Leadership – We’ve all known that one project leader who thought they were so inspired and capable they could carry the rest of their team — whether you met them in high school, college, or the corporate world. Yet no matter how brilliant this individual might be, they rarely manage to execute their grand visions when they focus solely on themselves.
If you agree with this sentiment, you’ll love the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins — and even if you disagree, that’s all the more reason to give it a go and challenge your thinking. Here’s a breakdown of some key ideas.
A framework for great companies
As you could probably guess from its title, Collins’ book is all about how companies can make the transition from “good” to “great.” The conclusion? It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s because of a systematic framework.
This involves three stages:
- Building up to greatness before hitting a turning point.
- Developing disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action.
- Consistently analyzing how to finetune processes and improve results.
Where do people and teams come into this? Just about everywhere, as you’ll soon see.
Level 5 leadership
The first step of the “good to great” process involves finding the right leader. You might be thinking this confirms the idea that a single person’s vision is more important than the collective, but bear with us.
For Level 5 leaders, it’s all about their team; not them as individuals. They make an effort to give others credit and bring out the best in them, yet take responsibility for anything that goes wrong.
First who, then what
Naturally, having a Level 5 leader is no guarantee of success — they need a great team around them. Collins argues this is far more important than any strategy or vision a leader can come up with.
A team is only as strong as its weakest link, so every single person needs to be motivated, capable, and ready to grab opportunities. The leader’s role is simply to make sure the right people are doing the right things and keep morale high. It’s harder than it sounds.
Show your team some love
Once you have the right leader and the right team, the magic can happen. Collins covers far more ground in his book about practical steps companies can take to achieve this, so it’s definitely worth checking out.
Clearly, the power of a great team is impossible to understate
At Gema Consult, we work with small businesses that want to outsource their human resources departments, allowing them to reach their full potential and become “great” companies. Sound like something you could benefit from? Get in touch with us today.