WASHINGTON–Former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Colin Powell shared his thoughts on leadership as part of his remarks to CUNA’s GAC here, including a lesson that involved President Ronald Reagan and squirrels.
Powell, who spoke of the meaningful role a credit union played in his life when he was a young enlistee in the U.S. Army nearly 60 years ago, told credit unions, “I think you are so wise to come here and say to Congress, ‘Don’t do anything more than is necessary.’ You are such a great organization. I run into so many organizations that don’t have a simple purpose. But you know exactly why you are here. I appreciate a non-profit that exists solely to serve. I congratulate you on all you have done.”
Drawing from a recent book he has written on leadership, Powell shared a story from what were at one point daily meetings with President Reagan in the Oval Office. It’s a story he calls “Squirrels.”
“I used to sit in front of the fireplace in Oval Office with the president. We were in a tough situation, and he was paying no attention. So, I talked louder and longer about the need to solve the problem. He kept looking over my shoulder, and I could think of nothing else to say. Finally, he says, ‘Colin, look, the squirrels came and got the nuts in the Rose Garden this morning.’ So, I left the Oval Office wondering what was that all about. It finally struck me. He was saying, ‘I’ll sit here as long as you want me to as you tell me about YOUR problem. But I’m going to sit here and look at the squirrels.’
“What he was saying was I trust you. I hired you because I believe in you. So, you decide. When it’s beyond that, you come see me,” said Powell.
Powell said the success of every organization he has been a part of depended on the level of delegation to people in whom he had faith. “When you do that you are saying I trust you, and they are saying, I trust you. You have to connect the whole organization in that manner.”
A week after that Oval Office meeting Powell said Reagan was part of another meeting in which numerous department heads were involved as part of concern over big real estate purchases being made by the Japanese. Powell said Reagan listened attentively to those concerns, and then finally said, “You know, I’m glad they think America’s a good investment.”
“We all walked out thinking, “Why didn’t we think of that?’” Powell said. “The beauty of Ronald Reagan was he could see above all that and he embodied the American people and their spirit. And that’s what we need in a president, somebody who embodies the spirit of America.”
Powell said that whether someone is a general or a credit union leader, their job is to take care of the horses, the people on the line, the people doing the work. “Leadership is all about followership. That’s what you must remind yourself of,” he said.