Good To Great Leadership Principles
The book Good to Great have seven (7) main concepts for leaders to being their organization or business from the level of good to a level of great. These concepts can be used in any industry and when applied correctly can help organizations standout from the rest when they are ready to move past just being good at what they do.
The first principle is Level 5 (five) Leadership: It takes a leader who is modest, willful, humble and fearless to lead an organization from good to great. A Level 5 (five) leader’s character is their most important tool. A Level 5 (five) leader has professional will and personal humility. They are fanatically driven to produce sustained results. These type of leaders are those who are willing to help build up the …show more content…
organization for the future and credit those who work with them for the accomplishments they have made.
The second principle is First who…then what: It is key to have the right employees in the right positions of an organization.
The right people are the most important asset to an organization. They must come before strategy, before structure, and before tactics. The organization must not be afraid of getting rid of the people that do not fit, the wrong people. If the wrong people are allowed to stay this could eventually push away the right people from the organization. Wasting time, money, and energy on the wrong people will only delay the chances of becoming a better organization. There are three (3) disciplines that should be in place when it comes to getting and keeping the right people. The first is “when in doubt, don’t hire.” Great companies do not settle or hire just to fill an open position. The second discipline is “when you know you need to make a people change.” Instead of giving multiple chances and finding ways to attempt to work with an employee that just doesn’t fit the position it is best to just let go. The third discipline is “put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.” Don’t waste your best on problems that can be handled by others. Place your best where they have room to help the company grow. Once the right people are in the right places, then the organization can move on to figure out what they are best at and move towards …show more content…
greatness.
The third principle is to Confront the Brutal Facts: As a leader you must be able to maintain faith in your organization and also willing to see when something is not working for the organization and eliminate it. They must be honest and diligent in their findings. Leaders need to watch for red flags and be honest when it confronting the brutal facts in their current reality. When something just is not working for the organization, the leader must eliminate it.
The fourth principle is The Hedgehog concept: This is a three circle concept.
The first circle is that an organization must find what they can be the best in the world at and use that as their core concept. During this time, it also must be determined what the organization is not or cannot be the best at. This is not a time to set goals, intentions, or strategies on how they can plan to be the best. It is a time to determine what they are can the best at. The second is that they must figure out what has the greatest impact on their economics. The third is that they need to figure out what the organization is deeply passionate about and use that to drive them. The leaders need to determine what it is that drives those who work for and with them as well as them self and use those drivers to determine what the organization and employees are passionate about.
The fifth principle is A Culture of Discipline: In order to be great and organization must have discipline. Not sheer force discipline sent down by leaders, but a culture of discipline which is full of self-disciplined people who are able to adhere to the framework of the organization discipline system. A culture of discipline requires that people adhere to a consistent discipline system while at the same time allows them to have the freedom and responsibility within the framework of that system. This allows leaders to manage the system not
people.
The sixth principle is Technology Accelerators: Good to great organizations understand that technology should not be used just because it is available. Technology must be carefully selected to fit within what the organization already has and be used as an accelerator. Good to great organizations understand that if they do not need the technology, then it is not necessary. Organizations that are on the path from good to great have an inner drive for greatness and they use this to respond to technology accelerator through creativity and determination to bring forward unrealized potential. Using a “crawl, walk, then run” method when approaching new technology in their organization helps them determine how and if it can be used to accentuate what they are already great at.
The seventh and final principle is The Flywheel: Good to Great organizations understand that it takes time to gain the breakthrough to greatness. They are not looking for a solution that will bring them overnight success. They find what works for them and continue on that path, building momentum until it leads them to where they want to be. Organization follow a pattern of buildup leading to a breakthrough. They are able to reach this breakthrough by accumulating steps, one after another sticking to the hedgehog concepts. Once they have reach their breakthrough they continue to maintain consistency over time, building on the work from their past and using it as momentum to continue to bring success to the organization. This principle concept is one that takes time, a sustainable transformation that follows the pattern of buildup through momentum until breakthrough.
