Literary Analysis Essay on The Good to Great

Introduction

The Good to Great book has been written by an American author famously known as Jim Collins. Throughout his career, Jim Collins has been a lecturer as well as a business consultant. His book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't, explains the difference that is present between the companies that are doing passably good business and the ones that are doing exceptionally good business (Collins, 2009). This book offers insight towards understanding the main elements that differentiate the good and the great companies (Collins, 2009, p.87). Furthermore, the book explains the measures that should be undertaken by various companies to ensure that they achieve greatness.

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According to the first chapter of Good to Great, Jim Collins opens with a claim that the major characteristics of a successful company is that it is associated with a great leader. The author explains that humility together with professionalism results in success (Collins, 2009). Every company has to have a leader to guide it in the right direction and to achieve all the goals and objectives that have been set.

A leader has to be great to ensure that he or she drives a company in the right direction that will ensure its success. Collins (2009) believes that being a great leader means entails certain characteristics.

According to Collins (2009), even though a leader could be having a great education as well as the knowledge concerning what they do, they will always have the needs of the company before their personal gains.

According to Collins (2009), most great leaders are not caught up in their reputation, egos, their wish to become rich quickly at any cost and future careers. As much as there are many people who believe that when one is a great leader he or she should be ambitious and have a certain reputation, it is not the truth. A great leader has to be humble, self-effaced and has the desire to always see that the company is going in the right direction and that all the goals and objectives are being met.

As this chapter ends, Collins explains that when a leader is humble, driven and passionate, he or she will turn out to be a great leader who will ensure that the company is great (Collins 2009). According to the author, most leaders who turn out to be successful in their activities, emerge from the company that they have been working for ever since because they now various issues.

Relation to the Area of Sport Career Interest

The information that has been presented in this chapter relates to my area of sports career interest in different ways. As a football coach, my main duty is to instruct, train and manage a football team so that it can be a success in all the matches played against the opponents. Also, as a football coach, I will be expected to ensure that every player within the team realizes and develops their full potential.

One of the elements within the first chapter that relate to the area of sports career interest is to put the needs of the team before mine. This train ensures that I am committed to the team whereby they have to be in good form every time. When a team is in good form every time, the probability of its performing well and being a great team will also be high. Even though I have the necessary education and training that makes me be a good coach, I have to make sure that every member of the team has their needs met.

The second element that relates to my area of sports career interest is to avoid being caught up in my own ego. In most cases, the major issues that destroys the unity of a football team is the ego between the coach and the players (Chenoweth, 2010). As a coach, I will have to ensure that my ego is cut down so that there could be good relations with the team that will make it be a great team.

The other issue is to avoid benefiting from the team in various. As a football coach, there are different ways that one can benefit from the team. An example is the usage the money meant for the team to cater to personal needs or taking the kits used for training and playing. If this matter is avoided, then the team will have the required resources that will help it to be great.

The fourth factor that is to always have the urge to see that the team is constantly moving up. As a football coach, this issue will motivate me greatly so that I will work hard to train the team in the best way possible so that their performance will always be moving upwards. Any problem that is experienced within the team will be handled immediately to avoid inconveniences that may arise.

Another element is that being passionate will help me to be a great football coach because everything that I do will be wholehearted. This matter will ensure that I work with the team well and help it to be a great one.

The last issue that is related to the area of sports career interest is to be humble. In his books, Collins claims that a leader has to be humble. Being humble as a football team coach will help me to accept mistakes and be corrected. When these mistakes are corrected, the performance of the team will go up. Also, being a humble leader will ensure that there is a good relationship with the members of the team. Therefore, when humility mixed with professionalism while working as a football coach, the team will be a great one because it will be associated with a lot of success.

Summary of the Second Chapter: First Step-Hire the Right People

In the second chapter, "First Step-Hire the Right People," the author begins with a statement that in order for every company to be successful in its activities, is to employ the right people (Collins 2009,). Employees play an important role in a company because they help in undertaking different activities that will ensure there is a success. Therefore, the right people should be hired to carry out various tasks. When the right people are hired to carry out the tasks within the company, great things will have been done to help the company in becoming great (Chenoweth, 2010). Right people will be able to perform their assigned tasks successfully and help a company to be great through achieving its goals and objectives.

