“I’m very much looking forward to coming and spending time with FEDA members at the upcoming gathering in September. I’ll be bringing 30 years of research into the question of what makes great companies tick, and I’ll be sharing some of the related, key ideas with FEDA.”
— Jim Collins Business Researcher and Author, Good to Great
no surprise that FEDA members frequently cite Good to Great as one of their favorite texts, which is why the association is so thrilled to welcome Collins as the keynote speaker for the 2025 FEDA Annual Executive Leadership Conference. At the conference, Collins will deliver a 90-minute
presentation covering what it takes to build a successful and enduring enterprise. He’ll share insights from decades of research into business organizations, including his findings in Built to Last, which investigates why some companies are able to become and remain visionary through multiple generations of leaders, and his latest book, BE (Beyond Entrepreneurship) 2.0, which provides practical guidance for becoming a great leader and achieving consistent tactical excellence. Following his presentation, he’ll lead a one-hour master class workshop where attendees can practice putting those concepts into action.
In Search of Timeless Principles A college math major who graduated with a master’s
degree in business administration, Collins turned his relentless curiosity into a research and teaching career at Stanford University. After finding early success, having received the school’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992, he soon began to refine his iterative research process, which repeatedly tests ideas against data until a framework of concepts forms. This research method has served as the foundation for Collins’ seven acclaimed business management books and earned him a spot on Forbes’ 2017 list of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds. The concepts Collins identified also gave him the opportunity to found a management lab where he conducts research and engages with CEOs and senior leadership teams.
In addition to his work with businesses, Collins has a passion for learning and teaching in social sectors, including education, health care, government, faith- based organizations, social ventures, and cause-driven nonprofits. This has led him to serve in roles outside the business world, such as a two-year appointment as the
14 FEDA News & Views
Class of 1951 chair for the study of leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Understanding What Makes Some Companies Great
Collins will touch on his experiences and what business executives can learn from his research during his presentation at the FEDA conference, which will be part of the general session on Sept. 12. The session, titled From Good to Great Leaders, will focus on the secrets to great companies’ success, why certain organizations make the leap to “great” and how some businesses are able to remain visionary across several decades — a topic that may be especially interesting to FEDA members given the significant number of distributors on their third or fourth generation of family leadership. “I’m very much looking forward to coming and spending time with FEDA members at the upcoming gathering in September,” Collins said in a video message he recorded for FEDA members. “I’ll be bringing 30 years of research into the question of what makes great companies tick, and I’ll be sharing some of the related, key ideas with FEDA.”
People who engage in disciplined thought and take disciplined action ask themselves thought-provoking questions, Collins said. At the conference, he’ll ask FEDA members to apply some of those questions to their own companies, such as:
• What can we truly be the best in the world at? • What can we do that we’re truly passionate about and that drives our economic engine? • How can we translate that all into a series of disciplined decisions that allow us to build momentum with a great flywheel effect that compounds over a long period of time?
“All these ideas will fit into the session, and attendees will have a chance to think about them and to engage with each other about them,” Collins said. “I look forward to seeing everyone there and spending some time with the distributors and suppliers who attend this year’s event.”
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