GOOD TO GREAT

A summary by Lycoris
 Title:
Good to Great

Author:
Jim Collins
Level 5 Leadership Publisher:
Publisher Name

Copyright Date:
20XX
1. LEADERSHIP

At first, the author

gave the research
team explicit
instructions to
downplay the role of
top executives so
that we could avoid
the simplistic "credit
the leader" or "blame
the leader" thinking
common today.
- The reason for the downplay the role of top executives is that the author want to avoid the “Leader
is the answer to everything” perspective. Insisting on this perspective will limit the research of the
author.

- To use an analogy, the "Leadership is the answer to everything” perspective is the modern
equivalent of the "God is the answer to everything" perspective.

- In the 1500s, people ascribed all events they didn't understand to God. Why did
the crops fail? God did it. Why did we have an earthquake? God did it. What holds
the planets in place? God.
- This perspective held back our scientific understanding of the physical world
in the Dark Ages.
- Similarity, if we consider the perspective that we attribute
everything to “Leadership”, we’re no different from people in
1500s.

- However, even we insisted on ignoring the matter of

leadership, as should always be the case, the data won.

- There is an existence of a same model of leadership among

“Good to Great” companies.

- All the good-to-great companies had Level 5 leadership at the

time of transition. Furthermore, the absence of Level 5
leadership showed up as a consistent pattern in the
comparison companies
2. HUMILITY+WILL = LEVEL 5:
Unlike the leaders of "good" companies, who
often have strong personalities and rarely take
their eyes off the newspaper or magazine, the
leaders who create great innovation are often
the humble ones. cost. They are calm, calm
people and in their person there is a
combination of humility and steadfast will.
They embarked on the task not with personal
achievement but with a common goal for the
business – building a great company. This does
not mean that they have lost their enthusiasm.
They're eager to win, but that generosity is
geared toward the company they're managing,
not their personal goals.
- Level 5 leaders want to see the company even more successful in the next
generation, comfortable with the idea that most people won't even know that the
roots of that success trace back to their efforts.

- The leaders of “Good” companies are often preoccupied with personal glories and
often fail to lay the groundwork for corporate success after leaving office. They
often choose weak successors or contribute to accelerating the company's decline.
For example, the talented and courageous
leader of Rubbermaid - Stanley Gold has
achieved many great achievements in his
position. He is strict, strict and selfish. In
one of his speeches, the word "I" was used
by him 44 times. Under his leadership, the
company quickly became profitable with a
growth rate of profit. However, after
Stanley Gold's resignation, Rubbermaid
declined rapidly. Although Stanley had
chosen a successor, this new leader only
lasted a year and then packed up and left,
leaving behind an entire company in a
state of climbing like a lamp before the
wind and a team. weak staff. Stanley Phillip Gold
(1972-2020)
3. A Compelling Modesty:

- Good-to-great leaders are often described as quiet, humble, gracious and

mild-mannered.
- Great leaders tended to place more emphasis on others and the company,
rather than themselves.
- Don’t take credit for the success of the company.
- "Seeing ordinary people producing extraordinary results.”
4. Unwavering Resolve. . . to Do What Must Be Done:
- It is very important to grasp that Level 5 leadership is not just about humility
and modesty.
- It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination to do
whatever needs to be done to make the company great. They will sell the mills
or fire their brother, if that's what it takes to make the company great.
- The quiet, dogged nature of Level 5 leaders showed up not only in big
decisions, like selling off the food-service operations or fighting corporate
raiders, but also in a personal style of sheer workmanlike diligence.
● For Example:

When George Cain became CEO of Abbott Laboratories, it sat in the bottom
quartile of the pharmaceutical industry. Then he systematically rebuilding
both the board and the executive team with the best people he could find.
From its transition date in 1974 to 2000, created shareholder returns that
beat the market 4.5 to 1, handily outperforming industry superstars Merck
and Pfizer.
5. Windows and Mirrors:
Circuit City was profiled as one of the eleven companies in
Jim Collins’ 2001 book "Good to Great". Alan Wurtzel spent
13 years as CEO of Circuit City. Alan Wurtzel is a level 5
leader. He has commented on the plow horse very interestingly
considered two factors:

1. His industrial personality is not due to lack of intelligence

2. The hard working approach laid the foundation for truly

great performance results.

