Summary of Built to Last Frist Five Chapters

In his analysis of companies that are able to achieve greatness, James Collins identifies the role of a “Level 5” leader as instrumental in the transformation. Collins identifies this type of leader as an individual “who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will” (21). While they are willful and fearless, these leaders are also modest and humble. The leader is less interested in personal glorification and is more interested in the performance of the company. They are intensely driven towards building a successful company that is capable of continuing its success in their absence. In his analysis of companies, he identified that all good companies that became great had Level 5 leaders at the help when they transformed. The leaders are interested in building up their successors such that the company continues on a successful path. This is in contrast with leaders who are interested in the short-term success of a company during their tenure. Level 5 leaders are not concerned “with their own reputation for personal greatness” (Collins 26). Rather, they are willing to share credit for their success with colleagues and successors. Under egocentric leaders, Collins noted that companies would achieve particularly strong growth but they would fall apart immediately after the leader’s exit. However, Level 5 leaders seek to obtain consistent results by finding the best people and creating a

After watching the longer video, "The U.S. Constitution.... Built to Last?" choose 3 segments in this video where Peter Sagal talks to ordinary Americans that were affected positively or negatively by the constitution. Briefly explain what the issues were about, why you chose those segments, and then comment on these issues in a way that we can learn from. Keep it academic using support for your opinions? If you have questions re what you saw, you may ask these as well.

Although Leading with Soul by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal was written in 1995, it is a classic best seller leadership book that is constantly praised for its innovative ways it encourages those to lead. It is such a classic that it has since been rewritten to reflect the current times and issues leaders face today, such as economic hardships. This book was definitely written ahead of its time in the ways that Bolman and Deal takes spiritual approaches to help those ranging from CEO’s to a regular employee find their path in life. Leading with Soul is an innovative way to inspire those to lead; it strikes down the conventional ways that leadership is discussed. Typically when one reads leadership books one finds chapters on principles, theories and skills however this focuses on leadership being an “uncommon journey of the spirit.”

Creation is when the process of bringing something into existence using ideas and designs, it involves the actual making of the product. If the production process had no actual creation there would be no final product, so it is an important part of the process where the design of the product is put into making and become the final product for use and testing purposes.

For big companies like Hewlett-Packard is very important to set goals and after reading more about his company, now I know why it has become one of the most important companies in the world.

Invention is the result of a long study, research, and experimentation (Innovation, n.d.); Innovation is “the discovery and the execution of pioneering ideas that create value” (Greco, 2011), in other words, new application of known concepts. A practical example of invention is the alkaline battery that provided a light-weight, small, and portable power source; innovation applied this concept to anything possible from communication devises, mecanich and construction tools, and even toys. Technical workstream leaders understand that innovators are today’s competitors reducing times, and maximazing profits with new techniques; but inventors have the potential to reshape the landscape of today’s markets leaving dominant companies out of bussiness. Who remembers door-to-door salesmen or “dear John”

The firm’s structure helps them to continue on the path of innovation and stay a leader in the industry.

his own words, to “build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great

According to the author of “Built to Last”, Good to Great outlines a representation for rotating a high-quality, regular or even ordinary corporation into a grand one. The book includes a helpful illustration that brings all the presumption collectively in a significant and unforgettable manner. By bringing mutually disciplined individuals, using restricted thought and action companies can makeup and penetrate the barrier that seize them from getting to greatness. The author, Jim Collins and his explore team put together collectively a roll of “good to great” organizations and compared them to the “contrast companies” in order to verify what distinguish the leaders from the rest.

First of all, a successful company leader must have to set clear vision and also to make the vision come alive. An effective company vision statement basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business? This question forces

Jim Collins and his research team of 20 compared and contrasted how many companies made the leap to greatness and how other companies didn’t. Based on bundles of evidence and a large quantity of data, he and his team uncovered how

     Little can be said about visionary companies without citing the works of James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras. Collins and Porras dedicated six years to research in an attempt to define a visionary company. Their published work, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (199?), blanketed the world of business with a new perspective. According to Brewer’s (1995) interview, Collins defines a visionary company as follows:

     When Jack Welch was named CEO of General Electric, Welch saw a company in trouble even though the business world saw GE as an intrinsically healthy corporation, secure in its position as a world industrial leader. Welch knew that the company was too large to fail yet GE was too unwieldy to adapt for further growth. The changes he instituted restructured and revolutionized GE and made Welch the most respected CEO in business today. After reading the book there were three parts that really stood out for me.

Prior to attending the Business Internship course, my knowledge and understanding on successful business leaders was very limited. Although I had heard of countless success stories in business, I had never actually understood what it took to achieve such measures of success. However, it wasn’t until we had the privilege of hearing from four different business magnates in weeks 6 -9. Each of the business leaders gave an hour’s seminar and which was aimed at providing insights into their personal lives, working experiences and the core essence of 21st century business leadership.

Companies live and breathe innovation; or, at the terribly least, notice it basic to their success. Such companies are those that others ought to emulate for they recognize that to do business, as Peter Drucker prompt in an exceedingly recent Harvard Business review article, “Every firm—not simply businesses—needs one core competence: innovation.”