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 group of 22 researchers set out to discover what turns good companies into truly great companies. Their criteria for greatness were strict: Researchers looked for companies that had underperformed the general stock market for at least 15 years, which had then gone through a transition, and which had subsequently outperformed the general stock market at least three times over. over the next 15 years. Of the 1,435 companies that appeared on the Fortune 500 list from 1965 to 1995, researchers ultimately identified only 11 that made the cut. 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 a company's exit from "good to great," what these great companies turned out to have in common was a particular type of leader during the transition period, but this does not wasn't a headline-grabbing figure like Chrysler's Lee Iacocca or GE's Jack Welch. Rather, the long-term success leaders were people like Darwin Smith of Kimberly-Clark. Called Level 5 leaders, these senior executives “possess a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional drive” (Collins, p195). In Good to Great, Collins classifies leaders into five levels. A Level 1 leader is a highly competent person. He plays an important role in the success of his organization thanks to his talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits. A Level 2 leader is a contributing member of the team. He knows how to work very well with his team members and ensures that his team achieves the objectives assigned to them and fulfills the main objective. A level 3 leader is a competent manager. He is skilled at organizing people and resources to effectively pursue company objectives. A Level 4 leader is an effective leader. It sets high performance standards. He is remarkable in his ability to motivate his colleagues and resolutely guide them towards the realization of his vision of the organization. A Level 5 leader transforms the organization into a great institution. As mentioned earlier, he embodies personal humility and professional will. Leaders do not need to progress through each level successively to reach the top, but each higher level requires the capabilities of all lower levels..