Perhaps your quest to be part of building something great will not fall in your business life. But find it somewhere. If not in corporate life, then perhaps in making your church great. If not there, then perhaps a nonprofit, or a community organization, or a class you teach. Get involved in something that you care so much about that you want to make it the greatest it can possibly be, not because of what you will get, but just because it can be done.

The difference between a good leader and a great leader is humility.

It's what you do before you are in trouble, so that you can be strong when people most need you.

The best CEOs in our research display tremendous ambition for their company combined with the stoic will to do whatever it takes, no matter how brutal (within the bounds of the company's core values), to make the company great. Yet at the same time they display a remarkable humility about themselves, ascribing much of their own success to luck, discipline and preparation rather than personal genius.

By definition, it is not possible to everyone to be above the average.

Creativity dies in an indisciplined environment.

A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people.