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Colin' all power-fuls
Why is it that, of all the books one reads, there are just a few that make you wonder about their print run?
Why is it that, of all the books one reads, there are just a few that make you wonder about their print run? The day Colin Powell stepped out of the office of Secretary of State, we were at a Kolkata bookstore looking coincidentally of course, since we hadn’t yet caught the news for his autobiography, My American Journey.
The search has been on for several years, now, after a very young friend handed it to us as a worthy read. This was during the years when the Boy from the Bronx who almost didn’t join the Army, was still a serving American armyman. The owner of the book was correct. It’s a powerful and heartwarming account of his life and there have been times when we’ve thought of gifting one copy to a despondent friend or someone who is losing faith in the system.
Strangely, most bookstores we have visited, from Delhi to Siliguri to Darjeeling and then to Kolkata and further down to Secunderabad, are not too familiar with the book. That’s what makes me want to find out the print run since several people one discusses the world’s issues with, are familiar with the book.
What never fails to surprise me is the reaction of the salespersons. More often that not, our inquiry is followed by a polite but marked, "Colin?" waiting for us to stress on the second name again. Even when the man was US Secretary of State.
We picked one copy up from Khan Market some years ago, after placing an order. The recent one was available off the racks at Kolkata’s most spacious and best-stocked bookstore.
And then came the news of the resignation.
Oops! I thought, a book cover at the Library floating instantly before the mind’s eye. I’d been meaning to check it out for a while, postponing it for no arguable reason. The Tata McGraw-Hill Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell by Oren Harari is a far more recent publication (2002). And of course, it’s not an autobiography, not even a collaboration between the author and his subject. It's a powerful handbook for any leader, however tiny her team.
Harari is also the author of an earlier compilation studying the leadership qualities of the man who led the world’s most powerful Army, the man who is quoted to have said, "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them." This compilation is included at the back of the Tata McGraw publication. Powell’s inter-personal techniques, as noted in this book, are universal and their relevance is in no way linked to any office that he may have held.
Dr Harari, incidentally, teaches Management at the University of San Francisco.
Now that Powell has resigned and will, presumably, have more time on his hands, there are whispers of his penning down a sequel to his autobiography, probably beginning where he left off and updating the experiences of a man of several very notable firsts.
That book, unless Colin Powell takes up a more powerful appointment, had better be a chartbuster. If it remains as self-effacing as Powell is believed to be, it may be more difficult to locate on the shelves even if the pages are loaded with insights on what really and truly happened to make him step down.
