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Earlier this week Colin Powell died. He certainly had his critics in his latter days, but it’s not my intent to opine on that. Rather, I want to revisit his 13 Rules for Leadership.

These 13 rules were what helped Powell accomplish his goals. Powell was a pretty successful guy, to say the least …he was the country’s first Black Secretary of State, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (youngest ever!), national security advisor and a four star general.

Throughout the ups and downs of his career, Powell lived by a set of “13 rules,” which he laid out in his 2012 memoir, “It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership.”

I wanted to share those with you, and offer a little commentary from a Christian perspective as I go.

Rule #1 – It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.

Powell believed that you needed to strip fear and anxiety from your decision-making. Hello, Tony. I’m not prone to anxiety, but I am the world’s worst about second-guessing. Ancient script teaches us that God is not the author of fear. Sure, things can look bad, and often they are, but God has a unique divine way of protecting us. It’s a simple matter of trust, yes? Remember, too, that God’s mercies are new every morning. What is happening today isn’t what will be happening tomorrow. The tendency is to let fear paralyze us, to cause us to curl up into a ball. Nope. God’s got it. God’s got us.

Rule #2 – Get mad, and then get over it.

Everyone gets mad. But, as Powell wrote, “staying mad isn’t useful.”

“I’ve worked hard over the years to make sure that when I get mad, I get over it quickly and never lose control of myself,” he wrote. “With a few lapses I won’t discuss here, I’ve done reasonably well.”

Anger is part of our hard-wired human emotions. It depends in part, though, about what makes you mad. Simply getting mad about someone cutting you off in traffic, or taking too long in the Chick-Fil-A drive-through to place an order – those are legitimately no big deals. But if getting mad about injustice, or prejudice, or sin in any of its manifestations is part of who you are, that’s different. If anger positively affects your actions, that doesn’t seem to be a bad thing. Case in point – Jesus with the moneychangers in the temple. He was livid, but His anger was justified and purposeful.

Rule #3 – Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

Here’s how this works: you may have some belief that you’ve staked your very well-being on. It might be a matter of politics, of health, or even your faith and theology. And – horrors! – you find out that you were simply wrong. The result is that you double-down, shunning all other opinions, and you scurry for support to other like-minded individuals.

Let’s don’t be that way. Don’t let your ego get to that place. God is consistently bringing me down a notch 0r two. Remember your Uncle Tony’s mandate: Periodically, look in the mirror and say, “You know, I could be wrong.”

Rule #4 – It can be done.

Being hopeful (or hopeless) can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. You can have hope if you WANT to have hope. Guard yourself against being negative and pessimistic. Start from the opposite side – be optimistic first. As Powell wrote: “Always start out believing you can get it done until facts and analysis pile up against it. Have a positive and enthusiastic approach.”

Rule #5 – Be careful what you choose: You may get it.

My parallel thought to this is “Be careful what you pray for. Sometimes, an answered prayer can cause all sorts of unnecessary grief.”

Rule #6 – Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.

When faced with a tough decision, Powell wrote, you should gather as much information as possible — but in the end, use your judgment and instincts to make the right decision.

“This is when you look deep into your own fears, anxiety, and self-confidence. This is where you earn your pay and position,” he wrote.

I’d call this “trusting your spiritual gut.” Faith in Christ sometimes doesn’t make any rational sense.

Rule #7 – You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.

Chances are you are surrounded by plenty of “helpful” people. Experts, even. But if what you’re hearing is not in harmony with your values and morals, keep moving. And, as much as it grieves me to say this, this really comes into play with these lovely pandemic days.

There is always a “right” out there, and it comes from the heart of God Himself. Just get as close to Him as you can and do whatever you feel like doing.

Rule #8 – Check small things.

As a leader, Powell noted, he’d often drop in on other departments and wander around the office to see what others were working on. That’s because for him, success was built off small details.

