There are three simple truths –
1) When the organization has to change direction due to a strategic reason , once the right people are on board , they will align with this new course
2) Right people are self motivated towards a cause
3) If wrong people are there onboard , the good to great journey becomes irrelevant
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good to Great
Level 5 leaders who have their taken their companies from Good to Great always believed in this:
“If we get the RIGHT PEOPLE on the bus , the RIGHT PEOPLE in right seats , and the wrong people off the bus , then we will figure out how to take it someplace great.”
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good to Great
Listed below are some of key characteristics of level 5 infinite minded leaders who leave behind a legacy.
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good to Great
Level 5 leaders set up their successors for even greater success in the next generation whereas egocentric yet very talented leaders often set up their successors for failure to prove their greatness.
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book titled Good to Great
Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will.They are ambitious first and foremost for the company not themselves.
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book titled “Good to Great”
The two components are 1) Professional Will and 2) Personal Humility
Personal Will – Looks in the mirror not out of the window to apportion responsibility for poor results never blaming other people , external factors or bad luck
Personal Humility – Looks out the window not in the mirror to apportion credit for the success of the company – to other people , external factors and good luck
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good To Great
Level 5 leaders look out of the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well , if they cannot find a specific person to give credit to , they credit good luck.
At the same time , they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility never blaming bad luck when things go poorly.
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good To Great
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good to Great
Ten out of eleven good to great CEO’s cited in the book came from inside the company and took the company to great heights.The comparison companies who failed turned to outsiders with six times greater frequency yet failed to produce sustained great results.
This expodes an important myth on leadership
“Level 5 leaders are fanatically driven infected with an incurable need to produce results.They will sell the mills or fire their brother if that is what takes to make the company great”
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book Good to Great
An infinite game player exhibits “Productive Paranoia” to stay hyper vigilant even when the situation seems rosy red.
Failing to stay hyper vigilant by zooming in and out to disruption can land up a player into extinction in the near future.
Kodak Camera failed to understand the disruption of the digital camera.
MySpace failed to preempt Facebook.
There are numerous such examples where a once successful player went into extinction for not being able to preempt the future led by disruption.
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game and Jim Collins’s book Great By Choice