Collins' Good To GreatIn 1996 Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company, and if so, how?" (Collins, p195) Collins and a dedicated team of 22 researchers set out to find out what turns good companies into truly great companies. Their criteria for defining greatness were strict: The researchers looked for companies that had underperformed the overall stock market for at least 15 years, then went through a transition, and subsequently outperformed the overall stock market by at least three times over the next 15 years. Of a total of 1,435 companies that appeared on the Fortune 500 list from 1965 to 1995, researchers ultimately identified only 11 that were eliminated. The companies selected were Abbott Laboratories, Circuit City, Federal Home Loan Mortgage, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens and Wells Fargo. While there are other factors involved in taking a company from “good to excellent,” what these great companies were found to have in common was a particular type of leader during the transition period, but it was not a character to front page like Lee Iacocca of Chrysler or Jack Welch of GE. In contrast, the leaders of the long-term success stories were people like Darwin Smith of Kimberly-Clark. Called Level 5 leaders, these senior executives “possess a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will” (Collins, p195). In Good to Great Collins classifies leaders into five levels. A Level 1 leader is a highly capable individual. He plays an important role in the success of his organization through his talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits. A Level 2 leader is a contributing team member. He is very good at working with his team members and ensures that his team achieves the assigned objectives and achieves the main purpose. A Level 3 leader is a competent manager. Has the ability to organize people and resources for the effective pursuit of company objectives. A Level 4 leader is an effective leader. Establishes high-level performance standards. He is extraordinary in motivating his employees and leading them with determination towards realizing his vision for the organization. A Level 5 leader transforms the organization into a great institution. As mentioned above, he embodies personal humility and professional will. Leaders do not need to work sequentially through each level to reach the top, but each higher level requires the capabilities of all the lower levels.