The Hedgehog Concept

Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. 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.

• Lead with questions, not answers. Don’t assume you know what’s best.
• Engage in dialogue and debate, with no coercion.
• Conduct autopsies and without blame
• Build “red flag” mechanisms: If you raise your hand with your red flag, the meeting room will stop for you.

The Key To Greatness: Start with the right people, ask them the right questions, and engage them in vigorous debate.

• To be ruthless means hacking and cutting, especially in difficult times, or wantonly firing people without any thoughtful consideration.
• To be

Spending time and energy trying to “motivate” people is a waste of effort. The real question is not, “How do we motivate our people?” If you have the right people, they will be self-motivated. The key is to not de-motivate them. One of the primary ways to de-motivate people is to...

The moment a leader allows himself to become the primary reality people worry about, rather than reality being the primary reality, you have a recipe for mediocrity, or worse. This is one of the key reasons why less charismatic leaders often produce better long-term results than their more charis...