Here’s another thought: It’s the small things, the habits you form, the thoughts you cultivate, that determine how your life will go. Neglect those small things – like, for instance, spending time alone with God,  avoid listening to negative people – and it will most assuredly take a toll on you.

Rule #9 – Share credit.

“Let all employees believe they were the ones who did it. They were,” Powell wrote, adding that people need recognition and a sense of worth “as much as they need food and water.”

As a believer, you are a product of God, of course. But you are also a product of people that loved on you, believed in you, and propped you up when times were hard. Hey – can you pay that forward? Try this – tell one of your Christian brothers or sisters, “I love seeing what God is doing in your life” and mean it. It will do your soul good, and there’s no telling the impact your simple, sincere words might have on them. We are all motivated by emotional as well as spiritual needs. Here’s something you can do.

Rule #10 – Remain calm. Be kind.

My gosh, could anything be any more self-evident? If your life is in chaos, that chaos will spill over into others. I don’t enjoy being around someone in a perpetual state of panic. That doesn’t encourage me. By the same token, people who are simply chill calm me.

My wife Teresa had total knee replacement surgery last week. That’s a story for another day. She’s doing pretty well. I hadn’t met her surgeon before the day of the surgery, but after visiting with him before and after, I was struck by just how at ease he was and how his very bearing gave me confidence. I don’t want a doctor treating me who is wringing his or her hands.

And be kind. I beat this drum a lot these days, but again, this is something you can easily do. You can’t help it if people are mean to you, but you don’t have to strike back. I mean – what good does it do?

Rule #11 – Have a vision. Be demanding.

Powell was referring to how a leader needs to inspire and pull out the best in his or her followers. Coming at it from a different perspective, it might be helpful to make it personal.

Ancient script teaches us that where there is no vision, the people perish. So let’s think in terms of personal vision, and of demanding God’s best for ourselves. If you want to stay sane, and be effective, then you absolutely have to have a sense of where you want to go and how to get there.

Fortunately, the hard work is already done.

God has a plan, a perfect plan, for all of us. Our vision is simply to comply with what He already has planned for us to do. Demand of yourself that you won’t accept anything but God’s mandates for yourself. You serve Him. He doesn’t serve you. People have an emotional need for purpose, and it runs deep. Guess what? You already have a purpose. As Henry Blackaby said – find out what God is doing and join Him.

Rule #12 – Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.

Fear is an absolutely valid human response. To some extent, it can keep us alive – it can be useful. But it can’t control us.

“Fear not” shows up scores of times in scripture. The key is to acknowledge your fear, determine if it’s legitimate, and act accordingly. If we aren’t careful, fear can control us, and that certainly isn’t healthy. There are irrational fears, and I’d wager most of our fears are. That’s isn’t what you want motivating you.

Same thing with naysayers. There are plenty of people who will tell you you’re wrong, you’re misled, and you’ll never change. You’ll never accomplish what you want to. Maybe they won’t be so blunt; maybe they’ll take the passive-aggressive route. Either way, you can’t let the negativity of others unduly influence you. They are more likely to be wrong than right. And if they are right, glean what you can from what they’ve said and move on.

Rule #13 – Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Powell said that people around you feed off your optimism.

That means you need to be optimistic, for yourself and for others. It’s not just believing something can be done; it’s showing others that your heart attitude proves it can be done.

For the believer, there is no justifiable reason not to be optimistic. Pessimism grows out of fear of what could go wrong, and sometimes that’s informed by things that have gone wrong in the past.

Fact is, God is orchestrating the circumstances of your life. Nothing is going to get to you without passing by Him first. So whatever happens, we need to remember that there are no accidents. We don’t need to take counsel of our fears.  God has made you invincible. That’s not a bad superpower to have.

I think you might find some wise counsel and encouragement in Powell’s words. And, as a believer, you know that the most important words come from God Himself. In temporal terms, Powell’s words won’t last, but that doesn’t mean we can’t glean truths from them today.

Talk later! Be blessed.