The only way to remain great is to keep on applying the fundamental principles that made you great.

I can just let my curiosity wander unleashed.

Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless.

Discipline should amplify creativity rather than stifle it.

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

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.

Level 5 leaders are differentiated from other levels of leaders in that they have a wonderful blend of personal humility combined with extraordinary professional will. Understand that they are very ambitious; but their ambition, first and foremost, is for the company's success. They realize that the most important step they must make to become a Level 5 leader is to subjugate their ego to the company's performance. When asked for interviews, these leaders will agree only if it's about the company and not about them.