Search results for ""Author Jim Collins""

We are entering a new era—an era of impact. The largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history will soon be under way, bringing with it the potential for huge increases in philanthropic funding. Engine of Impact shows how nonprofits can apply the principles of strategic leadership to attract greater financial support and leverage that funding to maximum effect. As Good to Great author Jim Collins writes in his foreword, this book offers "a detailed roadmap of disciplined thought and action for turning a good nonprofit into one that can achieve great impact at scale." William F. Meehan III and Kim Starkey Jonker identify seven essential components of strategic leadership that set high-achieving organizations apart from the rest of the nonprofit sector. Together, these components form an "engine of impact"—a system that organizations must build, tune, and fuel if they hope to make a real difference in the world. Drawing on decades of teaching, advising, grantmaking, and research, Meehan and Jonker provide an actionable guide that executives, staff, board members, and donors can use to jumpstart their own performance and to achieve extraordinary results for their organization. Along with setting forth best practices using real-world examples, the authors outline common management challenges faced by nonprofits, showing how these challenges differ from those faced by for-profit businesses in important and often-overlooked ways. By offering crucial insights on the fundamentals of nonprofit management, this book will help leaders equip their organizations to fire on all cylinders and unleash the full potential of the nonprofit sector. Visit www.engineofimpact.org for additional information.

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We are entering a new era—an era of impact. The largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history will soon be under way, bringing with it the potential for huge increases in philanthropic funding. Engine of Impact shows how nonprofits can apply the principles of strategic leadership to attract greater financial support and leverage that funding to maximum effect. As Good to Great author Jim Collins writes in his foreword, this book offers "a detailed roadmap of disciplined thought and action for turning a good nonprofit into one that can achieve great impact at scale." William F. Meehan III and Kim Starkey Jonker identify seven essential components of strategic leadership that set high-achieving organizations apart from the rest of the nonprofit sector. Together, these components form an "engine of impact"—a system that organizations must build, tune, and fuel if they hope to make a real difference in the world. Drawing on decades of teaching, advising, grantmaking, and research, Meehan and Jonker provide an actionable guide that executives, staff, board members, and donors can use to jumpstart their own performance and to achieve extraordinary results for their organization. Along with setting forth best practices using real-world examples, the authors outline common management challenges faced by nonprofits, showing how these challenges differ from those faced by for-profit businesses in important and often-overlooked ways. By offering crucial insights on the fundamentals of nonprofit management, this book will help leaders equip their organizations to fire on all cylinders and unleash the full potential of the nonprofit sector. Visit www.engineofimpact.org for additional information.

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Bring on the Books for Everybody is an engaging assessment of the robust popular literary culture that has developed in the United States during the past two decades. Jim Collins describes how a once solitary and print-based experience has become an exuberantly social activity, enjoyed as much on the screen as on the page. Fueled by Oprah’s Book Club, Miramax film adaptations, superstore bookshops, and new technologies such as the Kindle digital reader, literary fiction has been transformed into best-selling, high-concept entertainment. Collins highlights the infrastructural and cultural changes that have given rise to a flourishing reading public at a time when the future of the book has been called into question. Book reading, he claims, has not become obsolete; it has become integrated into popular visual media. Collins explores how digital technologies and the convergence of literary, visual, and consumer cultures have changed what counts as a “literary experience” in phenomena ranging from lush film adaptations such as The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love to the customer communities at Amazon. Central to Collins’s analysis and, he argues, to contemporary literary culture, is the notion that refined taste is now easily acquired; it is just a matter of knowing where to access it and whose advice to trust. Using recent novels, he shows that the redefined literary landscape has affected not just how books are being read, but also what sort of novels are being written for these passionate readers. Collins connects literary bestsellers from The Jane Austen Book Club and Literacy and Longing in L.A. to Saturday and The Line of Beauty, highlighting their depictions of fictional worlds filled with avid readers and their equations of reading with cultivated consumer taste.

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________________________________Can a good company become a great one? If so, how?After a five-year research project, Jim Collins concludes that good to great can and does happen. In this book, he uncovers the underlying variables that enable any type of organisation to make the leap from good to great while other organisations remain only good. Rigorously supported by evidence, his findings are surprising - at times even shocking - to the modern mind.Good to Great achieves a rare distinction: a management book full of vital ideas that reads as well as a fast-paced novel. It is widely regarded as one of the most important business books ever written.

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An exploration by nine key thinkers of the popularization of elite tastes for mass audiences, High-Pop challenges the project of cultural studies to focus on all-but-ignored forms of mainstream culture.

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Most executives have a big, hairy, audacious goal. But they install layers of stultifying bureaucracy that prevent them from realizing it. In this article, Jim Collins introduces the catalytic mechanism, a simple yet powerful managerial tool that helps turn lofty aspirations into reality. The crucial link between objectives and results, this tool is a galvanizing, nonbureaucratic way to turn one into the other. But the same catalytic mechanism that works in one organization won't necessarily work in another. So, to help readers get started, Collins offers some general principles that support the process of building one effectively. Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough ideas in management practice. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers you the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world.

