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The idea flow from the human spirit is
absolutely unlimited. All you have to do is tap into that well.
Getting great talent, giving them all
the support in the world, and letting them run is the whole
management philosophy of GE.
My main job was developing talent. I
was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750
people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too.
An
organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning
into action
rapidly,
is the ultimate
competitive advantage.
I've learned that mistakes can often be
as good a teacher as success.
Leading a big company
means never allowing a company to take itself too seriously.
An overburdened, overstretched
executive is the best executive, because he or she doesn't have the
time to meddle, to deal in trivia, to bother people.
Change before you have to.
Giving people
self-confidence is by far
the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act.
You can't believe how hard it is for
people to be
simple, how much they fear being simple... Clear
tough-minded people are the most simple.
Leading a big company...
means never allowing a company to take itself too seriously, and
reminding itself constantly... that yesterday's press clippings
often wrap today's fish.
Everything we do is aimed at either
getting a customer or keeping a customer.
Globalization has changed us into a
company that searches the world, not just to sell or to source, but
to find intellectual capital – the world's best talents and greatest
ideas.
It's [the internet] like the flu – it
just spreads like crazy.
I was afraid of the internet... because
I couldn't type.
The
Internet is
the Viagra of big
business.
If GE's strategy of investment in China
is wrong, it represents a loss of a billion dollars, perhaps a
couple of billion dollars. If it is right, it is the future of this
company for the next century.
If you pick the right people and give
them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a
carrier behind it you almost don't have to manage them.
Strong managers who make tough
decisions to cut jobs provide the only true job security in today's
world. Weak managers are the problem. Weak managers destroy jobs.
The 1980s will seem like a walk in the
park when compared to new global challenges, where annual
productivity increases of 6% may not be enough. A combination of
software, brains, and running harder will be needed to bring that
percentage up to 8% or 9%.
The world will not belong to 'managers'
or those who can make the numbers dance. The world will belong to
passionate, driven leaders – people who
not only have enormous amounts of energy but who can
energize those whom they
lead.
The essence of competitiveness is
liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is
important – and then get out of their way while they do it.
Again, your challenge is not just to
improve. It is to break the service paradigm in your industry or
market so that customers aren’t just
satisfied, they’re so shocked that they tell strangers on the
street how good you are.
We bring together the best ideas
–
turning the meetings of our top managers into intellectual orgies.
We've only been wealthy in this country
for 70 years. Who said we ought to have all this? Is it ordained?
Willingness to
change
is a strength, even if it means plunging part of the company into
total confusion for a while. |
