Al Dunlap hired as the CEO of Scott Paper loved to loudly beat his own chest boasting about personal accomplishment putting numbers over people
He personally accrued $100 million for 603 days of work by slashing the workforce , cutting R&D budget to half and putting company on growth steroids in preparation for sale
Presence of such a person with gargantuan personal ego contributes to personal demise or continued mediocrity of a company
Adopted from the book Good to Great
Companies where powerful executives set their successors up for failure or choose weak successors are doomed for failure
Stanley Gault the top executive in once iconic Rubbermaid did not want to leave behind a company that would be great without him
His chosen successor lasted just a year and eventually Rubbermaid was acquired by Newell
Adopted from Jim Collins book Good to Great
Colman Mockler was the CEO of Gillette from 1975 to 91
There were in all three attacks aimed at destroying the company during his tenure
The last one wherein Coniston Partners initiated a proxy battle to seize control of the board hoping to sell the company to the highest bidder to quickly realize gains
Looking at the immediate gain of 44% most executives would have fallen in the trap , not Mockler who instead chose to fight for future greatness of Gillette
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good to Great
In his best selling book, Good to Great, Jim Collins mentions about Humility and will power as the two most essential qualities of level 5 leaders.
“These are leaders who build enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will” – Jim Collins’s book Good to Great
Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into a larger goal of building a great company
It is not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self interest, they are incredibly ambitious but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution and not themselves
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good To Great
The progression journey of an individual to a Level 5 leader has been summarized below:
1) Highly Capable Individual
2) Contributing Team Member
3) Competent Manager
4) Effective Leader
5) Level 5 Executive
Watch out this space for more
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book “Good to Great”
Trust is a reflection of true character of an individual and relates to emotional quotient or EQ
These team members with high EQ take personal accountability for how their actions affect the team’s dynamics and hence are an asset
Adopted from The Infinite Game
Jack Welch’s judgement criteria was “Performance” and “Potential” with no regard to trust,
Potential is future performance and hence such an environment where people were pitted against each other was very unhealthy
Environments such as the ones Jack Welch cultivated tend to benefit and celebrate high performers including the ones of low trust
Had it not been for a $300 billion bailout by the government in 2008 , GE would have been history by now
Adopted from the book , The Infinite Game
For the feeling of trust to develop we have to first feel safe to express our vulnerability.
Thus when we work in Trusting teams , we feel safe to express vulnerability
Adopted from the book The Infinite Game
Infinite minded leaders work hard to look beyond the financial pressures of the current day and put people before profit as often as possible
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game