Using these 7 (seven) principles, organizations that are ready and willing to move on from being a good organization can become a great organization. It takes the right people, the right leaders, and the right concept, along with time and determination to get to a place of greatness and those organizations that apply these principles properly are able to do so.
The first principle is Level 5 (five) Leadership: It takes a leader who is modest, willful, humble and fearless to lead an organization from good to great. A Level 5 (five) leader’s character is their most important tool. A Level 5 (five) leader has professional will and personal humility. They are fanatically driven to produce sustained results. These type of leaders are those who are willing to help build up the …show more content…
organization for the future and credit those who work with them for the accomplishments they have made.
The second principle is First who…then what: It is key to have the right employees in the right positions of an organization.
The right people are the most important asset to an organization. They must come before strategy, before structure, and before tactics. The organization must not be afraid of getting rid of the people that do not fit, the wrong people. If the wrong people are allowed to stay this could eventually push away the right people from the organization. Wasting time, money, and energy on the wrong people will only delay the chances of becoming a better organization. There are three (3) disciplines that should be in place when it comes to getting and keeping the right people. The first is “when in doubt, don’t hire.” Great companies do not settle or hire just to fill an open position. The second discipline is “when you know you need to make a people change.” Instead of giving multiple chances and finding ways to attempt to work with an employee that just doesn’t fit the position it is best to just let go. The third discipline is “put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.” Don’t waste your best on problems that can be handled by others. Place your best where they have room to help the company grow. Once the right people are in the right places, then the organization can move on to figure out what they are best at and move towards …show more content…
greatness.
The third principle is to Confront the Brutal Facts: As a leader you must be able to maintain faith in your organization and also willing to see when something is not working for the organization and eliminate it. They must be honest and diligent in their findings. Leaders need to watch for red flags and be honest when it confronting the brutal facts in their current reality. When something just is not working for the organization, the leader must eliminate it.
The fourth principle is The Hedgehog concept: This is a three circle concept.
The first circle is that an organization must find what they can be the best in the world at and use that as their core concept. During this time, it also must be determined what the organization is not or cannot be the best at. This is not a time to set goals, intentions, or strategies on how they can plan to be the best. It is a time to determine what they are can the best at. The second is that they must figure out what has the greatest impact on their economics. The third is that they need to figure out what the organization is deeply passionate about and use that to drive them. The leaders need to determine what it is that drives those who work for and with them as well as them self and use those drivers to determine what the organization and employees are passionate about.
The fifth principle is A Culture of Discipline: In order to be great and organization must have discipline. Not sheer force discipline sent down by leaders, but a culture of discipline which is full of self-disciplined people who are able to adhere to the framework of the organization discipline system. A culture of discipline requires that people adhere to a consistent discipline system while at the same time allows them to have the freedom and responsibility within the framework of that system. This allows leaders to manage the system not
people.
The sixth principle is Technology Accelerators: Good to great organizations understand that technology should not be used just because it is available. Technology must be carefully selected to fit within what the organization already has and be used as an accelerator. Good to great organizations understand that if they do not need the technology, then it is not necessary. Organizations that are on the path from good to great have an inner drive for greatness and they use this to respond to technology accelerator through creativity and determination to bring forward unrealized potential. Using a “crawl, walk, then run” method when approaching new technology in their organization helps them determine how and if it can be used to accentuate what they are already great at.
The seventh and final principle is The Flywheel: Good to Great organizations understand that it takes time to gain the breakthrough to greatness. They are not looking for a solution that will bring them overnight success. They find what works for them and continue on that path, building momentum until it leads them to where they want to be. Organization follow a pattern of buildup leading to a breakthrough. They are able to reach this breakthrough by accumulating steps, one after another sticking to the hedgehog concepts. Once they have reach their breakthrough they continue to maintain consistency over time, building on the work from their past and using it as momentum to continue to bring success to the organization. This principle concept is one that takes time, a sustainable transformation that follows the pattern of buildup through momentum until breakthrough.
Using these 7 (seven) principles, organizations that are ready and willing to move on from being a good organization can become a great organization. It takes the right people, the right leaders, and the right concept, along with time and determination to get to a place of greatness and those organizations that apply these principles properly are able to do so.