In many ways, we came from completely different worlds. Colin Powell was born in Harlem, raised in the South Bronx and, as a young R.O.T.C. cadet in the late 1950s, endured the injustice of the segregated South. I was born in San Francisco and grew up in the 1970s amid the summer of love, marches for women’s rights, and where neighbors proudly flew rainbow flags.
He rose through the ranks of the military and Washington with a deep respect for institutions, hierarchy and tradition. I first made my mark building adventure games for the Atari 800 and later by starting my own software company in an industry that celebrates innovation and breaking old models with new, transformative technologies.
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But when our paths unexpectedly crossed in 1997, Colin Powell helped change the way I see business and the role of companies in the world.
I was in Philadelphia for the President’s Summit for America’s Future, chaired by Powell and his nonprofit, America’s Promise, dedicated to lifting up at-risk youth. Five living presidents and the top 100 CEOs in the world were in attendance. I was a thirty-two year-old Silicon Valley techie looking for inspiration, and I’ve never forgotten what the former general said when he took the stage:
“This is a time for each and every one of us to look into our own heart, to look into our own community, find someone who is in need, find someone who is wanting, find someone who is looking up to us, and for each and every one of us to reach down, to reach back, to reach across, to lift up a fellow American and put him on the road to success in this wonderful country of ours.“
Colin Powell told us that day that business could do more than simply make money. We had to be a force for good and a platform for change. It was the best advice I’d ever heard, and in the years that followed, he became one of the most important mentors in my life.
I went back to work at my job at Oracle, a fast-growing software company,…
Source : time
