General Colin Powell is one person I completely admire. He is a true leader who has brought the bravest men and women through war with success. A soldier for 35 years, a General, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, Colin Powell is the true meaning of a leader.

In the November issue of Counselor magazine, Andy Cohen had the great honor of interviewing Gen. Colin Powell to find out his secrets for motivating and leading a team. To Gen. Powell, managing is a passive action. Leading is active. Gen. Powell states that, “Good leaders analyze a situation, face reality and create a clear path for their people to follow. Managers just sit around and watch things happen around them.”

I never thought about this before. However, the more Gen. Powell spoke about the difference between leaders and managers, the more intrigued I was because he was right. Gen. Powell believes that organizations with great leaders will prevail; organizations that only manage are doomed. “The most anxious people during times of change are at the mercy of their leaders,” he says. “They’re concerned about what to expect every day, so a leader needs to tell them what to expect, lay out a plan for how the organization will face the change and then, most importantly, stick to that plan. Managers waver from a plan. Leaders never waver.”

Gen. Powell also believes that the worst managers are those who don’t communicate with their employees and just leave them ‘on an island left to their own devices.’ Leaders need to train employees how to deal with a shifting organizational environment.

Good leaders know when to reward people and when to discipline. When someone wavers from the company’s goals or when they do something completely wrong, discipline is the only answer. “You need to discipline them,” states Gen. Powell. “They need to know when they do things wrong so they can identify what would be right. That’s why mistakes aren’t always bad – as long as people can learn from them. The only way to learn from them is if they’re adequately disciplined.”

Adequately rewarding employees to show appreciation for hard work is also a sign of a great leader. It doesn’t always have to be something big. Gen. Powell gives soldiers a simple metal coin, imprinted with his name and title “Secretary of State.” Gen. Powell believes it’s the small things that are personally meaningful that matter. “It doesn’t mean anything to me, but every soldier knows about these coins. It means a lot to them to receive one of these coins.”

The coins are used by high-ranking military officials to recognize soldiers for their achievements and hard work. Officials walk around with the coins jingling in their pockets and hand them out at random to soldiers they feel are worthy. Gen. Powell never walks into Walter Reed Army Medical Center without them. “I’ll sit down and talk to a soldier who’s been badly hurt. They’re depressed and they’re hurting, but when our conversation ends, I’ll pull one of these coins out of my pocket, hand it to them, and thank them for everything they’ve done for this country. They light up when they get it. It really means the world to them. You’d be surprised how much the little things help to make somebody feel better.”

There is a lot of value placed on recognition in an organization made of great leaders. “It’s all about recognition. When people adapt well to a changing environment, their boss has to show them his appreciation,” says Powell. “They need to know the value of doing right. It means you get respect, it means you get rewarded, and it means you understand the feeling of success.”

However, when times are tough, the idea of trying to motivate people is ludicrous. It does not make any sense to motivate people when the business suffers because, first of all, nothing will work. People will continue to worry about job security. “You can’t waste your time motivating people when things are bad. You have to find a way to make it better,” says Powell. “People get motivated by success, not failure. They need to see that there’s a path to success. Come up with strategies to fix the business before you do anything else.”

People don’t want to hear some motivational speech about how business is going to get better; they want to see the business succeed so they keep their jobs. The only thing that is actually going to make business better is formulating a plan and following through on the plan. Then you can motivate your employees for their participation in the success of the company. Motivating employees to continue success is the key to great leadership and a successful business.