=> The successful results he brings to the company will prompt him to discuss the
smart decisions he has made. however, Alan Wurtzel argues that the first and foremost
factor in a company transformation is luck.
Not only that, other good-to-great leaders also talk about luck a
lot in interviews.
For instance, Joseph F. Cullman III, Philip
Morris's Level 5 CEO in transition, flatly
refused to take credit for the company's
success. He considers himself fortunate to
have great colleagues, great successors, and
great predecessors.
 “Good to Great”

They began to notice a completely opposite pattern in the leaders of the

comparison companies:

1. Often blame bad luck

2. Frequently complain about the difficulties they face in the environment.

Example:

Compare Bethlehem Steel and Nucor.

Both companies are in the steel
industry and produce products that are
difficult to differentiate. Bethlehem's
general manager summed up the
difficulties the company faced in 1983
by blaming imports. In contrast, Ken
Iverson and his team at Nucor view the
same import challenge as a blessing.
● The emphasis on luck is part of a pattern they named
window and mirror.

- Leaders 5 level look out the window and attribute credit to factors
outside of themselves when things are going well. Meanwhile, if things
don't go well, they don't blame bad luck, but look in the mirror to
accept responsibility.
- The leaders of the rival companies did the exact opposite. They will
look out the window to blame something or someone other than
themselves for bad results, but praise themselves in the mirror and take
credit when things go well.
6. The Two Sides of Level 5 Leadership

Professional Will Personal Humility

Creates superb results, a clear catalyst in the transition Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning public
adulation; never boastful

Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever Acts with quiet, calm determination; relies principally on
must be done to produce the best long- term results. inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate.

Sets the standard of building an enduring great company; Channels ambition into the company; sets up successors
will settle for nothing less. for even greater success in the next generation.

Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion
responsibility for poor results, never blaming other credit for the success of the company-to other people,
people, external factors, or bad luck. external factors, and good luck.
 “Good to Great”
- There are two categories of people: those who do not have the seed of Level 5
and those who do.
- For the people in the first category, work will always be first and foremost
about what they get-fame, fortune, adulation, power, whatever-not what they
build, create, and contribute.
- The second category of people-consists of those who have the potential to
evolve to Level 5; the capability resides within them, perhaps buried or
ignored, but there nonetheless. And under the right circumstances, they begin to
develop.
Example:

- Darwin Smith fully blossomed after his experience with cancer.

- Or Joe Cullman was profoundly affected by his World War II experiences,
particularly the last-minute change of orders that took him off a doomed ship
on which he surely would have died.
- Darwin Smith and others have been deeply affected and inspired by the idea of
Level 5. "Level 5" is a key component inside the black box of what it takes to
shift a company from good to great. Leading with the other disciplines can help
you move in the right direction. Whether or not we make it all the way to Level
5, it is worth the effort
7.1. Good to great leaders didn’t talk about themselves:

- When questioned about their own contributions the leaders would either
be very modest or deflect the success on other people.

- The good to great leaders has a humble attitude toward their own
success but felt appreciative of those executives around them.
7.2.Good to Great leaders never wanted to become larger than life

- Leaders that showed an egocentric leadership style often showed a

quick leap in sales and return to a decline after.
- Chrysler: Chrysler is a great example of a leader who wanted to focus
the company’s success on themselves as the reason. Although this
particular leader did produce results of 2.9 times the market, he felt his
greatness was the reasoning behind the increase. As his personal stock
soared, Chrysler stock declined to 31% behind the market halfway
through his tenure.
8. Key Points in Level 5 Leadership:

1. Every good-to-great company had Level 5

leadership during the key transformation
years.
2. Level 5 leaders are a paradoxical combination
of personal humility and work ethic.
3. Level 5 leaders enable their successors to
achieve greater success in the next generation.
4. Level 5 leaders demonstrate humility and
reserve.
Key Points in Level 5 Leadership:

5. Level 5 leaders are driven by a burning desire to deliver lasting

results. They are determined to do whatever it takes to build a great
company.

6. A Level 5 leader displays an industriousness, like a plow horse.

7. Level 5 leaders look out the window and attribute success to factors
that are not their own. But when things don't go their way, they look in
the mirror and blame themselves, taking all the responsibility.
9.Unexpected discoveries:

- Famous leaders hired from outside are

inversely proportional to the progress from
good to great. Ten of the eleven CEOs of
the good-to-great companies came from
within, and the comparison companies
outsourced six times more.

- Level 5 leaders often attribute success to

luck rather than personal greatness.
 Lycoris Team:
1.Ngọc Phượng
2.Bảo Hân
3.Hoàng Ngọc
4.Phương Nhi
5.Minh Khang