From Good to Great

"The Tipping Point was more important for the early part of Teach First, and this book was a kind of follow-on. It is really about how you change and break through in an organisation. There are a few points he makes that I think are really important. One of the main ones is the idea of “level five leadership” – that the best leaders “build an enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of humility and professional will”. I think it is this combination of humility and will that is important in so many great leaders I have seen. You need the humility to take feedback and constantly be looking to improve, and not think you are the magical leader who has all the answers. Yet you still need to have that steely will which enables you to take things forward. That is a very powerful combination. All five of these books have that in common, the importance of values. Jim Collins talks about confronting the brutal facts which are really important. There is this idea of a culture of focused discipline which you get in my first choice as well. For example, if the tribal leaders spent too much time thinking about the colour scheme for their office and not about the big stuff – as some corporate CEOs have in the past – then their tribe would be decimated, and the same thing applies to an organisation. You need to concentrate on the important things. You need to be goal-focused and simple. This is the hedgehog concept [originally formulated by Isaiah Berlin ] of focusing on what you do really well. I don’t know enough about the internals of Apple, but if Steve Jobs was as great a leader as people say then it won’t fail because that is a mark of great leadership. It is the clear values and laser-like focus that the whole company has, which have been facilitated by the leader, which will enable a smooth succession."