Jim Collins goes ahead in this chapter and explains that as a leader, it is important for one to come up with a decision on what the company will be over a certain period and as a leader one should do this by determining the strategy, vision, as well as the organizational structure (Chenoweth, 2010). However, before a leader decides what the company does, he or she has to identify who will conduct these activities. When the decision on who is supposed to work in certain areas of a company will help to execute other decisions currently and in the future (Chenoweth, 2010).

Selecting the right person to work for a company is one of the most important goals that every leader should consider. According to Chenoweth (2010), the main reason for this statement is because most of the companies are good because of the people who are working for it. In case bad people are working for a company, then it will be reflected in the company. Also, most good companies have great leaders and many people will follow as well as help these leaders. As a result, these individuals turn out to be good employees as well as associates. Collins claims that for one to be great and to ensure that the company is great, a great leader has to have a team of great employees who will help him or her in different positions.

In this chapter, the author goes ahead and mentions that there are two important things that should be kept in mind. One of these things is that people are the most important asset in a company. The second thing is that the right people are the most important aspect (Allio 2012). The decision to hire the right employees at all levels is vital for the company if a leader wants to have a great as well as a successful company. In case a leader fails to invest in the right workers, there is a high chance that the company will suffer from certain problems sooner or later.

According to Allio (2012), one of the major problems that can be experienced is that the company such as the health care company may become bloated and its mission, as well as goals, may become unclear. This issue will cause the lower ranked employees to stop working for the company. When these individuals quit, a company will be forced to hire other people to restore the working force. In this case, the company will be forced to hire individuals who are not well educated or trained to do what they are supposed to do. The author says that it is important to note that finding the right people to work for the company is a characteristic of a leader who is humble and has placed the needs of the company ahead of their desires, egotistical as well as over-ambitious wishes (Brown 2010).

The presence of the right people in a company is critical because the leader can anticipate anything that will happen within the company as well as the market. Therefore, having the right people to do the job is the most essential thing for a leader mainly if he or she wants the company to be great and not just good.

Relation to My Area of Sport Career Interest

In this chapter, there are various principles that have been presented which relate to my area of sports career interest. The main principle that has been presented is to select the right people who will do various tasks. As a football coach, my main duty is to manage a football team. The principle that has been presented in this chapter relates to my area of sports career interest because I have to ensure that I have the right team in place. The presence of a right football team means that every member knows the roles that they are supposed to accomplish. This issue will ensure that every person executes the activity that he or she as to in order to help the team move forward and be a great team.

The second principle that was evident in this chapter is that the right team is an important asset (Brosnan 2015). This principle helps me to understand that when a right team has been set up, it should be valued as well as maintained because it is an important asset. If the team is not maintained well, there is a high chance that some of the members might decide to leave. When these members leave, it will become hard to find other people who will fill the positions that have been left and help the team in continuing to be a great one. Also, failing to hire the right people to work means that the goals and objectives of the team will not be clear and may not be achieved.

The other principle in the second chapter that relates to my area of sports career interest is that selecting the right team (Harris 2013). A leader who selects the right team shows that he or she has the needs of the team before his or hers. Therefore, as a football coach, I will make sure that I have the right team in place to show that I have the needs of the team at heart. Failure to select the right team means that the team will not perform well hence it will not be a great one.

Summary

Summarizing, the author of the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, has presented various concepts that one has to observe to help him or her to be a great leader and turn the team to be great and not just good. In the first chapter of the book, the author claims that a leader has to exercise humility as well as professionalism to ensure that he or she is successful. Every leader has to put the needs of the company before personal needs so that it can be great. Also, a leader of a company has to ensure he or she is always driven to see the company is moving forward. This information is related to my area of sports career interest in the sense that I have to be humble as well as exercise professionalism to enable...