Page 21: "Level 5 leader - an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will."
Page 22: "Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless."
Page 25: "His placid persona hid an inner intensity, a dedication to making anything he touched the best it could possibly be -- not just because of what e would get, but because he simply couldn't imagine doing it any other way."
Page 30: "...Level 5 leadership is not just about humility and modesty. It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination one to make the company great."
Page 35: "Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside of themselves when things go well... At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility never blaming bad luck when things go poorly."
Page 45: "...the idea that "who" questions come before "what questions -- before vision, before strategy, before tactics, before organizational structure, before technology."
Page 51: "The good-t-great companies placed greater weight on character attributes than on specific educational background, practical skills, specialized knowledge, or work experience."
Page 53: "..stealing precious time in their lives that they could use to move on to something else when in the end they aren't going to make it anyway - that would be ruthless. To deal with it right up front land lets people get on with their lives -- that is rigorous."
Page 54: "If your growth rate in revenues consistently outpaces your growth rate in people, you simply will not -- indeed cannot -- build a company."
Page 56: "Strong performers are intrinsically motivated by performance, and when they see their efforts impeded by carrying extra weight, they eventually become frustrated."
Page 58: "First, if it were a hiring decision (rather than a "should this person get off the bus" decision, would you hire the person again? Second, if the person came to tell you that he or she is leaving to pursue an exciting new opportunity, would you feel terribly disappointed or secretly relieved?"
Page 69: "One of the dominant themes from our research is that breakthrough results come about by a series of good decisions, diligently executed and accumulated one on top of another."
Page 70: "...when you start with an honest and diligent effort to determine the truth of the situation, the right decisions often become self-evident."
Page 75: "...keep asking questions until he had a clear picture of reality and its implications. Why, why, why?... Furthermore, they used questions for one and only one reason: o gain understanding. They didn't use questions as a form of manipulation or as a way to blame or put down others. "Having the humility to grasp the fact that you do not yet understand enough to have the answers and then to ask the questions that will lead to the best possible insights."
Page 82: "...never had the gal to merely survive but to prevail in the end as a great company.'
Page 83: "...the management team responded with a powerful psychological duality. One the one hand, the stoically accepted the brutal facts of reality. On the other hand, they maintained an unwavering faith in the end game, and a commitment to prevail as a great company despite the brutal fact.s We came to call this duality the Stockdale Paradox."
Page 85: "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end -- which ou cane ver afford to lose- with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be." "Life is unfair--- sometimes to our advantage, sometimes to our disadvantage. We will all experience disappointments and crushing events somewhere along the way, setbacks for which there is no "Reason," no one to blame... it is not the presence or absence of difficulty, but how they deal with the inevitable difficulties of life."
Page 87: "...the key elements of greatness are deceptively simple and straightforward. The good-to-great leaders were able to strip away so much noise and clutter and just focus on the few things that would have the greatest impact."
Page 91: "Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity. They are "scattered or diffused, moving on many levels." Hedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything. It doesn't matter how complex the world, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to simple-- ideas. Anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance." "No, hedgehogs aren't simpletons; they have a piercing insight that allows them to see through complexity and discern underlying patterns. Hedgehogs see what is essential, and ignore the rest."
Page 98: "The Hedgehog Concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best, an intention to be the best, a plan to be the best. It is an understanding of what you can be the best at."
Page 122: ".. when you set your objectives for the year, you record them in concrete. You can change your plans through the year, but you never change what you measure yourself against. You are rigorous at the end of the year, adhering exactly to what you said was going to happen. YOu don't get a chance to editorialize....You never just focus on what you've accomplished for the year; you focus on what you've accomplished relative to exactly what you said you were going to accomplish.
Page 126: "...getting self-disciplined people on the bus in the first place. Next, we have disciplined thought. you need to discipline to confront the brutal facts of reality while retaining resolute faith that you can and will create a path to greatness. " "The point is to first get self-disciplined people who engage in very rigorous thinking, who then take disciplined action within the framework of a consistent system designed around the Hedgehog Concept."
Page 156: "Twenty percent of our success is the new technology that we embrace...eighty percent of our success is in the culture of our company."
page 160: "We're just never satisfied. We can be delighted, but never satisfied." "No, those who turn good into great are motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake. Those who build and perpetuate mediocrity, in contrast, are motivated more by the fear of being left behind."
Page 161: "Those that stay true to these fundamentals and maintain their balance, even in times of great change and disruption, will accumulate the momentum that creates breakthrough momentum.
Page 165: "Good to great comes about by a cumulative process -stey by step, action by action, decision by decision, turn by turn of the flywheel - that adds up to sustained and spectacular results."
Page 173: "They key, is to harness the flywheel to manage these short-term pressures. "
Page 178: "When people,e begin to feel the magic of momentum -- when they begin to see tangible results and they can feel the flywheel beginning to build speed -- that's when the bulk of ppl line up to throw up their shoulders against the wheel and push.
Page 22: "Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless."
Page 25: "His placid persona hid an inner intensity, a dedication to making anything he touched the best it could possibly be -- not just because of what e would get, but because he simply couldn't imagine doing it any other way."
Page 30: "...Level 5 leadership is not just about humility and modesty. It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination one to make the company great."
Page 35: "Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside of themselves when things go well... At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility never blaming bad luck when things go poorly."
