Popular articles
About me
My name is Mauro Bagnato and for over 15 years I have been leading tech organizations.
When I first stepped into leadership, I believed technical expertise was the key to being an effective leader. However, I quickly learned that organizations are living and complex systems and that leading them demands much more than just technical know-how. I believe that curiosity is at the heart of effective leadership. This is what fuels learning and experimentation, both crucial for continuous improvement. This blog aims to explore engineering leadership in all its aspects and to provide insights in a tangible and pragmatic manner. It will also be a space where I will share insights, reflections, and personal takeaways from books, podcasts, and articles that influenced and keep influencing my journey.
Find out how I can help you!
Intro.
I just finished "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, and two concepts from the book keep spinning in my mind
- The concept of Level 5 leadership
- The “invisible” journey from good to great
Good to great. A bit of context.
The book is the result of a huge research study aiming at answering the following question:
Can a good company become great, and if so, how?
Assuming that great companies are the ones that
- made the leap from good to great results (measured in terms of average cumulative stock return)
- sustained those results for at least 15 years,
the researchers
- identified 11 Fortune 500 companies meeting these criteria
- compared them against a control group of companies that either failed to make the leap or couldn’t sustain it.
The outcome of the study distilled the key factors common to all “good-to-great” companies.
What I liked the most about “Good to Great”.
My goal with this article is not to summarize the whole book but just to share the two concepts that struck me the most and my personal takeaways about them.
Level 5 leaders.
During their evolution, all companies had a very specific type of leaders at their helm, defined as “Level 5” leaders.
“Level 5” leaders:
- Are humble but very determined and with a very strong will.
- Prioritize the company's success over personal recognition
- Play a long-term game. They want to see the company even more successful in the future when they will not be around anymore.
- Are perceived by their colleagues as modest, reserved, shy, and mild-mannered.
Takeaway #1. Great outcomes don’t necessarily require iconic, outspoken, I-centric, alpha-type leadership styles.
Takeaway #2. Great leaders look ahead. They understand the importance of investing in the new generation of leaders.
The invisible journey.
No matter how dramatic the end result, the transition from good to great never happened overnight.
In other words, there was no single defining action, killer innovation, change program, or lucky break.
When interviewed, leaders of these companies could not point to anything specific that determined the transition.
It was a cumulative and coordinated set of small steps, actions, and decisions that compounded over time.
Takeaway #3. The way transitions look from the outside can be very misleading. We often overlook the huge amount of (sometimes boring) work needed to get there.
Takeaway # 4. Clear direction is key. Regardless of their size, consistent steps forward will take you closer to the end goal.
