People are not your most important asset....the right people are. James C. Collins More Quotes by James C. Collins More Quotes From James C. Collins Don't be interesting - be interested. James C. Collins interesting Whether you prevail or fail depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you. James C. Collins failing doe world How can you succeed by helping others succeed? We succeed at our very best only when we help others succeed. James C. Collins succeed helping-others helping A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people. James C. Collins growth leadership people Bad decisions made with good intentions, are still bad decisions. James C. Collins good-to-great good-intentions decision 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 achieve people way Change your practices without abandoning your core values. James C. Collins core-values core practice Start a 'Stop Doing' list. I'll leave it as an existential dilemma on whether to put that task on your To Do list James C. Collins existential lists tasks That good is the enemy of great is not just a business problem. It is a human problem. James C. Collins problem humans enemy Great companies foster a productive tension between continuity and change. James C. Collins continuity tension great-company Don't take care of your career. Take care of your people. They will take care of your career. James C. Collins care careers people Good is the enemy of great. That's why so few things become great. James C. Collins excellence enemy For no matter what we achieve, if we don't spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect, we cannot possibly have a great life. But if we spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect - people we really enjoy being on the bus with and who will never disappoint us - then we will almost certainly have a great life, no matter where the bus goes. The people we interviewed from the good-to-great companies clearly loved what they did, largely because they loved who they did it with. James C. Collins business work people Genius of AND. Embrace both extremes on a number of dimensions at the same time. Instead of choosing a OR B, figure out how to have A AND B-purpose AND profit, continuity AND change, freedom AND responsibility, etc. James C. Collins business responsibility numbers The only mistakes you can learn from are the ones you survive. James C. Collins mistake Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats... James C. Collins funny-business good-to-great people An organization is not truly great, if it cannot be great without you. James C. Collins without-you organization ifs Profit is like oxygen, food, water, and blood for the body; they are not the point of life, but without them, there is no life. James C. Collins oxygen water blood We are not imprisoned by circumstances, setbacks, mistakes or staggering defeats, we are freed by our choices. James C. Collins defeat choices mistake The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline. James C. Collins discipline purpose business