I

I
FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE, NOTPOWER

Colin Powell, 72
Former secretary of state; retired four-star general

WHEN I WAS A YOUNG INFANTRY OFFICER .it Fort Ban

ning, we had .1 lot of old captains who had:served in World
War Hand Korea. They were not going to go higher in
rank, but, boy, did they know about soldiering. So I didn't
learn this piece of barracks wisdom from an Eisenhower
or Bashing. I heard it from these wonderful reserve captains. This is the
I
story: There was n brand-new second lieutenant who was very ambitious
and wanted to be a general. One night at the officer's club ihe young olluer
spotted thisoldgencralsittitig.it the bar, and he went up and said, "How do
I become a general?" And the general answered, "Son, you've got to work
like a dog. You've got to have moral and physical courage. There maybe
days you're tired, but you must never show fatigue. You'll be afraid, but you
ran never show fear. You must always be the leader." The young officer was
so excited by this advice. "Thank you, sir," he said. "So is this how I become
a general?" "No," said the general, "that's how you become .1 firs! lieuten
ant, and then you keep doing it over and over." Throughout my career, I've
always tried to do my best today, think about tomorrow, and maybe dream
a bit about the future. But doing your besi in the present has to be the rule.
You won't become a general unless you become a good first lieuienant.

FORTUNE July 6,2009

 MAKE A STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, 39

CEO-in-residence, Accel Partners

WHENIGOTMYFIRSTJOBATMERRILLLYNCH jasa
junior analyst]. I ended up working for a managing di
rector, Henry Michaels. He was known from his more
junior days as "Hank the Crank" for his ability to crank
it out and work fast. At only 32 or 33, Henry was already
a managing director. At my level [then] you were typically staffed on a

1
project with the managing director, a director, and an associate in addi
tion to the junior analyst. [ got staffed directly with Henry on a project
with no one in between and lie gave me a lot of runway. His advice to
me was to work exceptionally hard and step up from day one, despite
being junior. In the first three to four months thai you're in a job, you
can create positive or negative momentum. I got to Merrill already
hungry to prove myself and exceed expectations; from that point on I
got staffed on the better assignments and was given the opportunity to
move 10 London. Hank's advice has always stayed with me. It's key to
starting any new job because you have a few monlhs to make a first im

1
pression, and a finite window of time to create professional momentum
and start building a brand lor yourself.

July 6,2oog FORTUNE 31