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”
The journey from Good to Great is a transformational process involving buildup followed by a breakthrough.
The entire journey involves 3 key components:
1) Disciplined People
2) Disciplined thought
3) Disciplined Action
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book “Good to Great”
When we combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship , we get the magic alchemy of great performance
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book “Good to Great”
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book titled “How the Mighty Fall”
The 5 stages of decline of great companies are:
The infinite game of business is where the players are unknown , time in unlimited and the rules are unknown.
The goal of players in an infinite game is to keep playing the game.
10X companies or high performing companies in the infinite game of business , exercise productive paranoia , empirical creativity and fanatic discipline to create huge margins of safety.
In the infinite game of business when the tide is rough these huge margins of safety safeguard a high performer being knocked out.During good times for luck to help these high performers derive high return on luck firstly they have to survive the rough times via the huge margins of safety.
Adopted from Jim Collins’s book titled “Great By Choice”