Former CEO of the worldwide renowned company, General Electric delivered a seminar about his company’s success and progress over the years. General Electric is regarded as the leading electronic companies of the world, and its success has been guaranteed by its leader, Jack Welch. At a seminar for the business students at Fairfield University, Jack Welch talked about the empire he built when he joined General Electric in 1960. Coming from a humble background and nurturing a knack for golf, he played in order to get to a top University of his choice but eventually enrolled at the University of Massachusetts. He had joined the company as a junior chemical engineer in the company as per his area of expertise. But his strong mind and strategic planning for the company led him to the seat of CEO of General Electric. There, he began his business planning for the company in such a manner than helped its profit rise to 4000% while he was its head of operations (Corporation).
As the CEO, he believed that the competitive advantage for the company in business came from the approach of always evolving and looking for better ideas. A company thrived on the concept of novelty and betterment, and that would be possible only if the company looked beyond the ideas they started with and to improve and build upon the new ones. This leads to their core competency which means not only developing new ideas but also developing people and helping them improve themselves and work on their own image as well. It would imply going far, farther than what they had thought of and further than their initial approach towards things. This was his strategy which meant all people hired by him had to come up with new ideas and their ideas would be considered (Corporation).
Moreover, the company had to know what the people wanted, what the public wanted and then to work on these ideas as well. The only way that this could be known was by hiring such people who knew what the public wanted, and they had the ability to help steer the company in the same direction. The CEO himself said that he spent 70-75% of his time hiring people who were appropriate for the company and seemed fit to deliver his vision successfully. It is also, of course, only known when an employee starts working that the employer can know for sure where he stands and what his strengths are (Corporation).
Jack Welch also said an important strategy in business was the firing of employees. Removing some employees from the company should never come as a surprise because it is actually beneficial for a company. There shouldn’t be people working for the company which are only a burden for the company and are not resourceful for it. He quotes how every department of General Electric had a Vice President, who was a completely unnecessary designation for the company (Corporation).
Also, the company had a duty towards itself and to its public by training and keeping employees in hand. It was thus, the company’s responsibility to tell the employees where they stand; in terms of competence, fulfillment of duties and their performance at work. This is kindness towards them and cannot be termed as cruelty. This strategic move helps to keep the company on track, and it also helps the people who are working to know how to improve themselves and if they have been rejected, then it means they need to work on themselves and develop their abilities further. Moreover, the company is saved from loss and failure (Corporation).
He also said that emotional courage is one of the key attributes of a successful person. Hiring and firing require ethical, moral and courageous minds to work upon them. It is important to realize that an organization requires constant upgrading. He compares this by an analogous relation with a football team where shuffling of players and elimination and addition is a crucial part in order to make the team successful. Similar shuffling in business is needed to make it successful as well. Business, like people, has a moral responsibility, and the people in business have to make the best team and to help it work to perfection (Corporation). Digitization is another concept in a business where the expediter is removed from the picture and the concept of old economy, the new economy is no longer prevalent. According to Jack Welch, business is still based on buying and selling. However what has changed is the method of buying and selling which is now mostly done online. The real process lies inside where the manufacture and production are concerned, and it is needed to be done with consideration. This is what he calls the .com revolution. Customers today have all information available to them through online sources where they can compare and contrast prices and specifications easily. The technology was the key to being entered into the products, and the work must not be commoditized (Corporation).
He also emphasized on the balance which needed to be maintained in work. Focus was very important. He made hiring mistakes when he was initially responsible for employee hiring. He looked at pedigrees. However these turned out to be unimportant when it comes to leadership, the leader has to be number one. He needs to carry the vision to rally people. The vision needs to simple, not complicated and needs to be repeated until the person is perfected at it. Strategically, he believed that the leader should deliver efficiently. It is about performance versus potential. Low performance and potential employees make it to the bottom 10 of the list. It is the bosses, subordinates, and peers who evaluate the potential. In a company, one should go to the other person and tell them their mistakes and strengths and vice versa. He also believed in diversity in the workplace. 30% of G.E’s progress came from diversity in the workplace. There are active forums for women and African American individuals who are mentored and trained, and they are treated like any of the other workers in the company (Corporation).
The founder of Apple Inc Steve Jobs is another leader who has been an exemplary man in the business industry. As it is apparent from the work done at General Electric, Jack Welch bought a lot of innovation in business leadership. As it can be seen, so did Steve Jobs. He altered the way American businesses run. He was a visionary and revolutionary man who brought novel ideas into the operatives of the world of business (Mc Gee). He was charismatic, and charisma was something he believed needed to be a part of the brand he was going to bring into the world. He was a perfectionist, and his work was about meticulous care and attention to detain and the perfection of the end product as a necessity (Mc Gee).
Therefore, the symbolism was one of the main pursuits of Steve Jobs, and he used analogies to represent his thoughts about work. He thought IBM was evil, and Apple was the last defense. Jobs was also known to be praiseful and thoroughly appreciated the people who worked for him so that they worked to their full potential. The selection was also a trait that was present in him and like Welch; he was keen to choose the perfect hire for the job (Mc Gee). He also thrived on the genius and abilities of the creative worker and looked for such a person for Apple. Steve Jobs was also in favor of keeping the environment restricted and the number of workers to a realistic and manageable limit which is why he would trim down a percentage of managers every year (Mc Gee). Both Jack Welch and Steve Jobs are phenomenal leaders who serve as examples to the leaders of today and of the future.
References
Corporation, National Cable Satellite. A conversation with Jack Welch. C-SPAN.org, 9 Apr.
2001. Web. 8 June 2016.
Mc Gee, Keli Hite. newsminer.com. 09 July 2011. Web. 8 June 2016.
