Throughout his long and storied career, Colin Powell has resisted chasing the latest management trend or fad. To anyone who would listen, Powell has always advocated the benefits of adopting a 'situational approach' to leadership instead of the 'one size fits all' approach that is favored by so many management consultants these days.
In Powell's experience, flitting furiously from fad to fad only serves to create confusion within your team and diminishes your credibility as a leader. Worse still, blindly following a particular management theory can also generate unnecessary rigidity in your thoughts and actions. This, argues Powell, can be disastrous.
To quote Powell, "Some situations require the leader to hover closely; others require long, loose leashes. Leaders must understand that management techniques are not silver bullets or magic mantras, but simply tools that can be reached for at the right times, as circumstances dictate."
For more leadership lessons from Colin Powell, go to:
http://home.att.net/~coachthee
Source: The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell by Oren Harari