From Good to Great to W.H.O.M.: The Missing Link

When Jim Collins published Good to Great in 2001, he delivered one of the most enduring insights in modern business: First Who, Then What.

His research was unprecedented in scale—1,435 companies studied across four decades, whittled down to 11 that made the leap from mediocrity to sustained greatness. From that mountain of data came a profound truth: companies that broke through didn’t begin with vision statements or product strategies. They began with people.

Collins’ guidance was unforgettable: get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off, and the right people in the right seats—then decide where to drive it.

That principle has shaped leadership thinking for more than twenty years. And yet, Collins himself admitted he couldn’t fully answer the most important part of the equation: who exactly are the “right people”?

The brilliance of Collins’ work is that it reset the order of priorities. Strategy, technology, and planning could never outweigh character and capability. But the gap was real: defining the “right people” was left to intuition, gut feel, or résumé checklists.

The companies Collins spotlighted illustrate both the gift and the gap:

• Wells Fargo survived deregulation because its leaders were relentlessly disciplined and adaptable. They thrived in volatility while competitors faltered.

• Nucor, a small steel producer, overtook Bethlehem Steel by empowering entrepreneurial managers to act like owners—driven more by character than credentials.

• Circuit City, under Alan Wurtzel, built its success not on forecasting the future but by developing humble, capable leaders who kept execution sharp.

In every case, greatness wasn’t rooted in what these companies did. It was rooted in who their leaders and teams were.

But Collins left us with a paradox: he showed us that “who” comes first but never defined how to know who the right people are.

This is where the W.H.O.M. model enters.

Rather than replacing Collins’ principle, W.H.O.M. completes it. Think of First Who, Then What as the compass, orienting leaders toward people before strategy. W.H.O.M. provides the map, defining the enduring human attributes that separate sustained performers from everyone else:

• Work-Ethic — reliability, discipline, and dedication to excellence.

• Heart — values, motivations, generosity, and courage.

• Optimism — resilience, flexibility, agility, and positivity.

• Maturity — self-awareness, judgment, diplomacy, and proactivity.

These aren’t abstractions. They explain why Wells Fargo adapted, why Nucor thrived, and why Circuit City once outperformed its peers. Without disciplined work-ethic, courageous heart, resilient optimism, and measured maturity, those stories would have ended differently.

Collins gave us the why. W.H.O.M. delivers the how.

For decades, leaders have relied on résumés, charisma, and technical credentials as proxies for greatness. The result? Too many wrong people on the bus. Too many bets placed on the loudest voice, the fanciest degree, or the flashiest achievement.

W.H.O.M. changes the game by making character measurable. Leaders can now:

• Identify candidates with the right mix of Work-Ethic, Heart, Optimism, and Maturity.

• Develop employees by coaching to their W.H.O.M. profile rather than generic competencies.

• Scale teams by aligning character strengths with organizational culture and purpose.

This is no longer theory. It’s a system leaders can operationalize to build the kind of teams Collins proved were decisive all along.

If Jim Collins were writing Good to Great today, he would still insist: “First Who, Then What.”

But now, for the first time, leaders have a way to answer his unfinished question. W.H.O.M. provides the framework for knowing who the “right people” really are.

Because greatness has never been about glossy strategies or PowerPoint decks. It has always been about people of character—aligned, empowered, and committed to building something extraordinary.

And that is the missing link.

Hire the Right W.H.O.M. is now available in ebook, paperback, and for the FIRST TIME - Hardcover formats! Get your copy today and be among the first to discover the future of talent!

Publishers Note: Read the Ground Breaking Book and then leverage a unique Access Code within to identify your character DNA! 

Good to Great gave us the compass, W.H.O.M. provides the map. Get the book and start elevating team and organizational culture today!