I Owe Jim Collins an Apology: A Lesson in Leadership

First published in Puget Sound Business Journal Leadership Trust

By Joelle Nole , Managing Director at Larj Media

I was listening to Brene Brown’s Daring to Lead podcast (which has major production quality problems that drive me nuts, but that’s an article for another day). In this episode, Brown interviews Jim Collins, author of Good to Great.

I read Good to Great in the early 2000s when I was at the Gates Foundation. It was gifted to all of us because Collins wrote a monograph of it for social sectors, which we all found sitting on our desks one morning. I remember that the principles from the book strongly resonated with me, and to this day, I comment on how meaningful it was for me as a young leader when I see it on the shelf in the offices of colleagues and friends.

But if I’m being honest, when I saw Jim Collins’ name on the list of episodes in my podcast app (Overcast is my preference, but Brene is exclusively Spotify these days), I actually couldn’t recall a single point from the book I’d read. I just simply forgot over time. So, I was excited to refresh my memory through the lens of Brown, who I deeply respect and admire (even if she does need some serious help with her podcast).

The thing that struck me most, and the whole reason I share this story with you, is that somewhere along the way, without realizing it, I internalized what I learned from Good to Great and baked it into my own leadership truths so deeply that I thought they were my own! It was surprising and humbling to discover that maybe I’m not such a “natural leader” at all. Maybe there’s no such thing. Maybe I’m actually just a product of the leaders who most inspired me.

I think I’ve undervalued the time and effort I put into constructing a decent leader out of what was once a young, overwhelmed manager who was often in over her head, reaching out for guidance in books and articles she only peripherally understood. Somewhere along the way, it seeped in and became my very own bag of tools.

To give Jim Collins the credit he actually deserves, here are two big truths of mine that are not actually mine after all, as it turns out.

The ‘First Who Principle’

According to Collins, you need to get the right people on the bus before you decide where the bus is going. Hire intrinsically motivated people who are committed to doing great work. These people will employ that attitude to whatever they take on and this makes them very adaptable to change. Change is the one thing we always know we’re going to have ever-present. So hire people who will continue to achieve no matter what they’re doing. I am very proud of the folks I’ve hired over the years — hiring has become a superpower of mine and I owe much of that to Jim Collins.

The ‘Hedgehog Concept’

For the sake of doing his work justice, here is Collins’ actual description of the Hedgehog Concept: “When we examined the Hedgehog Concepts of the good-to-great companies, we found they reflected deep understanding of three intersecting circles: 1) what you are deeply passionate about, 2) what you can be the best in the world at, and 3) what best drives your economic engine.”

The way I internalized this truth is to remember what we’re great at and why. I tend to avoid the temptation to pivot or expand on our offerings because I feel pouring effort into an additional offering will dilute our resources and cost us in terms of the quality of our core business. I’m not sure that’s exactly how Jim intended it to be interpreted, but that’s what I gained from this concept.

Final thoughts

We might not always remember the source of our wisdom, but we’re applying it all the time in our work. I continue to “sharpen the saw” per Steven Covey, and I’m even more motivated to keep at it now. After all, I’m still constructing myself as a leader. I can’t remember exactly where I read about how important it is to be a “life-long learner” but I know it’s true.

Signed copy of Good to Great sent from Jim Collins himself after reading Joelle’s article!

As a business leader, you’re probably a life-long learner as well, and you’ve probably found the number of resources available to be practically endless. Your preferred sources of leadership advice will vary depending on things like your industry, core values and learning style. Similarly, adopting or adapting particular lessons isn’t an overtly conscious action, in my experience, and when you do so will depend entirely on what resonates with you personally. I’ve found that advice or lessons coming from someone who hasn’t actually applied them in real life, or can’t speak to their own personal hard lessons, feel inauthentic and I avoid incorporating them into my leadership style and my business.

Of course, to make this sort of decision requires time to think, a luxury when you’re a busy professional, but this is a critical step. There’s no point in spending time reading and researching if you’re not going to take the time to think about it and internalize it so you can apply it. So before you incorporate any advice into your business (even that outlined in this article!), take a step back and consider why that advice resonates with you personally, and envision how you will apply it, and then one day, maybe when you least expect it, that new idea or skill will be your very own.