From Good to Great

One of my favorite quotes from this weeks reading material has to come from Jim Collins, "Good is the enemy of Great!" What an awesome quote. Mr. Collins continues to school us in what he meant by that. He says, "“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority have become quite good – and that is their main problem. That good is the enemy of great is not just a business problem. It is a human problem. If we have cracked the code on the question of good to great, we should have something of value to any type of organization. Good schools might become great schools. Good newspapers might become great newspapers. Good churches might become great churches.Good government agencies might become great agencies. And good companies might become great companies.” In thinking about what it means to me, I have identified a few personal characteristics that I can change to get to that "great" level of leadership. I will need it if I plan to be a manager at my employer. Some of what I have to change is personal but I will mention one thing I need to change. I need to learn the power of delegation. I also need to learn how to say "no" to people. I get overworked because I don't know how to change that aspect of my decision making. If I change just that one thing, I think I'll be on my way to becoming better....not great yet. But it's almost there. Lets do better to change our attitudes from good to great! I think I can do that at least. I know I can have a great attitude to start my day. I can have a great attitude when I have a bad day. Maybe I'll start there. Let's make it a great day, not just a good one.