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

James C. Collins

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

More quotes by James C. Collins

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Most people will look back and realize they did not have a great life because it's just so easy to settle for a good life.
James C. Collins
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The critical question is not whether you'll have luck, but what you do with the luck that you get.
James C. Collins
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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
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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
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Just because a company falls doesn't invalidate what we can learn by studying that company when it was at its historical best.
James C. Collins
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Smart people instinctively understand the dangers of entrusting our future to self-serving leaders who use our institutions, whether in the corporate or social sectors, to advance their own interests.
James C. Collins
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The most effective leaders of companies in transition are the quiet, unassuming people whose inner wiring is such that the worst circumstances bring out their best. They're unflappable, they're ready to die if they have to. But you can trust that, when bad things are happening, they will become clearheaded and focused.
James C. Collins
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Start a 'Stop Doing' list. I'll leave it as an existential dilemma on whether to put that task on your To Do list
James C. Collins
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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
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First figure out your partners, then figure out what ideas to pursue. The most important thing isn't the market you target, the product you develop or the financing, but the founding team.
James C. Collins
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I've never found an important decision made by a great organization that was made at a point of unanimity. Significant decisions carry risks and inevitably some will oppose it. In these settings, the great legislative leader must be artful in handling uncomfortable decisions, and this requires rigor.
James C. Collins
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If I'm going really, really fast, I can do a page of finished text a day, on average.
James C. Collins
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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
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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
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A great company will have many once-in-a-liftetime opportunities.
James C. Collins
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Don't take care of your career. Take care of your people. They will take care of your career.
James C. Collins
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In an ironic twist, I now see Good to Great not as a sequel to Built to Last, but more of a prequel. Good to Great is about how to turn a good organization into one that produces sustained great results. Built to Last is about how you take a company with great results and turn it into an enduring great company of iconic stature.
James C. Collins
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If you have a charismatic cause you don't need to be a charismatic leader.
James C. Collins
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I see the Baldrige process as a powerful set of mechanisms for disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and taking disciplined action to create great organizations that produce exceptional results.
James C. Collins
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The signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change. The signature of mediocrity is inconsistency.
James C. Collins