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
Smart people instinctively understand the dangers of entrusting our future to self-serving leaders who use our institutions, whether in the corporate or social sectors, to advance their own interests.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns against trusting leaders who prioritize their own interests over the collective good.
James C. Collins emphasizes the importance of being vigilant against self-serving leaders who prioritize their personal agendas over the interests of the people they are meant to serve. By recognizing the dangers these types of leaders pose to our future, we are encouraged to seek out leadership that genuinely serves the public and organizational good rather than individual gain.
Themes
LeadershipTrustSelf-ServingFutureInstitutions
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about ethical leadership in a business seminar.
More from James C. Collins
All quotes βThe 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.
James C. CollinsRead
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.
James C. CollinsRead
...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.
James C. CollinsRead
Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats...
James C. CollinsRead
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.
James C. CollinsRead
Similar quotes
A leader's role is to raise people's aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.
David GergenRead
It makes him contemptible to be considered fickle, frivolous, effeminate, mean-spirited, irresolute, from all of which a prince should guard himself as from a rock; and he should endeavour to show in his actions greatness, courage, gravity, and fortitude; and in his private dealings with his subjects let him show that his judgments are irrevocable, and maintain himself in such reputation that no one can hope either to deceive him or to get round him.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
When trust is high, the dividend you receive is like a performance multiplier, elevating and improving every dimension of your organization and your life.... In a company, high trust materially improves communication, collaboration, execution, innovation, strategy, engagement, partnering, and relationships with all stakeholders.
Stephen CoveyRead
As I have always said, those closest to the pain should be closest to the power.
Ayanna PressleyRead
You have to test your ideas in a public forum.
Hillary ClintonRead
I think, as athletes, we've been given a platform, and we can use it in a lot of different ways. We can use it for negative. We can use it for positive. We can be indifferent. But if you've been given a platform, I think God is pleased when you share... His truth in love.
Benjamin WatsonRead