Good To Great Quotes

• Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.

  James C. Collins

  Inspirational, Success, Business

  "Turn on, tune in - or drown in a sea of mediocrity" by Simon Caulkin, www.theguardian.com. September 2, 2006.

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• Managing your problems can only make you good, whereas building your opportunities is the only way to become great.

  James C. Collins

  Opportunity, Mind Your Own Business, Way

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• Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats...

  James C. Collins

  People, Funny Business, Seats

  "Good to Great". Book by James C. Collins, 2001.

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• Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

  John D. Rockefeller

  Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• Good is the enemy of great. And that's one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.

  James C. Collins

  Keys, Enemy, Littles

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• Great vision without great people is irrelevant.

  James C. Collins

  People, Insightful, Vision

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• 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.

  James C. Collins

  Faith, Perseverance, Reality

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• People are not your most important asset....the right people are.

  James C. Collins

  People, Important, Assets

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• Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.

  James C. Collins

  Good Life, School, Keys

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• For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.

  James C. Collins

  Meaningful, Impossible, Ends

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• Bad decisions made with good intentions, are still bad decisions.

  James C. Collins

  Decision, Good Intentions, Made

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• A culture of discipline is not a principle of business, it is a principle of greatness.

  James C. Collins

  Greatness, Discipline, Principles

  "Good To Great And The Social Sectors". Book by James C. Collins, 2005.

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• Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It's not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious-but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.

  James C. Collins

  Ambition, Self, Goal

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• True leadership has people who follow when they have the freedom not to.

  James C. Collins

  People, True Leader, True Leadership

  46 Copy quote

• The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you've made a hiring mistake. The best people don't need to be managed. Guided, taught, led-yes. But not tightly managed.

  James C. Collins

  Business, Mistake, People

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• In determing "the right people," the good-to-great companies placed greater weight on character attributes than on specific educational background, practical skills, specialized knowledge, or work experience.

  James C. Collins

  Educational, Character, Skills

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• The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline.

  James C. Collins

  Business, Discipline, Purpose

  "No more heroes". “Madeleine Bunting's working lives column”, www.theguardian.com. November 3, 2001.

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• I recommend that the Statue of Liberty be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the west coast.

  Viktor E. Frankl

  Responsibility, Liberty, West

  Viktor E. Frankl (2015). “Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition”, p.101, Beacon Press

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• Mediocrity results first and foremost from management failure, not technological failure.

  James C. Collins

  Mediocrity, Firsts, Management

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• For no matter what we achieve, if we don't spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect, we cannot possibly have a great life. But if we spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect - people we really enjoy being on the bus with and who will never disappoint us - then we will almost certainly have a great life, no matter where the bus goes. The people we interviewed from the good-to-great companies clearly loved what they did, largely because they loved who they did it with.

  James C. Collins

  Business, Work, People

  "Good to Great". Book by James C. Collins, 2001.

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• Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless.

  James C. Collins

  Humble, Leader, Fearless

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• Indeed, the real question is not, "Why greatness?" but "What work makes you feel compelled to try to create greatness?" if you have to ask the question, "Why should we try to make it great? Isn't success enough?" then you're probably int he wrong line of work.

  James C. Collins

  Business, Real, Greatness

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• Consider the idea that charisma can be as much a liability as an asset. Your strength of personality can sow the seeds of problems, when people filter the brutal facts from you.

  James C. Collins

  Ideas, People, Personality

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• By definition, it is not possible to everyone to be above the average.

  James C. Collins

  Average, Definitions, Above Average

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• 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.

  James C. Collins

  Smart, Self, People

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