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Decline can be avoided.Decline can be detected.Decline can be reversed.Amidst the desolate landscape of fallen great companies, Jim Collins began to wonder: How do the mighty fall? Can decline be detected early and avoided? How far can a company fall before the path toward doom becomes inevitable and unshakable? How can companies reverse course?In How the Mighty Fall, Collins confronts these questions, offering leaders the well-founded hope that they can learn how to stave off decline and, if they find themselves falling, reverse their course. Collins' research project-more than four years in duration-uncovered five step-wise stages of decline: Stage 1: Hubris Born of SuccessStage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of MoreStage 3: Denial of Risk and PerilStage 4: Grasping for SalvationStage 5: Capitulation to Irrelevance or DeathBy understanding these stages of decline, leaders can substantially reduce their chances of falling all the way to the bottom.Great companies can stumble, badly, and recover.Every institution, no matter how great, is vulnerable to decline. There is no law of nature that the most powerful will inevitably remain at the top. Anyone can fall and most eventually do. But, as Collins' research emphasizes, some companies do indeed recover-in some cases, coming back even stronger-even after having crashed into the depths of Stage 4.Decline, it turns out, is largely self-inflicted, and the path to recovery lies largely within our own hands. We are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our history, or even our staggering defeats along the way. As long as we never get entirely knocked out of the game, hope always remains. The mighty can fall, but they can often rise again.

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__________________*From the author of the multi-million-copy bestseller Good to Great*‘No matter what your walk of life, no matter how big or small your enterprise, no matter whether it’s for-profit or nonprofit, no matter whether you’re CEO or a unit leader, the question stands, How does your flywheel turn?’ – JIM COLLINS__________________The key to business success is not a single innovation or one plan. It is the act of turning the flywheel, slowly gaining momentum and eventually reaching a breakthrough. Building upon the flywheel concept introduced in his groundbreaking classic Good to Great, Jim Collins teaches readers how to create their own flywheel, how to accelerate the flywheel’s momentum, and how to stay on the flywheel in shifting markets and during times of turbulence.Combining research from his Good to Great labs and case studies from organisations like Amazon, Vanguard, and the Cleveland Clinic which have turned their flywheels with outstanding results, Collins demonstrates that successful organisations can disrupt the world around them – and reach unprecedented success – by employing the flywheel concept.

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______________________________NEARLY THIRTY YEARS AGO, Stanford University faculty members Jim Collins and Bill Lazier showed you how to turn an entrepreneurial business into an enduring great company.Beyond Entrepreneurship became a leadership staple, particularly among small and early-stage companies. And while Collins would go on to write a series of famous bestsellers that have sold more than ten million copies worldwide, this lesser-known early work remains the favourite of many of his loyal readers.Now, with Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0, Collins re-shares the timeless insights in Beyond Entrepreneurship alongside new perspectives gleaned after decades of additional research into what makes great companies tick. In Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0, you'll learn how to turn your company into the 2.0 version of itself. You'll be challenged to grow your own leadership as your company grows, from 1x to 2x to 5x to 10x. You'll learn Collins's newest reflections on people decisions, insights that extend beyond his seminal "first who" principle about getting the right people on the bus. You'll learn why luck favours the persistent, and what it means to look for "who luck." You'll learn about the origins of the "BHAG" (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), and why even a small business needs a galvanising BHAG to have a complete and inspiring vision. You'll also unlock what Collins calls "The Map." The Map is a road map that pulls together the key concepts developed from thirty years of research and writing into one integrated framework for building a company that delivers superior results, makes a distinctive impact, and achieves lasting endurance.Finally, you'll learn the lessons that Jim Collins himself learned from the most influential mentor in his life, Bill Lazier. Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 is the ambitious upgrade to a classic. In Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0, you'll discover that the goal to turn your business into an enduring great company is as relevant - and as within your reach - as ever.

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The woman BusinessWeek called the "grande dame of American management" shares her vision of leadership Frances Hesselbein rose from a volunteer troop leader to become CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA. During her tenure Hesselbein transformed the Girl Scouts and created one of the most vibrant and recognized organizations in the world. In the course of her brilliant career, she was recognized by Fortune magazine as the "Best Nonprofit Manager in America" and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Now, for the first time, Frances Hesselbein has collected her most incisive and stirring writings on the topic of leadership in one compelling book. The book affirms Hesselbein's specific leadership principles that will give readers the inspiration to go forth and become exemplary leaders. It is also filled with the practical knowledge readers need so they can make a difference every day. These gems of leadership wisdom include Hesselbein's thoughts on innovation, change, diversity, and what it means to be a woman leader. At the heart of the book is Hesselbein's belief that leadership is about character-a question of how to be, not how to do it. Hailed by Warren Bennis, Peter Senge, Jim Collins, Peter Drucker, and others as one of the most innovative and inspired leaders today, Frances Hesselbein gives readers a star to steer by. Hesselbein on Leadership will engage, energize, and motivate readers to do their best and be their best. Frances Hesselbein (New York, NY) is the Chairman of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management and Editor in Chief of Leader to Leader, the premier leadership journal. She is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the coeditor of numerous books on leadership including The Leader of the Future (Jossey-Bass: 0-7879-5204-4) and The Organization of the Future, The Community of the Future (Jossey-Bass: 0-7879-5203-6).

