My American Journey
The Founder of Inspire Leadership & focuses on unlocking people’s potential by providing them with programs; mentorship and coaching into high performance
By Colin Powell
I have been spending the last three months getting to know more of Colin Powell. There is no better way to do this other than to read his book "My American Journey.
The book tells a powerful story of a life well-lived and well narrated. It also views from the mountain top the political landscape of America at a time when Americans felt disenchanted with their leaders.
General Powell's passionate views on family, personal responsibility, and in his own words, "the greatness of America and the opportunities it offers" inspire hope and present a blueprint for the future.
The lessons from the book are not only applicable to Americans but to all of us who care to be better in life.
Learning about and taking the journey of this outstanding man was powerful. Not only are readers taught what Colin Powell had to go through as a child to become the man he transformed into, but they are also taken through the journey with Colin.
It is inspiring to hear such a success story especially from a boy who was born and raised in the Bronx. Reading the memoirs sometimes can be extremely boring but not for this one.
This biography is well written and puts up a compelling case for us to unlock our potential and chase our goals irrespective of our past.
Key takeaways from the book are what is referenced to as Colin Powell's hard-won lessons:
- Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.
- Never be without a watch, a pencil, and a notepad.
- Leadership is solving problems. The day employees stop bringing you their problems is the day it is assumed you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence in you or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
- With vision only, you get no follow-through. With enforcers only, the dream is realized but leaves a lot of wreckage. Good chaplains pick up the pieces and put everything together again.
- The commander in the field is always right, and the rear echelon is wrong unless proved otherwise.
- Reject the easy path of victimhood. Dare to take the rough road of work and commitment, a road that leads somewhere.
I enjoyed the book, a joy that I would wish you all to experience, as well as the lessons from General Powell's life. He’s frank and honest when he shares the challenges of being away in the military and his babies and children not knowing him, and having to get acquainted. This is truly one of the struggles that we will face as we get higher on the ladder of our careers.
Get Updates Daily
Client's Testimonials
"Working as a trainee in the Danish International Investment Funds, I had the pleasure to work with Edward Mungai. Edward is respected for his dedication to his work and often stay after hours to complete his tasks ahead of time."
Mathias Gredal Nørvig
CEO of SYBO
""Edward is a charismatic expert speaker and a thought-leader on addressing climate change.""
Asher Lessels
Task Manager at UN Environment
"Edward is very forward thinking. He is a great person with a big heart who strives to conserve the environment. Edward is passionate about educating and informing people about climate action relating to renewable energy, environmental conservation, corporate reporting standards, sustainability, etc. Kenya will greatly benefit from your skills."
Samuel Muchangi
Entrepreneur
"Edward is a very tough, visionary leader who brings out the best in those he works with as well as those he mentors."
Nyawira Gitaka
Blog for Development 2017 finalist, World Bank Group
"Edward, thank you for preparing such an engaging and relatable presentation. You’re very comfortable in front of an audience, good on your feet, and knowledgeable. Your talents really shined! I’m sure that the audience was wowed and that new clients will roll in. Looking forward to many more collaborative interactions! "
Paul Acher
CEO Jade Communications
""Edward captured the attention of everyone in the room. His energy and absolute conviction in what he was sharing made everyone take notice. There were copious notes being taken throughout his talk! Ed challenged me to think bigger about what I am capable of accomplishing. He inspired me to reach for greatness and not settle for mediocrity. We can hardly wait to have him back sometime in the future!" "
Pius Nganga
CEO Capital Strategies Limited
"I had the absolute pleasure of recommending and contracting Edward to present to our congregation. Edward was punctual, easy to communicate with and his amazing energy resulted in the following responses from the congregation: Over 90% rated Edward and his presentation as 'Absolutely Fantastic', with the remaining rating him as 'Great'. When asked about what key learnings the congregation had taken from the conference, the following referred to Edward: • How important a positive attitude to life is important & not to let other people's negativity impact on you • Ignoring the naysayers • The need for work, life balance • Be thankful for your health and look after yourself • Surround yourself with people that make you happy and positive • Spirituality is key to success and how to relate with your networks • The importance of making a real difference in our life I would have no hesitation in recommending or contracting Edward for future events and I can't wait to work with him again. "
Rev. Dr. Johnson Kĩriakũ wa Kĩnyua, PhD
Senior Paster, Church of Amazing Grace International (C.A.G.I)
"Thank you for delivering a powerful message to our CEO Apprenticeship Programme Thought Leadership Session. The leaders had nothing but positive comments about your presentation, and left feeling ready to take action, and ‘owning’ that engagement starts with them. Your message was practical and logical, yet highly engaging. You delivered it in a way that the audience could easily connect and relate to you. Our event couldn’t have been a success without you!” "
Stephen Mukasa
Country Director, Uganda, Strathmore University Business School
"Edward message is entertaining, high energy, engaging, motivational, thought provoking, and behavior changing. His powerful message is delivered with humor but sprinkled with real life example as well as some science. His presentation will be a highlight of any meeting. People will be talking about his message for years to come."
Jennifer Githinji
CEO, Africa instore
Our Clients
