Good to Great by learning from a Hedgehog!<\/p>\n
September 3, 15<\/p>\n
Many of the concepts in Good to Great and Good to Great and the Social Sectors <\/em>are many that I am struggling with as a leader. It\u2019s difficult to lead like the books say when you are in the building process and to not get a little discouraged by a lack of growth. I have just paid to get my General Contractors license activated again and I was doing an estimate today I kind of felt like oh here I go again. I have been building for at least 25 years off and on and I really want to see some success or for it to go from good to great. More than that I want to see the ministry do even greater. I feel I possess the Level 5 leadership traits. I think I am humble and I am very ambitious. But I want to be quick to realize that using the \u201cI\u201d is a problem according to Jim Collins. And as a leader one of the things I don\u2019t want to do is use my power in my position to have people follow me in either the business or the church. Jim Collins says, \u201ctrue leadership only exists if people follow when they have the freedom not to.\u201d[1]<\/a> As a pastor I really am trying not to emulate many of the leaders I have been under because they intimidate people in different spiritual ways and people seem to not care. That is a real mystery to me. But I just can\u2019t do it. Jim Collins described the Level 5 leader and that is the leader I want to be, \u201cThe whole point of level 5 is to make sure the right decisions happen-no matter how difficult or painful- for the long-term greatness of the institution and the achievement of its mission, independent of the consensus or popularity.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n Another thing I am trying to work on is my brand. Or the Hedgehog concept Jim Collins discussed. \u201cHedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, the basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything.\u201d[3]<\/a> This concept completely describes the thesis statement we were working on. I am battling with just nailing down a basic organizing idea that is clear and can guide my church as well as business. I know how important that this is for any church or organization. I feel I am on my way but it is not as simple as the Hedgehogs defense against the fox. But I get the point.<\/p>\n Yet Jim Collins encouraged me a lot. I know that many of the answers to leadership are forth coming and there is no need to utilize quantitative measurements. Because no matter what you have achieved, you will always be merely good relative to what you can become. Greatness is an inherently dynamic process, not an end point.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n I have to realize you grow in greatness and it is never a real end to it. This encouraged me because I want to do my best in every thing that I do. And as a leader I want to be in that positions to always do greater for the good of those I serve. This is what drives me because I know you cant blame anyone else when the buck stops at you<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Jim Collins, Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great <\/em>(Boulder, Colo.?, 2005), 13.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid., 11.<\/p>\n