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Your midlife doesn't have to be a crisis. In fact, the second half of your life can be better than the first. Let bestselling author Bob Buford show you how.What do you want to do with the rest of your life?In Halftime, Buford provides encouragement and insight to propel your life on a new course to true significance--and the best years of your life. Buford focuses on this important time of transition to the second half of your life, giving you the tools you need to: Take stock of your successes and accomplishments thus far Redefine significance and what it means to you Identify your personal goals Develop a mission for serving God in the second half of your life This updated and expanded 20th anniversary edition of Halftime also includes questions for reflection at the end of each chapter, brand new stories of men and women enjoying a second half of significance, and specific halftime assignments to guide you into your second-half mission.Praise for Halftime:"According to Bob Buford, the first half of life is a quest for success; the second is a quest for significance. Bob should know; he has achieved the first and is showing us the latter. You'll find this book to be unique, inspiring, and practical. Read it and finish strong!"--Max Lucado, pastor and bestselling author"This book is for successful people who want more fulfillment in their lives and realize it won't come from the next victory, the next sale, the next conquest, or significant increase in their bottom line. Let Bob Buford be your guide to make sure your best years are ahead of you."--Ken Blanchard, bestselling coauthor of The One-Minute Manager

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In a clear and compelling voice, Frances Hesselbein delivers key leadership lessons. Tracing her own development as a leader, she narrates the critical moments that shaped her personally and professionally: from her childhood in Pennsylvania, to moving up from Girl Scout troop leader to Girl Scout CEO, to founding and leading the Leader to Leader Institute, to her friendships and experiences with some of the greatest leaders and thinkers of our time. Each chapter includes an inspirational story, a key lesson and how to apply it to daily life.

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THE NEW QUESTIONTen years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with another groundbreaking work, this time to ask: Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research, buttressed by rigorous analysis and infused with engaging stories, Collins and his colleague, Morten Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times.THE NEW STUDY Great by Choice distinguishes itself from Collins's prior work by its focus not just on performance, but also on the type of unstable environments faced by leaders today. With a team of more than twenty researchers, Collins and Hansen studied companies that rose to greatness - beating their industry indexes by a minimum of ten times over fifteen years - in environments characterized by big forces and rapid shifts that leaders could not predict or control. The research team then contrasted these "10X companies" to a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to achieve greatness in similarly extreme environments.THE NEW FINDINGSThe study results were full of provocative surprises. Such as: * The best leaders were not more risk taking, more visionary, and more creative than the comparisons; they were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.* Innovation by itself turns out not to be the trump card in a chaotic and uncertain world; more important is the ability to scale innovation, to blend creativity with discipline.* Following the belief that leading in a "fast world" always requires "fast decisions" and "fast action" is a good way to get killed.* The great companies changed less in reaction to a radically changing world than the comparison companies.The authors challenge conventional wisdom with thought-provoking, sticky, and supremely practical concepts. They include 10Xers; the 20 Mile March; Fire Bullets then Cannonballs; Leading above the Death Line; Zoom Out, Then Zoom In; and the SMaC Recipe. Finally, in the last chapter, Collins and Hansen present their most provocative and original analysis: defining, quantifying, and studying the role of luck. The great companies and the leaders who built them were not luckier than the comparisons, but they did get a higher Return on Luck. This book is classic Collins: contrarian, data driven, and uplifting. He and Hansen show convincingly that, even in a chaotic and uncertain world, greatness happens by choice, not by chance.

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The concept behind this book is simple and brilliant: find out what makes companies that outperform their peers for decades enjoy that success - and then apply those lessons yourself. Written by multimillion-copy bestselling author, speaker and business management consultant Jim Collins and organizational theorist Jerry Porras, it's the only blueprint you need for sustained business growth.'Built to Last is an unusual business book - seriously researched, unconventional in its conclusions... [It] is well worth reading, particularly by those engaged in trying to reinvigorate our nation's largest enterprises.' -- Wall Street Journal'Outstanding from Jim Collins as always. A definite must-read' -- ***** Reader review'Blew my mind on how to run a business, every leader or business owner should read this book' -- ***** Reader review'Very enlightening!' -- ***** Reader review'This book among top 5 business book I ever read!' -- ***** Reader review*********************************************************************************************'This is not a book about charismatic visionary leaders. It is not about visionary product concepts or visionary products or visionary market insights. Nor is it about just having a corporate vision. This is a book about something far more important, enduring, and substantial. This is a book about visionary companies.'Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, multimillion copy bestselling author, speaker and consultant focused on business management and company sustainability and growth Jim Collins and organizational theorist Jerry Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each company in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very beginnings to the present day - as start-ups, as midsize companies and as large corporations. Throughout, the authors asked: 'What makes the truly exceptional companies different from other companies?'Built to Last is the result of that research: filled with hundreds of specific examples and organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels, Built to Last provides a master blueprint for building organizations that will prosper long into the twenty-first century and beyond.

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