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Jack Welch: Leadership

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This paper is a discussion of the contents of the speech of Jack Welch in his last management meeting in the General Electric. The fundamental concepts and principles in organization of the CEO would be evaluated as the discussion progresses. The first things that would have to be explained are the managerial concepts and the principles that he shared to the audience of the event. The ten managerial concepts that Welch imparted during the said meeting were leadership skills, rationalization, bureaucracy, managers, risk taking, informal company, competitive advantage, corporate culture, globalization, and six sigma. In relation, the ten principles that Welchs had imparted in the said meeting are the following: 1. Changes would have to be accepted and managed. 2. The changes to be introduced should be exciting and energizing for the stakeholders. 3. Changes can be managed through speed and simplicity. Simplicity in thoughts and actions would eventually produce quick changes. 4. Leadership skills are essential in managing the changes. 5. Leadership is the foundation of integrity. 6. The transformation of the company should be continuous and progressive. 7. Self confidence is one of the key ingredients in attaining success of the company.
8. Give each one in the company the chance to take risk and win.

9. Always find better ways. 10. Hate bureaucracy and get rid of layers. In defining integrity, Welch explains it as doing the right thing not necessarily the legal thing. Regardless of the profitability and the legality of the action, Welch believes that the priority

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should be the right thing. I do agree with Welchs definition of integrity. It is built on the principle that morality should always supersede legality and profitability. I also believe that integrity would bring good reputation to the company, which is one of the foundations of success. He emphasized the value of self-confidence that should be developed in every worker. Self confidence would eliminate complexity because confident people are straightforward and does not complicate things. Welch believes that it has to be built in people because they hasten the transactions that are necessary in a fast changing times. The energizing factors are present in people who are confident. They usually deliver in the most appropriate times since they are risk takers and have the guts to commit mistakes, which are highly necessary in large organization such as GE. When it comes to the four types of managers, Welchs stated that the first one is a manager who has the value and delivers the numbers. Managers in this category should be promoted according to Welch. The integrity and the needed traits should be coupled with delivering the outputs for the company. The second type of manager is the one who doesnt have the values and couldnt deliver the numbers. Welch claim that these kinds of managers should be removed or in his term shoot them. The third type is a manager with values but doesnt deliver the numbers, which should be given a chance according to Welch. The fourth type of manager should be searched and oust from the company because Welch considers them as the worst ones. They are the managers who dont have the values but makes the numbers. They usually deliver bacons at the expense of others. Welch argued that GE has lots of them and the next CEO should find these people and removed them from the company. The reason is that they could damage the reputation of the company, which has been built with integrity.

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In my opinion I think Welch is sincere and means what he says when referring to his opinion to managers. However when it comes to hurting a company the fourth type of manager is the most detrimental to the company according to Welch because they thrive in the company at the expense of others. In my opinion this type of manager will eventually hurt everyone they work with and it will hurt the company in the long run. I found out that there are things that should be corrected in my chosen agency when it comes to corporate culture. For one thing, the communication system of my chosen agency doesnt produce a strong corporate culture. Along with the communication system is the type of leadership that the top executives should possess in order to have strong corporate culture (Lewis & Lewis, 2007). The most important challenge of the top executives is to create and manage an organizations culture that concentrates on improvement in any aspects of behavior of the people operating under it. Transformational leadership is a favorable method for entrepreneurs participating in development initiatives since it increases the level of understanding of employees so that they come to give importance organizational objectives and plans to accomplish those goals. Transformational leaders have been differentiated from managers through their unique capability to initiate organizational development and change. Transformational leaders are able to alter the culture of the organization by integrating new perspectives and objectives and by altering the way managers understand their responsibilities. In order to implement successfully the changes within the company, aside from becoming a transformational leader, the top executives would have to communicate clearly to the workers the new climate culture that he intends to form. This can be done through different forms of communication. Communication is an essential part of the organization. It is the transmission of

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messages or information from person to person within the company. The decision making of the company is highly dependent on the nature of communication system that the company has. Among the many kinds of communication system, the verbal, non-verbal, written, and electronic media such as email or the Internet are highly recommended to be used by Smith in transmitting the changes in the corporate culture.

References Lewis, J. A., Lewis, M. D., Packard, T., & Souflee, Jr., F.(2007). Management of human service

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programs (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole

tsuseno1. (Producer). (2010, January 28). Jack Welch Final GE Meeting (1 of

3). [Episode 1]. Post cast retrieved from http://youtu.be/7j5MUPk12Zw

tsuseno1. (Producer). (2010, January 28). Jack Welch Final GE Meeting (1 of

3). [Episode 2]. Post cast retrieved from. http://youtu.be/zwt74Sg96oE

tsuseno1. (Producer). (2010, January 28). Jack Welch Final GE Meeting (1 of

3). [Episode 3]. Post cast retrieved from. http://youtu.be/ARabEV3rLjY