Leadership. Generally speaking the type of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one is not the high-profile leaders with big personalities it is the self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy leaders that are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. They are more like Lincoln and Socrates than Patton or Caesar.

First Who…Then What.  One would expect that great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and strategy. Instead it is important to first get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats – and then figure out where to drive it. The old adage “People are your most important asset” turns out to be wrong. People are not your most important asset. The right people are.

Confront the Brutal Facts. You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
 
The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity). To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. Just because something is your core business – just because you’ve been doing it for years or perhaps even decades – does not necessarily mean you can be the best in the world at it. If you cannot be the best in the world at your core business, then your business absolutely cannot form the basis of a great company.

A Culture of Discipline. All companies have a culture, some companies have discipline, but few companies have a culture of discipline. When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need hierarchy. When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need bureaucracy. When you have disciplined action, you don’t need excessive controls. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.
 

Good To Great

What are the guidelines required to turn a good business into a great business:

Technology Accelerators. Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology. They never use technology as the primary means of igniting a transformation. Yet, paradoxically, they are pioneers in the application of carefully selected technologies. Technology by itself is never a primary, root cause of either greatness or decline.

The Flywheel and the Doom Loop. Those who launch revolutions, dramatic change programs, and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap from good to great. No matter how dramatic the end result, the good-to-great transformations never happened in one fell swoop. There was no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Rather, the process resembled relentlessly pushing a giant heavy flywheel in one direction, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.

Disclaimer: This is not advice. Items herein are general comments only and do not constitute or convey advice per se. The information contained in this newsletter is for guidance only and should not be relied upon without obtaining professional advice having regard to your specific circumstances.
“Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation”