Those who turn good organizations into great organizations are motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake.
James C. CollinsRead
Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.
Interpretation
Greatness comes from choices and discipline, not just external circumstances.
This quote emphasizes that achieving greatness is primarily determined by an individual's conscious decisions and the discipline they apply in their pursuit, rather than by the situations or circumstances they find themselves in. It suggests that anyone can attain greatness by making intentional choices and committing to the hard work required to succeed.
In practice
During a motivational speech about personal development.
Those who turn good organizations into great organizations are motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake.
The kind of commitment I find among the best performers across virtually every field is a single-minded passion for what they do, an unwavering desire for excellence in the way they think and the way they work. Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step.
If we allow the celebrity rock-star model of leadership to triumph, we will see the decline of corporations and institutions of all types. The twentieth century was a century of greatness, but we face the very real prospect that the next century will see very few enduring great institutions.
...the question, Why try for greatness? would seem almost tautological. If you're doing something you care that much about, and you believe in its purpose deeply enough, then it is impossible to imagine not trying to make it great. It's just a given.
Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats...
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.
If you want your company to succeed, you have to have the confidence in your business to take a bet on its future - to risk destroying a mediocre business model for the chance to have a strong one.
Perfection is often the enemy of greatness.
Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
If you wish to prosper, let your customer prosper.
If you're not working to get your business or investing operation to operate without you, you're thinking too small. Think team and systems.
If you are going to be a great investor, you have to fit the style to who you are.
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