Jim Collins On Leadership In The Social Sector

Jim Collins is considered one of the great business gurus of our time and really made a name for himself with Built to Last : Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, which was on the Businessweek Bestseller List forever), and followed up with Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t.  These two books are a must read for anyone interested in learning more about leadership and management in the business world.More recently, Jim Collins has focused on leadership in the social sector and last year, he published his findings in Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great.
WSJ article:

For years, Mr. Collins has maintained that top-flight leaders are defined by a combination of humility and fierce resolve. In his most popular management book, “Good to Great,” published in 2001, Mr. Collins asserted that such leaders “will sell the mills or fire their brother, if that’s what it takes to make the company great.”

Now Mr. Collins is reworking his ideas about how to set goals, build teams and achieve lasting growth. The adjustments are based on 2½ years of studying police departments, symphony orchestras and other “social sector” entities — and most are aimed at nonbusiness leaders. But he argues that some principles apply to corporate bosses, too.

I think this is a must read for any social entrepreneur. Amazon offers Good to Great together with the Monograph for a 40% discount off the cover price.