【英文书短读】Good to Great (8)

【英文书短读】Good to Great (8)

 Chapter Summary

Level 5 Leadership KEY POINTS

•  Every good-to-great company had Level 5 leadership during the pivotal transition years.

•  “Level 5” refers to a five-level hierarchy of executive capabilities, with Level 5 at the top. Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. They are ambitious, to be sure, but ambitious first and foremost for the company, not themselves.

• Level 5 leaders set up their successors for even greater success in the next generation, whereas egocentric Level 4 leaders often set up their successors for failure.

• Level 5 leaders display a compelling modesty, are self-effacing and understated. In contrast, two thirds of the comparison companies had leaders with gargantuan personal egos that contributed to the demise or continued mediocrity of the company.

• Level 5 leaders are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce sustained results. They are resolved to do whatever it takes to make the company great, no matter  how big or hard the decisions.

• Level 5 leaders display a workmanlike diligence—more plow horse than show horse.

• Level 5 leaders look out the window to attribute success to factors other than themselves. When things go poorly, however, they look in the mirror and blame themselves, taking full responsibility. The comparison CEOs often did just the opposite—they looked in the mirror to take credit for success, but out the window to assign blame for disappointing results.

• One of the most damaging trends in recent history is the tendency (especially by  boards of directors)  to select dazzling, celebrity leaders and to de-select potential Level 5 leaders.

• I believe that potential Level 5 leaders exist all around us, if we just know what to look for, and that many people have the potential to evolve into Level 5.

UNEXPECTED FINDINGS

•  Larger-than-life, celebrity leaders who ride in from the outside are negatively correlated with going from good to great. Ten of eleven good-to-great  CEOs  came  from inside the company, whereas the comparison companies tried outside CEOs six times more often.

• Level 5 leaders attribute much of their success to good luck, rather than personal greatness.

•  We were not looking for Level 5 leadership in our research, or anything like it, but the data was overwhelming and convincing. It is an empirical, not an ideological, finding.

― Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

小结

要点

• 在转变的关键时期，每个实现跨越的公司都拥有第5级经理人。

• “第5级经理人”，指的是在经理人能力的5层体系中，位于最高层的经理人。第5级经理人体现了一个自相矛盾的混合体：谦逊的个性和坚定的意志。他们个个都有雄心壮志，但他们把公司的，而非他们自己的利益放在第一位。

• 第5级经理人培养接班人，为公司以后取得更大的成功做好铺垫，而以自我为中心的第4级经理人物色的接班人却导致公司的失败。

• 第5级经理人表现出一种令人折服的谦虚。他们都不爱抛头露面，保持低调。相反，2/3对照公司的领导都有很强的自我意识，导致了公司的毁灭或持续平庸。

• 第5级经理人的领导并不等同于“公仆式的领导”。他们都被创造可持续业绩的内在需要所驱动和感染。为了使公司走向卓越，他们有决心做任何事，不管这些决定有多么重大，多么困难。

• 第5级经理人表现出一种工人式的勤劳——比起表演的马，他们更像拉犁的马。

• 第5级经理人朝窗外看，把成功归于别的因素，而非他们自己。当业绩不佳时，他们看着镜子里，责备自己，承担所有的责任。而对照公司的首席执行官们则相反——成功时他们看着镜子里居功自傲，业绩不佳时则向窗外看，埋怨别人。

• 在近代史上最具破坏性的一种潮流就是选择令人目眩神迷的名人做首席执行官，而不选择第5级经理人（这在董事会中尤为常见）。

• 我相信具有潜力的第5级经理人就在我们周围，只要我们懂得如何寻找，很多人都具有成为第5级经理人的潜力。

意外发现

• 从公司外请进来的被奉若神明的名人领导与实现从优秀到卓越的过程呈负相关。11家实现跨越的公司中，有10家的首席执行官是从公司内部提拔的。对照公司向外部求援的次数，是实现跨越的公司的6倍还要多。

• 第5级经理人将他们的成功大部分归结为运气，而不是个人的卓越能力。

• 在研究中，我们并未刻意寻找第5级经理人或类似的东西，但是数据却势不可挡，极具说服力。这一理念是一个经验性的，而非意识形态性的发现。