“OK – so, who has looked in the mirror this morning and saw one of those visionary, larger-than-life leaders?” In his first interactive Leadership Session in Europe since 20 years, Jim Collins got it straight at the start! NOBODY, nobody should ever stop learning.
Exactly this learner’s attitude and curiosity enabled him to define The #1 differentiating step from “Good to Great” – “Level 5 Leadership”. Indeed, he wanted to take “Leadership” off his research agenda and had to question his own basic assumptions as he learned quite the contrary from his team: It is Level 5 Leadership, framed as Personal Humility, that makes a Great Leader – quite a challenge to the heroic leadership attitudes that we often observe.
To create motivation and buy-in effectively and lasting, leaders have to neglect their ego and focus on the purpose: “Personal Humbleness channels the energy to the cause, not the person. Thus, make people follow the cause, not the person!” It is always worth to listen to Jim Collins`advice.
