spain ran it by King Juan Carlos, it's okay with him, but Moroccan officials said King Muhammad VI was in a car in the desert and couldn't be reached.
Powell said, I've known the King since he was the Crown Prince, get him on the phone.
Minutes later, his phone rang, it was the King.
Your Highness, Powell explained, I'd like your permission to sign the document on behalf of Spain and Morocco to settle this dispute.
King Muhammad VI explained he hadn't seen the document and would rather see it before granting permission.
Powell then said, Your Highness, I knew your father; I visited with you in your home while you were the Crown Prince. I would never do anything to harm you or damage the reputation of Morocco or the relationship between your nation and the United States. Trust me on this, Your Highness.
"I trust you Mr. Secretary," the King said.
Powell signed the agreement and spent the afternoon with his grandchildren as planned.
Twelve Brazilian; How Many is That?
Twelve Brazilian High School students visited the United States. That's something Powell encourages to help the ideals of America spread around the world to provide insight into our real people, not the sit-com image of America.
He met them in Washington, and when he visited Brazil, he wanted to follow up with the students.
They met. What do you remember from your visit, he asked.
One student said people laughed at him when he put ketchup on his pizza. Powell indicated that most people think pizza has enough tomato sauce on it and no more is needed.
Another complained they served milk with pizza at his school in the U. S.
Powell explained how he would love to explain how the dairy lobby works but there wasn't time.
Then one student explained what happened in Chicago. They went out one night without their sponsor to a restaurant. When the bill arrived they found that they didn't have enough money to pay the bill.
They explained to the waitress that they didn’t have the money their sponsor wasn’t with them they were from Brazil and would arrange to pay the bill later.
The waitress went and spoke to the manager and then she returned.
We can go get the money, they explained again, but the waitress said, “Don’t worry about it.” The manager explained that he came to the United States as a student as well, and he wanted them to go home and tell everyone they know about the courtesy and kindness they received when they were in the United States.
Bring Students Here
After 9/11 there was a concerted crackdown on illegal and improper immigration. Powell told the President that the new tougher rules were preventing the world’s brightest students from coming to the United States to learn. Instead, they can go to England, Germany or France and we need to make sure they come here. He encouraged the loosening of the rules to bring those students here because in addition to educating the world about the real America, it also provides wonderful economic benefits to universities and colleges because they pay out of state tuition.
I’m Not OBL
Powell now makes more money speaking than he ever did in the military and government. After he left the State Department, he found himself trying to fly home after a trip. He was arranging another flight.
So, he went to the ticket counter, purchased a one-way ticket, with cash, and didn’t have any luggage. He did everything that a terrorist would do.
So despite his notoriety, when he came through the metal detectors, he had every red flag raised, so they asked him to take his shoes off and take off some clothing items.
While he stood there, the attendant was waving the magnetic wand around his body while he had his arms outstretched. Since his face has been on the cover or Time and Newsweek, almost everyone knows Colin Powell; in fact, he was picked as one of the sexiest grandparents by AARP. So lots of people said hello to the former Secretary as they walked by while he was being searched.
The attendant even looked up and said, “Hey, you are Colin Powell, aren’t you?” To that Powell said, that’s right, now why don’t you go out and capture Osama bin Laden?
Corvettes and Airplanes
So, what does Powell do after being among the most powerful people in the world and what does he miss the most?
Powell says the first thing he did when he retired was to sit and have coffee with his wife, Alma. It was very interesting when they sat across from each other and she explained that the toilet was leaking. He asked her, “What do you want me to do about that?”
It was about that time that Powell realized he had to find something to occupy his time. But first, everyone is allowed to buy a toy. It’s cheaper than a mistress and usually has the same effect.
For General Powell, his toy was a Corvette. It was well known that Powell bought a Corvette, and the General Motors Corporation took note of the General’s affection for the car. In fact, a couple of months after Colin purchased his toy, Chevrolet called him, smelling a marketing opportunity.
“How do you like your Corvette, General?” is what the representative asked. “I love it,” he said. Then there was the offer.
“General, I don’t know if you know this yet, but this year the Indianapolis Pace Car is going to be a Corvette. A Red Corvette,” the GM Spokesman said.
“That’s very nice, but what does that have to do with me,” Powell asked.
“We’d like you to drive it in the Indy 500.”
For the General, this was too tempting to miss. He went to the driving course and practiced in the Indy Pace car and then the magic moment came. Officials explained, General Powell, you’ve got the track for the next 30 minutes to practice. Powell says he got the Corvette up to 120 miles per hour. He took his son with him and his son was scared to death.
“As long as I live, my life will be measured against the excitement of driving the pace car in the Indy 500, it was one of the most incredible moments of my life,” Powell said.
And the thing he misses most about being Secretary of State? The airplane. No, not just any plane, but the Secretary of State’s Plane, the Boeing 757 with the United States of America painted on the side. He loved it. And he explained to those who were in the Air Force attending, “When I arrived at Andrews Air Force Base, security would be abuzz, and I would walk on a red carpet for me, and walk all the way to the airplane. When my right foot touched the bottom of the stairway, the first engine would fire. And when I sat in my seat and a Diet Coke was placed in my cup holder, we would begin our takeoff,” the General explained.
“But they took my plane away, and gave it to Condi.”
He really misses that plane.
And Then There is Elvis
The Prime Minister of Japan loves America, and he loves Elvis Presley. The Prime Minister explained how he believes that a song by Elvis explains the relationship between the United States and Japan. That song is “I Love you, I Want You, I Need You” and Powell agrees.
Of course, the Japanese Prime Minister wasn’t ready for Powell’s admission that he knew Elvis. In fact, Powell served in Germany at the same time the King was stationed there. Powell explained that he knew Elvis and that Elvis is STILL ALIVE.
“He is?” the Prime Minister asked.