07/21/2024
"Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless," Jim Collins, Good to Great.
I recently started a third company, a mobile car detailing business, and posted a picture of myself drenched in sweat in the back of a Toyota 4Runner. I spent over six hours in the heat and humidity near Lake Champlain in Colchester deep cleaning the vehicle, which belonged to a long time client of mine. Later, a friend and creative partner messaged me, "We want the Chairman of the Board, save the sweat for winter."
He was referring to the fact that I've built a social media brand on men's fashion, suits and apparel and generally refined appearance. Being drenched, dirty and clad in a t-shirt is generally off-brand. Yes, I am a debonair man and believe that our appearance matters greatly. However every great organization is built on a bit of blood, sweat, and tears. Having grown and helped grow many organizations on my own BS&T (blood, sweat, and tears...or maybe bu****it and tact) I recognize that building a strong brand from the ground up will require some level of discomfort. How that discomfort is dealt with will define how the identity of an organization will navigate through the future.
At 3am in a blizzard on the quarter mile stretch of a dealership lot, running a Ford F250 at near 30mph with a 8.5 foot Fischer V-plow and a full load of snow, fully in my element, I recognized the importance of "no matter what the place has to run." It doesn't take a special breed to be able to do these things (nor is BS&T the only way for organizations to find success), just the a certain acceptance that personal growth is never in the comfort zone. The more we stretch that growth zone, the more we can conquer our own anxieties, the more we conquer our own anxieties, the higher the mountains we can climb.
"It is very important to grasp that Level 5 leadership is not just about humility and modesty. It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination to do whatever needs to be done to make the company great," Jim Collins, Good to Great.
-- Gold Thread Coaching offers personal coaching sessions and tailored group seminars both online and in person to support humans, organizations, and the relationship of networks grown and evolve towards greatness. Contact GTC for more information at [email protected] or via DM.
