032: Move From Good to Great: Shane and David Discuss Jim Collins’ Legendary Wisdom

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Summary:

In 2001, Jim Collins released a book that is often credited as one of the greatest professional development books of all time, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t. Today, David and Shane are discussing the book’s timeless wisdom and pulling out some of the practical ways to implement the strategies from the book in your own professional life.

Welcome to episode 32 of the Executive Minds Podcast.

Links + Resources:

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins

Three Takeaways:

1. It’s not just about what but who.
For Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs thinking about a launch, when you know what you want to do, you need to think about who can join your team to help you accomplish it. Finding and building the right team can make all the difference between a successful launch and an idea that never gets off the ground.

Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and then find seats for the right people. If you can help your team find the role that’s in line with their genius—where their passion and skill meet—they’ll be unstoppable.

2. Self-Audit Your Hobbies, Ideas and Passions.
For some launchers, we want to turn every idea that we have into a business or new work project. The initial passion is great, but if we really want to move from good to great, we need to routinely conduct a self-audit to make sure we’re still on course and focusing on things that we love, that we’re the best at and that will make money. Ask yourself these questions and work through your honest answers. You might end up realizing that

  1. What are you passionate about?
  2. What can you be best in the world out?
  3. What drives the economic engine?

3. Prepare Yourself for Opportunity.
At some point, opportunities—large or small—will come your way. Build whatever you’re launching in a way that you can be prepared to capitalize it. For intrapreneurs, it might be getting invited to present to the company’s C-Suite team or board. For entrepreneurs, it could be a local news story or a store interested in carrying your product. Whatever it is, you want to be prepared. Think about the potential opportunities you might get and make a game plan.