Page 72 - The extraordinary leader

Great Leaders Make a Great Difference • 49

chapter, we have presented a new philosophy about leadership. This philos-
ophy expands a person’s thinking from “Leaders are either good or bad” to
“Leaders are bad, good, and great.” This is a small change from what many
currently believe, but we believe this small philosophical difference can have
a huge impact on the success of both individuals and organizations. For indi-
viduals, this philosophy should help good leaders understand that good is not
great. It never was and never will be. Good is good, but the ultimate target is
extraordinary leadership. We hope this helps people not to be satisfied with
good performance.
For organizations, this philosophy ought to clarify the competitive advan-
tage of great leadership. When discussing their leadership talent, executives
will sometimes state, “I don’t think we have a problem with our leaders”
(which when translated means, we don’t have bad leaders). The problem is
not an abundance of bad leaders; the problem is the universal acceptance of
good leaders and assuming that they don’t need to be any better.