Explore what it takes to transform a business from

mediocre to excellent. Based on solid evidence and volumes of

data, the author of the book (Jim Collins) and his team discover

timeless principles on how good to great companies like

Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark,

Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens and

Wells Fargo produced sustained excellent results and achieved

enduring greatness, evolving into companies that were in fact

‘Built to last’.

Collins’ team selected 2 sets of comparison companies:

A. Head-to-head comparisons: Companies in the same industry with the same resources and opportunities as the good-to-great group, but that did not show a jump in performance, which were: Upjohn, Silo, Great Western, Warner-Lambert, Scott Paper, A&P, Bethlehem Steel, RJ Reynolds, Addressograph, Eckerd, and Bank of America.

b. Non-Sustaining Comparisons: Companies that made a short-term turnaround from good to great but failed to stay on track, namely: Burroughs, Chrysler, Harris, Hasbro, Rubbermaid, and Teledyne

Wisdom in a nutshell:

A. Ten of the eleven leaders or CEOs of good to great companies come from within. They were not outsiders hired to ‘save’ the company. They were people who worked for many years in the company or were members of the family that owned the company.

b. The strategy per se did not separate the good to the great companies from the comparison groups.

vs. Good to great companies focus on what not to do and what to stop doing.

d. Technology has nothing to do with the transformation from good to great. It can help speed it up, but it is not the cause of it.

my. Mergers and acquisitions do not cause a transformation from good to great.

F. Good to excellent companies paid little attention to managing change or motivating people. Under the right conditions, these problems naturally disappear.

gram. Good-to-great transformations didn’t need any new name, tagline, or launch schedule. The leap was in performance results, not in a revolutionary process.

H. Greatness is not a function of circumstances; it is clearly a matter of conscious choice.

Yo. All of the companies that went from good to great had “Level 5” leadership during the crucial transition years, where Level 1 is a highly capable Individual, Level 2 is a Contributing Team Member, Level 3 is the A competent manager, Level 4 is an effective Leader, and Level 5 is the Executive who builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will.

d. Level 5 leaders display convincing modesty, they are unassuming and tactful. By contrast, two-thirds of the comparison companies had leaders with outsized personal egos that contributed to the company’s demise or continued mediocrity.

k. Level 5 leaders are driven by fanatics, infected with an incurable need to produce sustained results. They are determined to do whatever it takes to make the company great, no matter how big or difficult the decisions.

I. One of the most damaging trends in recent history is the tendency (especially of boards of directors) to select flashy, famous leaders and deselect potential Level 5 leaders.

Mister. Potential level 5 leaders exist all around us, we just have to know what to look for.

No. The research team was not looking for Level 5 leadership, but the data was overwhelming and compelling. The Level 5 discovery is an empirical finding, not an ideological one.

and. Before answering the vision and strategy “what” questions, first ask “who” are the right people for the team.

p. Comparison companies used layoffs much more than good-to-great companies. Though rigorous, good-to-great companies were never ruthless and did not rely on layoffs or restructuring to improve performance.

Q. Good to great management teams are made up of people who debate vigorously for the best answers, but come together behind decisions, regardless of parish interests.

A. There is no link between executive compensation and the move from good to great. The purpose of compensation is not to ‘motivate’ the right behaviors in the wrong people, but to get and keep the right people in the first place.

s. The old adage “People are your most important asset” is incorrect. People are not your most important asset. The right people are.

t. Whether someone is the right person has more to do with character and innate abilities than specific knowledge, skills, or experience.

u The concept of a hedgehog is a concept that arises from the deep understanding of the intersection of the following three circles:

1. What in the world you can be better at, realistically, and what you can’t be better in the world at

2. What drives your economic engine

3. What you are deeply passionate about

v. Find out your core values ​​and your purpose beyond just making money and combine this with the dynamic of preserving core values ​​– stimulating progress, as shown, for example, by Disney. They have evolved from making animated shorts to feature films to theme parks to cruise ships, but their core values ​​of bringing happiness to young and old, and not succumbing to cynicism, remain strong.

w. Great, enduring companies don’t exist simply to provide returns for shareholders. In a really great company, profit and cash flow are absolutely essential to life, but they are not the very goal of life.

“IF YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING THAT INTERESTS YOU DEEPLY AND BELIEVES IN IT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE NOT TRYING TO MAKE IT GREAT.”

By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla

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