Books
Good to Great
Collins and his team studied companies that had produced great results for at least fifteen years. He describes the leaders of these company as Level 5 leaders. They share the following characteristics: humility (it's not about me), ambition (for the mission, not themselves), unwavering resolve, fanatically driven, disciplined, and intent on developing other leaders. It is amazing how these characterists sync up with what we would call servant leaders.
Key insights:
1.First Who then What: Collins found that Level 5 leaders first got the right people on the bus, got the wrong people off the bus, and got the right people in the right seats. Then, with the leadership team, they decided where to drive the bus. Many pastors miss the point that you must build a team of spiritual leaders before pressing ahead with visioning.
2.Confront the Brutal Facts (yet never lose faith): You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail, regardless of the difficulties AND, at the same time, have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.
3.A Culture of Discipline: A culture of discipline (for us discipleship) along with an ethic of entrepreneurship will foster great performance.
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Comments on this Entry:
I find Collins' insights very helpful. As I work with pastors across the country, I find many of them do not feel empowered to shape and mold their leadership team. They view their church council as a given. It can take years to effect a change to the council with existing practices. We encourage pastors to follow Collins' advice, to draw together a core of spiritual leaders. If the council is an obstacle, create an informal structure, a vision team.
No pastor's vision will ever get traction without a core group of leaders taking the vision on as their own. The best strategy is to pull this leadership team together first, and then do the visioning with this core team.
Posted by: Gregg Burch at October 6, 2005 03:09 PM
Bill Hybels interviewed Jim Collins at the Willowcreek Leadership Summit this past summer (2006). The discussion centered around this "Monograph" for Social Sectors (Non-profits)-- specifically how it impacts the church sector. It was a great introduction to the thoughts Collins shares in the original book "Good to Great" and this 35-page monograph. The interview is available on DVD through Willowcreek.
(PS>
You might also be interested in the interview with Bono on holding the Church accountable to do something about the AIDS crisis in so-called Third World cultures. It was excellent. We plan to use it during our two-month Called to Discipleship - SERVE emphasis in Feb/Mar 2007.)
Posted by: Robb Grimm at November 5, 2006 12:42 AM
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