Introduction
This essay paper seeks to show how a company can transform from “Good to Great”. This essay uses one of the concepts in the development of “Good to Great” companies as illustrated by Jim Collins in his book; Good to Great. For this essay, two articles have been selected. The first is a journal article while the second is a newspaper article that presents the concept of good leadership and management at Nissan.
For this essay, the concept of “Level 5 Leadership” is used. In the “Good to Great’s” concept,” “level 5 leadership” simply refers to the highest level in the hierarchical chain of executive capabilities. These leaders are humble, but self-driven to do what is best for the company. They have a mix of humility and professionalism. They are ambitious for the vision they embody for the company. According to Collins, they are “they are the Window and the Mirror of the company and they credit others with success while they find it easy to blame themselves for failures.” The Leaders down the other four levels can also produce high levels of success. This, however, is not enough to propel companies from mere good to sustained excellence (Collins & James, 2001).
Having a level 5 leader in a company is not the only requirement needed to transform a good company into a great one. According to the journal article, Darwin E. Smith the chief executive of Kimberly-Clark is a level 5 leader. The article goes on to demonstrate how the concept of “Level 5 Leadership” was applied. This it does by showing the changes that were made by Smith to ensure that the company remained in successful. They include getting the right people to be on board and the wrong people were cut off from the team; creating a culture of discipline. According to this concept, a leader should possess certain characteristics: humility, modesty, wilful, humble, and fearless. Smith demonstrated all these qualities. In addition, Carlos Ghosn is seen to be an effective leader. He was able to transform Nissan from bankruptcy to one of the best companies in Japan.
One of the other “Good to Great” concepts that appear in the articles is, “Culture of Discipline: Rinsing the cottage cheese.” It involves getting people with self-discipline on the bus. It also involves putting your best personnel on your biggest investment and opportunities and not on your biggest problems (Collins & James, 2001). The culture of discipline influences a positive change in the employees where they not only see their jobs as a “job” but also understands that it’s their responsibility. In the “Culture of Discipline”, there is a consistent display three forms of discipline: disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action. According to Jim Collins, when you have disciplined people, you do not need hierarchy.
According to the articles, Kimberly-Clark and Nissan are great companies. Both companies have all the seven characteristics of companies that went from “good to great”. They have a “Level 5 Leader”; they have utilized the concept of “First Who, Then What” to get the right people for the company (Collins & James, 2001). In addition, they have confronted the brutal facts of the situation without giving up hope; they have embraced the “Culture of Discipline”; have used technology to accelerate their growth; applied the “Hedgehog Concept” which is doing what they best at, being passionate and having a driving force. Finally, they have applied the “Flywheel” which is putting up of persistent effort until they succeeded.
According to the articles, Kimberly-Clark has already overcome all the hurdles on its way to becoming a Great company. In addition, Nissan has also been able to overcome its challenges, which included debt in order to become a Great company.
References:
Collins, James C. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap-and Others Don't. New York, NY: Harper Business, 2001. Print.
Collins, Jim. "Level 5 leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve." Harvard Business Review. 1 January 2001. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.
"Leading in the 21st century | Carlos Ghosn | McKinsey & Company." McKinsey & Company | Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.
