Take Your Leap From Good to Great

I recently finished reading the book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins. Though the book is primarily focused on business principles that take companies from Good to Great, by the end, Collins reveals that the framework can be applied to any project — professional or personal.

When applying the personal lens, I realized that personal mediocrity is an outcome of simply not applying the right principles at the right time. Hence, moving on from one phase to another in one’s life is simply a function of applying key principles. Collins emphasizes, making the leap can take time, but if the framework is applied consistently, it can yield enduring results.

The GTG Framework-Business Summary

Through a rigorous process of reviewing, synthesizing, and finding patterns at great companies, Collins and his team were able to discover principles that, if applied, can help a company make the leap.

Below is a summary of the principles. Consider them a short orientation before we get into applying a personal lens.

Collins categorizes the principles into three distinct sections: disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action.

Disciplined People — the people to get on board

• Hire leaders who exhibit Level 5 leadership — Leaders who put the company first, rather than seeking personal achievement. Who seek sustainable results. Who praise others for results and take the blame when the company isn’t achieving. Who are just normal people, not celebrity types
• First who, then what — Start with the who should be on the team, then define what you’re trying to accomplish

Disciplined Thought — the way to think

• Confront the brutal facts — Seek the facts through healthy debate, and asking questions that reveal reality.
• Hedgehog concept — Develop hyperfocus rather pursuing multiple goals at once

Disciplined Action — the way to act

• A culture of discipline — The properties above add up to a framework that can be utilized to exert a culture where disciplined, focused entrepreneurship is prioritized
• Technology Accelerators — Technology can accelerate but is the reason for, the inevitable ascent of companies who meet the conditions above

As a business applies these principles, a business begins to generate a flywheel. This flywheel is a self-perpetuating system that uses self-reinforcing feedback loops. Ultimately, the mechanisms in the system generate fuel and energy that lead to growth, speed in a clear direction.

Though applying principles suited for business on a personal scale can be a stretch. Collins’ emphasizes that it doesn’t matter how large an organization is, success is simply a matter of applying the right mix of principles at the right times.

GTG Framework-Personal Lens

Defining your objective

To get oriented to applying the right principles, we need to begin by defining objectives.

In general, living a fulfilling, gratifying life is a good high-level objective. But, being clear with where you’re trying to achieve is critical in ensuring you’re taking the right steps.

To run through this exercise, I’ll share one of my personal goals — I want to build a portfolio of small businesses that gross over $1M by the age of 35 so that I can achieve financial freedom.

Building the right network

Similar to the concepts of Level 5 Leadership and First Who, then What, you should begin strategically building relationships with people who embody certain traits, have unique experiences, and fit into who you are and what you want to achieve. Notice here, I say relationships instead of mere connections because relationships allow for psychological safety and openness.

Finding people to work with is easy, but finding the right people and getting them on your team requires that you learn how to judge character AND you become worth their time.

Judging character is almost like a sixth sense. It requires your attention, particularly observing actions and the motivations behind those actions. These actions can be directed towards you, or others, but what you’re honing in on is how often a person does something and why they do it.

Relating this to my example, I want to build relationships with:

• People who genuinely care for others, and in this case, their financial health
• People with a long-term vision for their financial goals
• People who value accountability towards their investment decisions
• People who are humble and continuously learning about to expand their ROI

To build relationships with people who align with your goals and meet certain character criteria is a challenge, but worthwhile. To do so, proactively reach out to people/groups that you admire and deliver value to them. Whether that be through resources, your time, or others, being helpful/supportive indicates that you care about them and want to be a source of trust and strength. Be proactive, persistent, and patient; finding the right people is a journey in and of itself, but necessary.

Taking the right action

As you build your network and align with people with good character and intentions, you’ll need to begin confronting facts about yourself, specifically where you are and where you want to go. This means judging your character, and understanding who you need to become.

To incorporate the facts about myself and what I need to do, I usually think backward. Thinking through the habits and attitude I need to work towards helps to clarify the steps I need to take to build my character.

For example, to get to the point of financial freedom, I need to become more frugal, accountable, and persistent. Internalizing those traits as part of my character takes patience and deliberate repetition.

Overall, your character is hard to change, but by asking yourself questions about who you are and who you need to become, will help carve a path towards how you need to evolve.

As you build your character with the specific aim of meeting a specific goal, it’s equally as important to discover what you like to do, and what you can outsource in the context of the goal. Similar to the hedgehog concept, you need to leverage what you are good at, and outsource or rely on experts for the rest.

In my example, reaching financial freedom requires me to leverage a lot of my skills, or lean on others. What I’ve found is that I’m good at financial and operational diligence, acquisition, and management. I’m pretty terrible at accounting, so I outsource that to an expert I can trust.

In totality, developing strong habits and values that relate to your target, while leveraging what you’re good at, is a good recipe for success.

Flying into your target

Putting all of this together — the right group of people, the right character, and the right skills, your actions will be more productive and lead you to where you want to go through patience and persistence.

When your network, your character, and skills intertwine at the perfect time, you can begin powering your flywheel towards the direction we want to go.

Conclusion

Collins’ principles aren’t only useful for business leaders and professionals, but also people who are ambitious and want to be systematic and efficient as they climb their mountain. It should be stressed that these principles take a lot of time to master and consistently apply. Building a network of like-minded, supportive people can take time, but is definitely worth the effort. Likewise, character and skills take serious introspection and dedication, but in the long-run, they are extremely critical to sustained success. The hardest part may be putting this all together continuously, but if you’re trying to leap from good to great, putting in the effort is your only choice.