Page 45: "...the idea that "who" questions come before "what questions -- before vision, before strategy, before tactics, before organizational structure, before technology."
Page 51: "The good-t-great companies placed greater weight on character attributes than on specific educational background, practical skills, specialized knowledge, or work experience."
Page 53: "..stealing precious time in their lives that they could use to move on to something else when in the end they aren't going to make it anyway - that would be ruthless. To deal with it right up front land lets people get on with their lives -- that is rigorous."
Page 54: "If your growth rate in revenues consistently outpaces your growth rate in people, you simply will not -- indeed cannot -- build a company."
Page 56: "Strong performers are intrinsically motivated by performance, and when they see their efforts impeded by carrying extra weight, they eventually become frustrated."
Page 58: "First, if it were a hiring decision (rather than a "should this person get off the bus" decision, would you hire the person again? Second, if the person came to tell you that he or she is leaving to pursue an exciting new opportunity, would you feel terribly disappointed or secretly relieved?"
Page 69: "One of the dominant themes from our research is that breakthrough results come about by a series of good decisions, diligently executed and accumulated one on top of another."
Page 70: "...when you start with an honest and diligent effort to determine the truth of the situation, the right decisions often become self-evident."
Page 75: "...keep asking questions until he had a clear picture of reality and its implications. Why, why, why?... Furthermore, they used questions for one and only one reason: o gain understanding. They didn't use questions as a form of manipulation or as a way to blame or put down others. "Having the humility to grasp the fact that you do not yet understand enough to have the answers and then to ask the questions that will lead to the best possible insights."
Page 82: "...never had the gal to merely survive but to prevail in the end as a great company.'
Page 83: "...the management team responded with a powerful psychological duality. One the one hand, the stoically accepted the brutal facts of reality. On the other hand, they maintained an unwavering faith in the end game, and a commitment to prevail as a great company despite the brutal fact.s We came to call this duality the Stockdale Paradox."
Page 85: "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end -- which ou cane ver afford to lose- with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be." "Life is unfair--- sometimes to our advantage, sometimes to our disadvantage. We will all experience disappointments and crushing events somewhere along the way, setbacks for which there is no "Reason," no one to blame... it is not the presence or absence of difficulty, but how they deal with the inevitable difficulties of life."
Page 87: "...the key elements of greatness are deceptively simple and straightforward. The good-to-great leaders were able to strip away so much noise and clutter and just focus on the few things that would have the greatest impact."
Page 91: "Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity. They are "scattered or diffused, moving on many levels." Hedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything. It doesn't matter how complex the world, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to simple-- ideas. Anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance." "No, hedgehogs aren't simpletons; they have a piercing insight that allows them to see through complexity and discern underlying patterns. Hedgehogs see what is essential, and ignore the rest."
Page 98: "The Hedgehog Concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best, an intention to be the best, a plan to be the best. It is an understanding of what you can be the best at."
Page 122: ".. when you set your objectives for the year, you record them in concrete. You can change your plans through the year, but you never change what you measure yourself against. You are rigorous at the end of the year, adhering exactly to what you said was going to happen. YOu don't get a chance to editorialize....You never just focus on what you've accomplished for the year; you focus on what you've accomplished relative to exactly what you said you were going to accomplish.
Page 126: "...getting self-disciplined people on the bus in the first place. Next, we have disciplined thought. you need to discipline to confront the brutal facts of reality while retaining resolute faith that you can and will create a path to greatness. " "The point is to first get self-disciplined people who engage in very rigorous thinking, who then take disciplined action within the framework of a consistent system designed around the Hedgehog Concept."
Page 156: "Twenty percent of our success is the new technology that we embrace...eighty percent of our success is in the culture of our company."
page 160: "We're just never satisfied. We can be delighted, but never satisfied." "No, those who turn good into great are motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake. Those who build and perpetuate mediocrity, in contrast, are motivated more by the fear of being left behind."
Page 161: "Those that stay true to these fundamentals and maintain their balance, even in times of great change and disruption, will accumulate the momentum that creates breakthrough momentum.
Page 165: "Good to great comes about by a cumulative process -stey by step, action by action, decision by decision, turn by turn of the flywheel - that adds up to sustained and spectacular results."
Page 173: "They key, is to harness the flywheel to manage these short-term pressures. "
Page 178: "When people,e begin to feel the magic of momentum -- when they begin to see tangible results and they can feel the flywheel beginning to build speed -- that's when the bulk of ppl line up to throw up their shoulders against the wheel and push.
Page 195: "The point is not what core values you have, but that you have core values at all, that you know what they are, that you build them explicitly into the organization, and that you preserve them over time." "...a classic case of preserving the core and stimulate progress, holding a core ideology fixed while changing strategies and practices over time, and its adherence to this principle is the fundamental reason why it has endured as a great company."
Page 205: "There is great solace in the simple fact of clarity - about what is vital, and what is not."
Page 208: "...those who strive to turn good into great find the process no more painful or exhausting than those who settle or just lettings things wallow along in mind-numbing mediocrity. Yes, turning good into great takes energy, but the building of momentum adds more energy back into the pool than it takes out."
Page 209: "Get involved in something that you care so much about what you want to make it the greatest it can possibly be, not because of what you will get, but just because it can be done."
