We learned that a former prisoner of war had more to teach us about what it takes to find a path to greatness than most books on corporate strategy.
JAMES C. COLLINSGet involved in something that you care so much about that you want to make it the greatest it can possibly be, not because of what you will get, but just because it can be done.
More James C. Collins Quotes
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I can just let my curiosity wander unleashed.
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Change your practices without abandoning your core values.
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Discipline is consistency of action.
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It’s what you do before you are in trouble, so that you can be strong when people most need you.
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No matter what. Wherever your mind wanders, it seems to turn up at the same Field of Dreams. It’s the vision you wake up with in the morning, and it’s the last thing you picture before you fall asleep.
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Bad decisions made with good intentions, are still bad decisions.
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The only mistakes you can learn from are the ones you survive.
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It may seem odd to talk about something as soft and fuzzy as “passion” as an integral part of a strategic framework. But throughout the good-to-great companies, passion became a key part of the Hedgehog Concept.
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Get involved in something that you care so much about that you want to make it the greatest it can possibly be, not because of what you will get, but just because it can be done.
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Throw leaders into an extreme environment, and it will separate the stark differences between greatness and mediocrity.
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A visionary company doesn’t simply balance between idealism and profitability: it seeks to be highly idealistic and highly profitable.
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People are not your most important asset….the right people are.
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Profit is like oxygen, food, water, and blood for the body; they are not the point of life, but without them, there is no life.
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An organization is not truly great, if it cannot be great without you.
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The inner experience of fallure is totally different than failure. Going to fallure means 100% commitment – you leave nothing in reserve, no mental or physical resource untapped, you never give yourself a psychological out.
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The best CEOs in our research display tremendous ambition for their company combined with the stoic will to do whatever it takes, no matter how brutal (within the bounds of the company’s core values), to make the company great.
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The greatest leaders build organizations that, in the end, don’t need them.
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The only acceptable goals are measurable,” but that’s actually an undisciplined statement. Lots of goals-beauty, quality, life change, love-are worthy but not quantifiable. But you do have to be able to tell if you’re making progress.
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Those who build and perpetuate mediocrity…are motivated more by the fear of being left behind.
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We must reject the idea… Well-intentioned, but dead wrong… That the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become “more like a business.” Most businesses… Like most of anything else in life… Fall somewhere between mediocre and good.
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First figure out your partners, then figure out what ideas to pursue. The most important thing isn’t the market you target, the product you develop or the financing, but the founding team.
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The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake. The best people don’t need to be managed. Guided, taught, led-yes. But not tightly managed.
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Not every financial company toppled during the 2008 crisis, and some seized the opportunity to take advantage of weaker competitors in the midst of the tumult.
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A great company will have many once-in-a-liftetime opportunities.
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By definition, it is not possible to everyone to be above the average.
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Not all time in life is equal. How many opportunities do you get to talk about what your life is going to add up to with people thinking about the same question?
JAMES C. COLLINS