Be Great!

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins, is the greatest book about being great. Whenever I'm listening to a podcast and they ask the interviewee what they are reading, they always say "Good to Great". So I picked it up and it was very interesting. The author, Jim Collins, led a five year research study to find out how companies make the leap from a "good" company to a "great" one. He comes up with some very interesting and surprising insights.

Top 6 pointers from Good to Great

6. Don't be afraid to make huge changes; don’t be stubborn in your ways.

5. The great companies encouraged a climate of truth, "you can't handle the truth" was not an option, loud debates were thought to be beneficial.

4. The leaders in the study focused on getting the best people and then choosing a direction, not the other way around.

3. People are not your most important asset, the right people are. Finding the right person has more to do with character traits and innate capabilities rather than background, knowledge, or skill.

2. No matter how successful you are, if you don’t spend a majority of time with people you love or like, you won’t have a great life.

1. The CEOs who were able to sustain excellent growth were characterized by modesty, disliking of attention, giving away credit to others, and even shyness.