Quote

Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.

James C. Collins

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

James C. Collins
Age: 66
Born: 1958
Born: January 25
Author
Businessperson
Journalist
Writer
Boulder
Colorado
Decision
Circumstance
Choices
Largely
Turns
Greatness
Success
Function
Business
Discipline
Inspirational
Conscious
Matter
Choice
Circumstances

More quotes by James C. Collins

Image
Not one of the good-to-great companies focused obsessively on growth.
James C. Collins
Image
If I'm going really, really fast, I can do a page of finished text a day, on average.
James C. Collins
Image
How can you succeed by helping others succeed? We succeed at our very best only when we help others succeed.
James C. Collins
Image
It occurs to me,Jim,that you spend too much time trying to be interesting. Why don't you invest more time being interested? Collin's advice from John Gardner that he took to heart.
James C. Collins
Image
Comparison, a great teacher once told me, is the cardinal sin of modern life. It traps us in a game that we can't win. Once we define ourselves in terms of others, we lose the freedom to shape our own lives.
James C. Collins
Image
The x factor of a great leader is humility combined with will.
James C. Collins
Image
Those who build and perpetuate mediocrity...are motivated more by the fear of being left behind.
James C. Collins
Image
You can't manufacture passion or motivate people to feel passionate. You can only discover what ignites your passion and the passions of those around you.
James C. Collins
Image
If we allow the celebrity rock-star model of leadership to triumph, we will see the decline of corporations and institutions of all types. The twentieth century was a century of greatness, but we face the very real prospect that the next century will see very few enduring great institutions.
James C. Collins
Image
Indeed, the real question is not, Why greatness? but What work makes you feel compelled to try to create greatness? if you have to ask the question, Why should we try to make it great? Isn't success enough? then you're probably int he wrong line of work.
James C. Collins
Image
Change your practices without abandoning your core values.
James C. Collins
Image
Growth! is not a Hedgehog Concept. Rather, if you have the right Hedgehog Concept and make decisions relentlessly consistent with it, you will create such momentum that your main problem will not be how to grow, but how not to grow too fast.
James C. Collins
Image
The critical question is not whether you'll have luck, but what you do with the luck that you get.
James C. Collins
Image
We must reject the idea... Well-intentioned, but dead wrong... That the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become more like a business. Most businesses... Like most of anything else in life... Fall somewhere between mediocre and good.
James C. Collins
Image
The essence of profound insight is simplicity.
James C. Collins
Image
Companies that change best over time know first and foremost what should not change.
James C. Collins
Image
Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step.
James C. Collins
Image
Don't take care of your career. Take care of your people. They will take care of your career.
James C. Collins
Image
The only way to remain great is to keep on applying the fundamental principles that made you great.
James C. Collins
Image
In determing the right people, the good-to-great companies placed greater weight on character attributes than on specific educational background, practical skills, specialized knowledge, or work experience.
James C. Collins