His own rise from a Harlem birthplace to the corridors of government power seems to validate the message. There is something missing, however, from the legend of Colin Powell. Powell often disagreed with the Army or the government, or with the direction of the country. But he rarely spoke out. Rather, he made a point of keeping his head down and doing his job.
Process is always important.
It's an extraordinary remark considering the context of his career. He ran the military at the end of the cold war, yet he hesitated to reconfigure the armed forces for a new world. Leaders must, of course, be capable of discretion and conciliation. But there are times when they shouldn't go along to preserve consensus, or the appearance of consensus. There are times when, if the establishment is wrong, they should try to hold it accountable.