I have been a fan of Jim Collins for years. I had the opportunity to work with him when I was chair of the original CPA Vision Project in 1998. (He gave us an A for the CPA Vision 2011.) 

He recently was interviewed in Inc. magazine and talked about the three things he uses to define greatness:

1. Superior performance in your area / field.
2. Distinctive impact. He puts it in terms of core ideology (purpose + values) or what the world would miss if you went away (I think of it as your "why").
3. Endurance -- your staying power. Are you a one-hit wonder or can you sustain performance and impact over time?

He goes on to talk about how the business world is changing. He makes the point that we are moving from the hierarchy to the network (we like to say from command-and-control to connect-and-collaborate) and says, "We may be moving to a world of networks well led, as opposed to organizations well managed."

I think he is onto something.

In an age of connected customers and employees, and suppliers, and partners, etc., we are much more like networks than formal structures. This takes a new style of leader.

It is also what our Leadership Academy graduates identified in their white-paper, What Got You Here Won't Get You There.

Here is the full article from Inc., titled Be Great Now.

I also recommend Jim's latest book, Great by Choice.

Here is to being great!