Good, I Quite Enjoyed It

Each and every one of us is a leader in some way—we are constantly influencing other people around us. According to Maxwell, everyone has the capability to climb up the five different levels of leadership-- not everyone will become a great leader, but everyone can become a better leader. The qualities of a great leader that are developed along the different levels of leadership which include, but are not limited to, personal humility, professional will, and building a legacy—but it seems that Maxwell places the most importance on building a legacy. Maxwell’s 5 levels of leadership are similar and different when compared to our Level 5 Hierarchy (in boxes):

As mentioned in (Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. 2013 Pg. 37). The Big Five Model of Personality gives traits of an effective leaders which are surgency, agreeableness, adjustment, conscientious and openness to experience. My organization wants these traits to be imbibed in its employees.

In investigating and writing the final unit 5 project I was able to concentrate on core research initiatives for what a true leader’s role is within an organization. I learned the significance of an organizations vision and mission statement and developed a better sense of how to collaborate with people within an organization and working with them to meet the organizations goals. Additionally I learned the importance of emotional intelligence and using it to make sound judgement with regards to various situations of decision making. I also learned the fundamental of mentoring and how it can contribute to improved performance

During my senior design project tenure at Texas A&M, I had the opportunity to work with a team of students that had strong personalities. I believe that I exhibited traits of mindfulness, respect and leadership during this period. Though my teammates were generally positive and kind-hearted, it was still surprising when certain individuals would take great pride in knowing a simple piece of information, all the while stepping over you to look good in front of a sponsor. Oftentimes a decent piece of advice on my end would be used by a teammate to uplift their own standing. True, it was a common occurrence of the practical world in life, but I realized that I did not have it in me to walk over others in order to obtain success. I learned to become more assertive, yet maintain my sense of integrity and give credit to others for their ideas and achievements. I believe a leader exhibits such qualities. While being aware of themselves, the leader is able to rise above and treat individuals with respect and not as a means to an end. Similarly, I believe it is important to respect people based on the content of what they say, rather than how smartly they say something.

Good to Great written by Jim Collins although written to describe the characteristics of successful businesses can also reflect upon oneself and the way in which we can grow to become not just good but better people. In his book Collins describes some of the leaders as having some qualities that many people may not picture when thinking of a great leader some of the qualities being “self- effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy” this is important because it goes back to something learned at one point in most people’s lives do not judge a book by its cover some people may come from different parts of the world, have different backgrounds or live a different lifestyle but this doesn’t affect the way in which they make themselves grow as a person

Collins (2005) defines Level 5 hierarchy leadership as the manager in whom honest individual modesty mixes with strong expert willpower. Mr. Gates displays this type of leadership much in his individual life than in his career events. Bill Gates represents a critical segment not only in his earnings but of his net worth to philanthropic causes but as well motivates similar leaders to follow his path. Gates’ duty as a trailblazer of leaders is a thing that uplifts his reputation about leadership globally.

- In the end, it’s up to you to decide who you employ and who advances to new responsibilities.

For the reading for this week from Good to Great, chapter three was focused on having the right people on board the organization. The right person in a position will make a significant difference in the success of that department or organization. As the right person will have the characteristics and adaptability skills to do what is needed to make the most effective decisions.

What Jim Collin’s epic book Good to Great is to the business and leadership world, Len Sperry and Jon Carlson’s book, How Master

Jim Collins takes leadership and breaks it down into a hierarchy of levels of success. At the top of the hierarchy sits level 5. Per Jim Collins, level 1 leaders are talented and productive and level 2’s are team players and contribute their abilities to the success of a group. level 3’s are group leaders, organizing individuals and resources toward the goal, and level 4’s commit and pursue the goal, encouraging high-performance standards. But what makes a level 5 leader the best? According to Jim Collins, humility and will. Level 5’s use personal humility and professional will to achieve success. “Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company”.

Good-To-Great by Jim Collins is a book created with the intent to provide leaders with tools required to make the jump from a good company to great one. The Hedgehog Concept is an understanding used to differentiate between the two variations of leaders: foxes versus hedgehogs. The book also discusses level-five leadership and the importance of building everlasting greatness through personal humility and professional will. Additionally, Collins uses two main organizational performance concepts called The Flywheel to describe the victorious feelings associated with the successful launch of a product or idea, and the opposite being the Doom Loop. These three main concepts and principles make up the pivotal ideas associated with the book, Good-To-Great.

Greatness is often sought but rarely had. Jim Collins, like many of his readers, has, however, achieved greatness in his writing of Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t. Good to Great is less of an examination of how good companies become great but more of an analysis of leadership and social skills embraced by society’s most successful through the lens of the business world. This is the book’s greatest strength; by delivering concise information that can be utilized on the personal level, Collins is able to broadcast what would normally be considered mundane business talk by most in a fashion that is both interesting and actionable to the book’s more than 4,000,000 buyers. Achieving best seller status, Good to Great aims to help individuals with a background in business, politics and other leadership backgrounds become best sellers, themselves, in their respective fields. By breaking down informational content into its simplest forms, providing ample evidence, repeatedly engaging in repetition, and by tag-lining the most important themes and ideas, Collins hits the mark.

To take organizations from “Good to Great” Jim Collins discusses why it is imperative that the right people are on the bus performing the job that is needed for the company to be great and the wrong people are taken off. Likewise, having the right people working for you is crucial, and they will bring value and build your organization. Establishing the right person on the bus will create the perfect fit for the establishment. According to Jim Collins "celebrity leaders" were not effective in bringing a business from being "good to great." Mostly, those outstanding leaders came from within the company. In fact, Jim pointed out that "ten of eleven good to great CEO's" came from within the firm.

Rather they demonstrated personal humility and professional will revealing an aggressive resolve to do what was best for the company, he or she plays an important role in the success of their organization through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits. The lower levels included effective leader, competent manager, contributing team member, and highly capable individual. The traits of Level 5 leaders include, building “enduring greatness” into their organizations, setting their successors up for success, talking about the company and others, but declining to discuss themselves, ordinary people producing extraordinary results, most likely to come from within the company, not outside of it, quick to give credit outside themselves when there was success, while at the same time taking personal responsibility when things went badly and distinctive in their approach to the people they wanted in the company. Most companies would think the first step in becoming a great would be to create a vision and a strategy, but this has not been proven true. The first step a company should take is determining who the right employees are, and which position in the company is right for them. In chapter three is states” If executives get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great.” Level 5 leaders wanted top players as well top effort.

Number two on my results is an important leadership trait that’s often overlooked. Humility is the opposite of arrogance, an attitude that can severely damage our reputation and relationships with others. Humility is defined as “a modest or low view of one 's own importance (Merriam-Webster),” and “self-restraint from excessive vanity (Oxford).” Humility stems from our inner sense of self-worth. Humble leaders are grounded by their beliefs, their values, and the principles by which they lead. Ultimately, they know that to lead is to serve their customers, employees, investors, communities, and ultimately, society through their work.