Mediocrity Results First And Foremost From Management

The Most Effective Leaders Of Companies In Transition Are The Quiet, Unassuming People Whose Inner Wiring Is Such That The Worst Circumstances Bring Out Their Best. They're Unflappable, They're Ready To Die If They Have To. But You Can Trust That, When Bad Things Are Happening, They Will Become Clearheaded And Focused.

Level 5 Leaders Channel Their Ego Needs Away From Themselves And Into The Larger Goal Of Building A Great Company. It's Not That Level 5 Leaders Have No Ego Or Self-interest. Indeed, They Are Incredibly Ambitious-but Their Ambition Is First And Foremost For The Institution, Not Themselves.

Great Companies Foster A Productive Tension Between Continuity And Change.

A Visionary Company Doesn't Simply Balance Between Idealism And Profitability: It Seeks To Be Highly Idealistic And Highly Profitable. A Visionary Company Doesn't Simply Balance Between Preserving A Tightly Held Core Ideology And Stimulating Vigorous Change And Movement; It Does Both To An Extreme.

Look, I Don't Really Know Where We Should Take This Bus. But I Know This Much: If We Get The Right People On The Bus, The Right People In The Right Seats, And The Wrong People Off The Bus, Then We'll Figure Out How To Take It Someplace Great.