Sublime

Reflecting on more than a quarter century of rigorous research into what makes great companies tick, I’ve come to see “first who” as the one principle above all others that you must not get wrong. First in importance, above every other activity, is the imperative to get the right people on the bus.

When my partners and I meet with entrepreneurs, the two key characteristics that we look for are brilliance and courage. In my experience as CEO, I found that the most important decisions…

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If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.

The percentage of key seats on the bus filled with the right people for those seats.

(Again, as a reminder, while the companies we studied did indeed become gigantic corporations, our research studies traced back to when they were tiny, entrepreneurial ventures. Our work is not primarily about big companies; it is much more about what not-yet-great companies do to become great.)

With a wisdom rare in corporate America, the board decided not to seek another savior from outside and decided instead to look for a proven leader from within. Whom will people follow? In whom do people believe? For whom will people double their energies? Whom will people trust? Who has proven results? Who has created pockets of greatness every ste

Reflecting on more than a quarter century of rigorous research into what makes great companies tick, I’ve come to see “first who” as the one principle above all others that you must not get wrong. First in importance, above every other activity, is the imperative to get the right people on the bus.