Good to Great and the Social Sectors

Terrific summary of this great leadership book.

As someone who is finishing his undergraduate career, I found this monologue not only to be inspiring, but also helpful as I prepare to enter the workforce. I am interested in becoming involved in or starting a nonprofit, and I don’t think I could’ve gotten the concepts offered in this book anywhere else. In short, I felt empowered. In the monograph, Collins wrote that over the years he recognized that many business leaders entered into the social sector only to encounter failure. Seeking to solve this, he researched and compared successful businesses and social sector institutions to see what common elements made them survive—and where they fell. He outlines the steps these institutions took to separate them from the good and made them truly great. This research birthed Good to Great, and the monologue stands as a piece addressed to the hopeful social sector leaders amongst its readers. Its overall message seems to read, “Greatness isn’t what you might think it is, and here is how to achieve it.” Jim Collin’s writing is at once entertaining and clear. Even a junior high schooler could pick up his this piece and follow his logical and fluid wiring. His natural language and purposeful strut drew me in from the first page. Even though this was an accompanying monologue to Good to Great, he quickly ‘caught me up’ to the concepts presented in the book, relating them directly to the plight of the social sector. I was stunned by the clear comparisons in thinking that he drew between successful social sector institutions and businesses. In five very clear sections, Collins addresses separate issues that social sector leaders must address to form a successful social sector institution. They are as follows:1. “Defining “Great,”—Calibrating Success Without Business Metrics,”2. “Level 5 Leadership—Getting Things Done within a Diffuse Power Structure”3. “First Who—Getting The Right People On The Bus, Within Social Sector Constraints.”4. “The Hedgehog Concept—Rethinking the Economic Engine without a Profit Motive”5. “Turning the Flywheel—Building Momentum by Building the Brand”Each section’s issue addresses very important questions. For the social sectors, the first answers how greatness can be defined and pursued, the second helps show what extremely adept and effective leaders look like, the third helps show how to hire the right people, the fourth focuses on both on sustaining longevity and consistency, and the fifth talks about how to build momentum and create a bigger impact within the communities touched by a ‘social sector.’ In each issue, Collins uses real-world examples of great leaders and the decisions they made to steer their organizations towards greatness. From Tom Morris of the Cleveland Orchestra to William Bratton of the NYPD, a variety of examples edify Collins’ concepts. Combined with graphs and empirical data, his narrative walks the reader through the various hurtles faced by social sectors and businesses alike, and shows how a social sector responds to prevail and achieve greatness, from day one. Readers of this book will learn how to lead (and when not to,) how to measure success, how to recruit, how to find corporate purpose, how to rethink resources, and how to overcome crises. I think that calling this book ‘a manual solely for social sector leaders’ would not do its utility or its masterful breadth of coverage justice, even for its 31 page length. Collins eloquently nails ideas usually learned over years of trial-and-error. The monograph is testament to the genius of Collins and Good to Great, and the practical wisdom provided inside is more than worth its time. Jim Collins has provided the missing link for many who seek to venture into nonprofit careers or business. I would recommend this book to students and professionals alike, for the skills presented in this monologue. This book, in short, teaches you how to lead a team of people towards making an impact in a way that ethically utilizes resources and personnel, and sustain performance towards a state of accomplishment aforementioned as ‘great.’ I would highly recommend this book to you if you plan to run or organize a nonprofit.

Oubliez tout ce que vous avez appris dans les écoles de commerce, et lisez ces 50 pages (le meilleur rapport performance/nb pages du marché!). Il transformera votre approche des organisations sans but lucratif.

It's actually an extra chapter for the previous published book. 4/4 stars because is too pricey for 30 pages "book".

Great monograph by Jim Collins. Arrived on time