The book " Good to Great- by James C. Collins is an excellent book for anyone who wants to not only succeed in business but in life as well. Mr. Collins leads his research team in surveying selected great companies to determine the factors in their success. Eleven companies were studied in this latest research. Companies that were selected great' were seldom glamorous or at least from the eyes of Wall Street's point of view are: Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo. Research team found out that these companies had 1) fifteen year cumulative stock returns near or below the general stock market, 2) a transition point, and 3) then cumulative returns at least three times the general market over the next fifteen years. Collins insists that this book is about research findings and letting the data "speak for themselves-. He points out that these companies have made the transition from good to great, and some of those names might surprise all. For example, Walgreens makes the list where Wal-Mart doesn't. The good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock return that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck. Also top executives of these companies are less like command-based authoritarian but more like soft-spoken individuals who believes in collective of works. And while technology is important to these companies but it isn't the straw that stirs their drinks. As Collins says, technology can accelerate the good-to-great transition but can't ignite it.
Findings of this book include five different steps/models. 1) Level 5 Leaderships which leadership required to achieve greatness. Good-to-great leaders understand three simple truths.