Free Write

“Good to Great” by Jim Collins was a great book with a different take on leadership. Collins approach to writing this book was to set out with him and his team of researchers to find the best companies and then talk to the leaders behind the companies and see what they are doing well and what they are not doing at all. Collins then goes on to classify these leaders with the Level 5 leader being highest ranked and some tactics or methods they use that puts them at that Level 5 status.

Collins and his research team identified companies that made the leap from good results to great results and sustained those results for 15 years or more. They then compared those companies to a carefully selected control group of comparison companies that failed to make the leap or failed to sustain it. From this they identified key factors behind the success of great companies. Those factors are explained in the Flywheel concept: Level 5 leadership, first who…then what, confront the brutal facts (yet never lose faith), the Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the 3 circles), a culture of discipline, technology accelerators, & the flywheel and the doom loop. Of those items listed there are 3 umbrella concepts, which are: disciplined people, disciplined thought and disciplined action.

Although the entire book is fascinating, the idea behind the level 5 leader stood out to me the most. Most people when they want to describe a great leader they say things like charismatic, center of attention, celebrity-like, big egos. For Collins to say those aren’t the leaders that stand behind these great companies that have sustained greatness is an interesting concept. I like that the level 5 leaders behind these great companies are what he describes as shy, self-effacing, quiet, and reserved. I think it is discouraging to think that we associate certain characteristics with what a great leader should be because not everyone has a big ego or is charismatic and Collins basically says that’s okay because the leaders of the great companies do not have those characteristics. Collins describes level 5 leaders as an individual who builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. Along with the Level 5 leadership concept I also like the window and the mirror. This was my first time ever hearing about it and I thought it was a truly interesting idea. Collins says, “Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event 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.” I absolutely love this idea and without a doubt will add it to my leadership philosophy.