Looking in the Mirror

As a leader, when things go well, who gets the credit?  And when things go badly, who gets the blame?

Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck).  At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly.

From: Good to Great by Jim Collins
Published by: Harper Business

Ambition

Are you ambitious?  If so, are you ambitious for yourself or for your organization?

Jim Collins talks about Level 5 leadership, which, according to him, is the most successful level of leadership.  This is what he tells us about Level 5 leaders and ambition:

"Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great [organization].  It's not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest.  Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious - but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves."

From:  Good to Great by Jim Collins
Published by: Harper Business

Jim Collins - an old favourite

In what way does your leadership reflect modesty or humility?

"...good-to-great leaders didn't talk about themselves." 

"It wasn't just false modesty.  Those who worked with or or wrote about the good-to-great leaders continually used words like quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated, did not believe his own clippings: and so forth. 
                                                
                                                   from: Good to Great by Jim Collins
                                                       (published by Harper Business)