Jim Collins has some unique ideas about some of the key concepts of management. It is unquestionable that these concepts have applications in many organizations. Collins ideas give readers the opportunity to question conventional wisdom in business and strategic management. For example, Collins suggests that being a charismatic leader can be both a blessing and a curse. If the individuals surrounding a charismatic leader do better work because they are in awe of the person, that can be a benefit and a blessing. However, according to Collins if a leader is too charismatic the people working for them might be in awe of their leader. This form of hero worship can result in a scenario in which co-workers are so awed by the charismatic leader that the fail to (a) challenge ideas, (b) offer suggestions, (c) question assumptions, (d) think independently and critically about the work assigned to them, and (e) assume this charismatic leader's ideas are unfailingly correct and appropriate.
Collins writes that almost everything our modern culture believes about the type of leadership required to transform our institutions is wrong and it is dangerous. He suggests that this conventional wisdom about what makes a leader great is wrong, but that these ideas are firmly entrenched in American business. Collins writes that there is perhaps no more corrosive factor to the health of an organization than the rise of what he refers to as the "celebrity CEO." The celebrity CEO is a phenomenon in American business that took hold in the 1980s and came into full bloom, along with other excesses such as the dot-com debacle, in the 1990s.
Collins believes there are many weaknesses and problems with the celebrity CEO phenomenon. One of them involves the fact that celebrity CEOs tend to place their own wants, needs and ambitions above the best interest of the organizations they manage. They often place their own interests above those of company empl...