Quotes About Success

You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts. The good-to-great companies operated

You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts. The good-to-great companies operated in accordance with this principle, and the comparison companies generally did not.

Victory awaits him who has everything in order—luck people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck." —Roald Amundsen, The South Pole

Larger-than-life, celebrity leaders who ride in from the outside are negatively correlated with taking a company 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.

lasting transformations from good to great follow a general pattern of buildup followed by breakthrough.

Goals live on the other side of obstacles and challenges," said Bourque. "Along

You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit. —

It is very important to grasp that Level 5 leadership is not just about humility and modesty. It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination to do whatever needs to be done to make the company great. Indeed, we debated for a long time on the

The envisioned future should be so exciting in its own right that it would continue to keep the organization motivated even if the leaders who set the goal disappeared.

Hewlett Packard Chairman Built Company by Design, Calculator by Chance.

accomplish the organization's mission.

No human enterprise can succeed at the highest levels without consistency; if you bring no coherent unifying concept and disciplined methodology to your endeavors, you'll be whipsawed by changes in your environment and cede your fate to forces outside your control.

Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly.

The fact that something is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" is irrelevant, unless it fits within the three circles. A great company will have many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities

In retirement, Smith reflected on his exceptional performance, saying simply, I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job.

12 In retirement, Smith reflected on his exceptional performance, saying simply, "I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job.

As people decide among themselves to turn the fact of potential into the fact of results, the goal almost sets itself.

if I start with the right people, ask them the right questions, and engage them in vigorous debate, we will find a way to make this company great.

When you have disciplined people, you don't

tends to rivet our attention on the Icarus companies

The evidence does not support the idea that you need an outside leader to come in and shake up the place to go from good to great. In fact, going for a high-profile outside change agent is negatively correlated with a sustained transformation from good to great.

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 are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce sustained results.

turning good into great takes energy, but the building of momentum adds more energy back into the pool than it takes out.