Make the Journey

Getting Ready to Make the Journey on the Road to Great

If you are familiar with Jim Collins’s findings in Good to Great and have wished you and your organization could be more like the ones in his book, it is a wish that can become a reality. That is our belief supported by case study results and a commitment to help make it happen for you, starting anytime you are ready to give it a try.

Collins identified 11 companies that had the very best combinations of business models and personal leadership approaches at the top. It took an average of 4.5 years for each leader to improve the economic engine powering their teams by using personal leadership skills to guide decisions. But the details of their work habits and how they made decisions that propelled their company results into off the chart levels of success have remained quite fuzzy and obscure.

Insights into the leadership side of the equation are provided in a detailed study by Dr. John Kotter, published by the Harvard Press in 1982 titled The General Managers. This book describes the actions of 15 leaders, each studied by Kotter for several weeks using surveys and many personal interviews plus observing their work efforts by following them around. It took over five years to complete the data collection and analyses but what was not apparent at that time is now extremely special. Kotter selected his subjects very carefully and it turns out in our opinion that all of them were in the genre of 5th level leaders. By knowing what they did plus what we have learned and applied in our research you can prepare for and begin to take your organization into the realm of great starting now.

But wait, you aren’t a 5^th level leader? We believe the secrets in 5^th level leadership can be learned and implemented by almost anyone. When you can take the same day to day actions they used and reach your decisions in the same ways they did, you can become a 5^th level team leader. The first leg of your journey involves learning the details of what’s required to plan and complete such a trip. Much of the journey begins to take shape almost immediately when you know more about what 5^th level leaders did in their day to day activities.

Our goal is to help you understand your current realities and make choices that will rapidly improve your outcomes. But first you must know more about the heart and soul that drives you and all top leaders and subordinates in your organization. You need to understand two distinctly different dimensions that operate separately but impact outcomes by interacting simultaneously. It’s very similar to the warp and weft of woven fabric. When one strand begins to unravel that immediately impacts the other. If either strand is weak at the outset, that puts the entire piece of fabric at risk of not holding up well or not lasting very long.

In preparing for a Road2Great journey, we help you gain insights into the personal leadership model (who) and economic model (what) along with all the steps needed to become more successful. You can make decisions and take actions that mirror those of 5^th level leaders. When you and your teams start deciding and acting in concert to improve the economic engine that runs your organization today, greater success is almost assured.

The system you apply for a Road2Great journey is called Language of Value (LoV for short). This system is based on intuitive thinking that takes place every day in normal organizations. You might call it formalized common sense, because as you study LoV and use it, a frequent reaction is that “I knew this all along”. But all too often you don’t apply and act on the common sense and intuitions you have and know will work.

When you learn and follow the systems and methods established by all the 5^th level leaders day to day, you have uncovered the central reason a 5^th level leader is not needed for your journey. You and your team will adopt and perform the 5th level leadership roles based on the Language of Value models. Since these LoV models do mirror the 5^th level leaders’ philosophy and approaches, you will begin to mirror them at the outset in both the who and the what dimensions of your organization.

So get started today and learn to mirror the day to day actions and decisions of 5^th level leaders. Best of luck in adopting and following what 5^th level leaders have tried to help us learn and use every day. It’s based on common sense and fair treatment for all members in your organization that encourages them to do their best. It helps everyone gain the respect and support of others. And that translates into spectacular outcomes when all are motivated and directed by such simple systems and rules, which is why I call it LoV. That’s the Language of Value in action.