Jim Collins: The X Factor of Truly Great Leadership - Nordic Business Forum 2014

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of leadership and what makes great companies tick. He has authored or co-authored six books that have sold in total more than ten million copies worldwide, including “Built to Last”, “Good to Great” and “How The Mighty Fall”. His most recent book is “Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite Them All”, co-authored with Morten Hansen. Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992.

In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he now conducts research and engages in Socratic dialogue with CEOs and senior leadership teams from the corporate and social sectors. In 2012 and 2013, he had the honor to serve a two-year appointment as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematical sciences and an MBA from Stanford University, and honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado and the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.

Jim is an avid rock climber, with one-day ascents of the north face of Half Dome and the 3,000 foot south face of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California.