Colin Powell on Leadership Video

I am in San Francisco for a Technology conference and I had the pleasure to attend a one hour live session with Gen. Colin Powell (ret).  19,000 attendees for the conference and only 8000 seats.  I was one of the lucky ones.

Who the heck is Colin Powell?

Colin Powell needs no introduction.  He was a 4 star General in the USA army, National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and United States Secretary of State.

His talk was scheduled for 4:15pm, but the attendees were buzzing with excitement all morning… his presence in the building makes an impact.  He carries the same aura as Usain Bolt prior to the 100 meter Olympic or World Championship final.

There are a few American patriotic “rah rah” moments (for those who are not American) that creates a huge applause from the audience, but other than that, if you are going to listen to one podcast this year, this is the one to listen to.  You’ll have to listen to this several times as there are so many take home messages.

He is a great speaker and his topic was leadership and how it impacts today’s future.

He speaks about what it takes to be a leader, including contributing to society, always taking care of one’s “troops”, being a disciplinarian when necessary (coaches, take note!), and most importantly, being trustworthy.

It doesn’t matter if you are a CEO, Head Coach, Parent, Teacher, or ordinary tax paying citizen, this video is for everyone.

In my opinion, it is one of the most inspirational speeches that I’ve heard in a long time.

UPDATE: Only the audio recording is available to the public.

PODCAST Info:
– Presenter: General Colin Powell (ret.)
– Duration: 58:40 mins
– File Size: 56 MB

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Here it is on YouTube in its entirety (just under one hour):

UPDATE: The permissions on the video has changed to private. Please use the audio recording above.