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There is a sense of exhilaration that comes from facing head-on the hard truths and saying, We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail.

James C. Collins

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James C. Collins
Age: 66
Born: 1958
Born: January 25
Author
Businessperson
Journalist
Writer
Boulder
Colorado
Life
Might
Truths
Take
Motivational
Hard
Saying
Giving
Head
Long
Comes
Capitulate
Way
Sense
Exhilaration
Never
Give
Prevail
Time
Find
Facing

More quotes by 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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Companies that change best over time know first and foremost what should not change.
James C. Collins
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Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless.
James C. Collins
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Consider the idea that charisma can be as much a liability as an asset. Your strength of personality can sow the seeds of problems, when people filter the brutal facts from you.
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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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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The only way to remain great is to keep on applying the fundamental principles that made you great.
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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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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Mediocrity results first and foremost from management failure, not technological failure.
James C. Collins
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It took Einstein ten years of groping through the fog to get the theory of special relativity, and he was a bright guy.
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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The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconstancy. The signature of greatness is a disciplined and consistent focus on the right things.
James C. Collins
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A visionary company doesn't simply balance between idealism and profitability: it seeks to be highly idealistic and highly profitable. A visionary company doesn't simply balance between preserving a tightly held core ideology and stimulating vigorous change and movement it does both to an extreme.
James C. Collins
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Focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.
James C. Collins
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The inner experience of fallure is totally different than failure. Going to fallure means 100% commitment - you leave nothing in reserve, no mental or physical resource untapped, you never give yourself a psychological out. Failure means making a decision to let go, to be less than 100% committed, when confronted by fear, pain and uncertainty.
James C. Collins
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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
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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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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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In a truly great company profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body: They are absolutely essential for life but they are not the very point of life
James C. Collins