James C. Collins Quotes

Quotes about:

• The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconstancy. The signature of greatness is a disciplined and consistent focus on the right things.

  James C. Collins

  Greatness, Focus, Signatures

  14 Copy quote

• Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not markets, or technology, or competition, or products. It is one thing above all others: the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.

  James C. Collins

  Business, Technology, People

  "Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t". Book by James C. Collins, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 16, 2001.

  69 Copy quote

• Resilency, not perfection, is the signature of greatness.

  James C. Collins

  Greatness, Perfection, Signatures

  11 Copy quote

• If you have more than three priorities then you don't have any.

  James C. Collins

  Priorities, Three, Consciousness

  35 Copy quote

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

  James C. Collins

  Inspirational, Success, Business

  "Turn on, tune in - or drown in a sea of mediocrity" by Simon Caulkin, www.theguardian.com. September 2, 2006.

  107 Copy quote

• Don't take care of your career. Take care of your people. They will take care of your career.

  James C. Collins

  Careers, People, Care

  32 Copy quote

• The difference between a good leader and a great leader is humility.

  James C. Collins

  Humility, Differences, Leader

  46 Copy quote

• People are not your most important asset....the right people are.

  James C. Collins

  People, Important, Good To Great

  19 Copy quote

• Great vision without great people is irrelevant.

  James C. Collins

  People, Insightful, Vision

  71 Copy quote

• All companies have a culture, some companies have discipline, but few companies have a culture of discipline. When you have disciplined people, you don't need hierarchy. When you have disciplined thought, you don't need bureaucracy. When you have disciplined action, you don' t need excessive controls. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.

  James C. Collins

  Discipline, People, Needs

  8 Copy quote

• Managing your problems can only make you good, whereas building your opportunities is the only way to become great.

  James C. Collins

  Opportunity, Mind Your Own Business, Way

  61 Copy quote

• Building a visionary company requires one percent vision and 99 percent alignment.

  James C. Collins

  Vision, Strategy, Building

  53 Copy quote

• Look, I don't really know where we should take this bus. But I know this much: If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then we'll figure out how to take it someplace great.

  James C. Collins

  People, Looks, Figures

  66 Copy quote

• The greatest leaders build organizations that, in the end, don't need them.

  James C. Collins

  Organization, Leader, Needs

  11 Copy quote

• The only way to deliver to the people who are achieving is to not burden them with the people who are not achieving.

  James C. Collins

  People, Way, Achieve

  6 Copy quote

• Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.

  James C. Collins

  Good Life, School, Keys

  23 Copy quote

• 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

  Teacher, Winning, Games

  59 Copy quote

• In the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then you might gain that great tranquility that comes from knowing that you've had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.

  James C. Collins

  Meaningful, Hands, Creating

  64 Copy quote

• Change your practices without abandoning your core values.

  James C. Collins

  Practice, Core Values, Core

  17 Copy quote

• Bad decisions made with good intentions, are still bad decisions.

  James C. Collins

  Decision, Good Intentions, Good To Great

  38 Copy quote

• The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you've made a hiring mistake. The best people don't need to be managed. Guided, taught, led-yes. But not tightly managed.

  James C. Collins

  Business, Mistake, People

  56 Copy quote

• True leadership has people who follow when they have the freedom not to.

  James C. Collins

  People, Good To Great, True Leader

  46 Copy quote

• The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline.

  James C. Collins

  Business, Discipline, Purpose

  "No more heroes". “Madeleine Bunting's working lives column”, www.theguardian.com. November 3, 2001.

  34 Copy quote

• A culture of discipline is not a principle of business, it is a principle of greatness.

  James C. Collins

  Greatness, Discipline, Principles

  "Good To Great And The Social Sectors". Book by James C. Collins, 2005.

  20 Copy quote

• Focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.

  James C. Collins

  Greatness, Organization, Path

  30 Copy quote

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