Kalos Faith
Level 5 Leader
In Jim Colin’s book, Good to Great, the first ingredient of a good to great company is having a level 5 leader.Their definition of that leader is someone with humility and professional will for the enterprise or mission.As much as leadership requires good communication skills, there is a lot to say about being quiet and rolling up your sleeves to work.
Jerome Li
In Jim Colin’s book, Good to Great, the first ingredient of a good to great company is having a level 5 leader.Their definition of that leader is someone with humility and professional will for the enterprise or mission.As much as leadership requires good communication skills, there is a lot to say about being quiet and rolling up your sleeves to work.The book compares Darwin Smith, whom you probably haven’t heard of, to Chrysler’s Lee Iacocca.
Darwin Smith took reign of Kimberly-Clark in 1971.Prior to his tenure, the company had lost 36% behind the general stock market.In twenty years, Smith has turned the company around and outperformed the market by 4.1 times.Smith was a mild-mannered in-house lawyer.In fact, he wasn’t sure the board made the right choice to name him CEO early on.But his humility along with strong commitment made him a level 5 leader that turned the company around.
In contrast, Lee Iacocca became a household name after saving Chrysler initially.But there is more to his legacy than that because, Iacocca, in mid career turned his focus on reading his own news clipping so much so that his focus became self-promoting rather than making Chrysler a sustainable success.He sold millions of copies of his own biography.He was frequently in interviews with the media.His fame or the focus on it became the downfall of Chrysler, or at least partly because of it.If he would have kept his energy and focus on the company, Chrysler may still be an American success story today.
Raising a family is much the same.Through the years, we get recognized for having a great family and good kids.I had thought about writing books on the how-to.By God’s grace, I never had the time nor the energy to pursue that thought.Life kept Jane and I pretty busy.Today, reading this about corporate leaders, prompts me to stay the course.As the leader of the family, although my kids are now grown and building their own lives, I must maintain a humble spirit and focus on the mission, which is to have a strong family foundation for my children.My tasks today are very different in accomplishing that goal than ten years ago.But my heart must remain faithful to that cause and not be lured by the lust of the world.
Today, I must set an example of consistency and persistency in living a godly life.I must more than ever to live a life of the simple daily discipline of reading the bible, telling my wife I love her and demonstrating a strong work ethic.I pray that my life will accumulate to something my future generations will be able to draw strength from for their own successes.