Home  Spirit/Ethics Businesses that go from good to great
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Businesses that go from good to great |
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By K. Proctor
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Research suggests to the writer a connection between excellence and spiritual values.
I just finished the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. This book comes from an intense research study of firms in the Fortune 500 that leaped from good to great and sustained that greatness for at least 15 years (all of those 15 year segments began after 1964 and all finished by 1999).
Out of 500 firms, they found 11 that meet the tough standards. Each of those 11 was compared to another firm in their industry that was facing similar challenges (like steel manufacturing moving out of the US).
The book shares the commonalities among the companies that leaped from good to great. And when you look at each of the principles you can see some grounding in Spirit. See what you think….
Level 5 leadership. This is a CEO who is a combination of humility and professional will. Many were shy, modest and good at giving the credit to others. Their “ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.” (pg 21) Interesting, eh? Those who are meek and aren’t out for personal glory but for the good of the larger cause are rewarded.
First, find the right employees and then determine where the team is going and what they will do (vision, strategy, structure and tactics). This is not a dictatorship where the CEO envisions it all and others carry it out. I like the idea of finding the right people – like God picks us each for the work we do and because of that we are blessed and so are others.
Confront the “brutal facts, yet never lose faith.” In this step you create a true opportunity for employees to be heard. To create a culture of truth, they suggest these 4 practices: “1) lead with questions, not answers; 2) engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion; 3) conduct autopsies, without blame; 4) build red flag mechanisms that turn information into information that cannot be ignored.” I thought these sounded like a Principled way to work – guided by Spirit at work.
Focus your business on the intersection of these 3 areas: 1) what you are deeply passionate about; 2) what you can be the best in the world at; and 3) what drives your economic engine. This is a fascinating exercise - to really examine what you do now and if that can be the thing you can best in the world or not. I thought this sounded like listening to God and glorifying Him in the best way you can and being open to His specific direction and not just ego or other supposed influences.
A culture of discipline. You need a culture of self-disciplined people who take the right action that is consistent with your key business concept from above. This is not just an idea about action, but about getting disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and action. This is not the same as a controlling CEO who enforces discipline. This sounds good to me – and sounds like people who are motivated by Principle and not selfishness, greed or ego.
Momentum builds powerful sustainable change and growth. None of the 11 companies made overnight changes but learned and grew over time until they hit a breakthrough. This sounded to me like staying on the right path and the payoff will come – God has it in store for you. FYI, the 11 companies that made this leap were: Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens and Wells Fargo.
This book is worth a quick read at least. There are some very usable ideas here for building a great company and I felt the connection to Spirit guiding what was “great” in these companies. I found much of it fascinating. Enjoy. Read more from this blogger at Spirit and Entrepreneurship.
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