GREAT BY CHOICE

It was another amazing day at the Tiger Global Conference in New York City.

 "Jim Collins is one of the most influential management thinkers alive." (Fortune)   He shared tremendous insights from  his new book, Great By Choice.    Drawing from his empirical research, he analyzed the true Great Companies over the past century.

"In difficult times", he challenged the major entrepreneurs from across the globe, "what makes a great leader different from the ones that reach the deathline?"   Disciplined steady growth, the "20 mile march" will get you through the difficult times... and "the right people in the right seat".  The wrong person on your team will weaken your entire internal structure to the point of crumbling when the world around you is in disarray.

The great companies are the ones that are operating at the threshold of peak performance of their major competitors.   This means that every employee must be incredibly passionate about driving the eco engine of your company.  Ask yourself, "what is your main piston and which one is misfiring?"

Next, Dr. Larry Lindsey, the former Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to President George Bush on global economic issues, held a fireside chat with Julian Robertson, the Chairman of Tiger Management.  It was a phenomenal discussion on the outlook for the US economy and Europe's sovereign debt crisis.  He revealed two significant truths.

First truth: In crisis mode, we mistakenly focus on the urgent, instead of what is important.  This causes us to run out of time and brain cells to do what really needs to be done.  

Second truth: To forgive something does not solve the problem.  It is still there!  Echoing Jim Collin's advice, great leaders love confronting the problem and fixing it quickly to minimize damage.  The questions that are raised are not about the past, they are really about the future!

His economic advice for the next decade?  
                                           Keep it safe; diversify; and have liquidity!