Various similarities exist between good to great companies and transformational leadership. For example, good to great companies do not focus on ways to manage change, motivating people, or even creating alignment. Instead, they focus on creating the right conditions that eliminate the challenge of commitment, motivation, and commitment. A transformational leader ensures that the employees have the right conditions like flexible schedules and virtuous work-life balance. Good to great companies tend to first focus on having the right people on board before coming up with a vision (Collins, 2001). This is similar to a transformational leader whose focus is having employees who will follow his or her lead and who have the skills necessary to drive the organization forward. A transformational leader will ensure that the employees are provided with the right skills to handle their tasks in the organization effectively.
A transformational leader requires having followers who trust him or her to lead the organization forward. Consequently, he or she must also trust the employees or followers to deliver. Since a transformational leader interacts with the followers in their day-to-day operations, there is a need to have a culture of discipline in the company for the interaction to be effective. A good to great organization dwells on a culture of discipline to reduce some of the excessive controls. A good to great company is one that focuses on sustainability and thinks of the future, similar to a transformational leader.
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Chapter 2: Level 5 Leadership
Level five leaders can depict servant-hood because they share the same characteristics in terms of the way they handle themselves and others as well. For instance, the leader is humble and usually demonstrates compelling modesty and is never boastful. Similarly, a servant leader uses persuasion and not his or her authority to convince followers. Such people act quietly, composed with the determination, and inspired standards to motivate the followers. A servant leader is also ready to do what it takes to achieve results that will drive the organization from good to great. The concept of conceptualization and foresight by servant leaders are very effective for a level 5 leader when he or she is doing everything it takes to achieve the set goals or vision in the company (Collins, 2001). Servant leadership also calls for one to listen to the followers and to build them as future successors. Lastly, the individual works on the growth of others, especially the successors who will drive the company forward in the future.
Chapter 3: First Who… Then What
The bus concept in leadership relates to the idea of having the right people on board before coming up with a vision and strategy. The bus concept is against the idea that people are your main asset and argues that having the right people in the most important positions leads the company towards success. Compensation should be used as a means to keep the right people working in the organization and not a means to get the right behaviors from the wrong employees. The company needs to use compensation as a way of making sure that talented employees continue working in the organization.
The first step towards transformation in the organization is getting the right team, which entails getting employees with the right skills and talent. It is only after getting the right employees that a leader can decide on the vision for the organization and the way the resources will be used to attain the vision (Collins, 2001). The right employees will be in a position to comprehend the vision and use their skills and talents in implementing it for the benefit of the company. Moreover, the company’s leadership should put the most talented employees in those positions considered as opportunities and not sources of challenges to an organization. By getting the right people, the organization can transform from a good organization to a great one.
Chapter 4: Confront the Brutal Facts
For a company to move from a good to a great one, it has to confront the brutal facts based on reality. The only way to make the right decisions is through starting with an honest as well as a genuine attempt at getting the facts about the current situation. Looking at the current situation means the organization is trying to address some of the reasons as to why it is not performing at the right level. An important culture is that where all the employees or followers have a chance to be heard, and the truth is given a priority always. The leaders should lead with questions and not the answers to engage the followers with a dialogue on how to solve some of the problems while avoiding any aspect of coercion. The aspect of dealing with the current facts should be done without any blame game, and all the opinions should be heard before a determination is made (Collins, 2001). Facing the current situation allows the company to learn from its mistakes and come back from it even stronger. The leaders must be open to listening to any reporting made by the followers concerning the brutal truths. The leader should lead the followers first to confront the brutal facts before he or she can embark on the vision of the organization.
Reference
Collins, J. C. (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Others Don't. Random House Business.
