We read about them every day – the charismatic, hard-driving leaders who have led their organization from the trenches into an amazing turnaround.

The leaders we don’t usually hear about are the humble, modest, reserved, gracias, mild-mannered, and self-effacing leaders that famous author and business Guru Jim Collins describes as Level 5 Leaders in his book Good to Great.

The interesting thing that Collins found through his research was that in every one of the organizations who went from Good organizations to Great organizations and were able to sustain their greatness, all of their leaders had the Level 5 Leadership characteristics. The ego-centric leaders, while in many cases producing extraordinary results, never produced the sustainable extraordinary results that the Level 5 leaders produced.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to be an “invulnerable” leader. It is simply a way to appease your own ego and short-term self gain, instead of focusing on sustainable business results.