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¶ … successful examples of leadership in business, especially if we take note of the key changes that the company has underwent during his management, is Jack Welch, CEO at General Electrics for twenty years, a real "tiger Woods of management," by the words of his friend, Warren Buffett, chairman at Berkshire Hathaway. Jack Welch's own biography, "Jack -- Straight from the Gut," is the best material to reflect the example of leadership that Jack Welch represented during the 80s and chief of General Electrics. Chapter 24, "What this CEO things is all about," gives a keen insight into the leadership process, as perceived by the former CEO of General Electrics, along with a concluding list of characteristics a successful leader should have.
The first and most important thing Welch lists is integrity
. A successful leader must have integrity and only one agenda for everybody: customers, shareholders, suppliers etc. Integrity helps built a reputation, something which is essential in business and without which successful business relationships cannot function correctly. If the business partner knows you will be giving him a straightforward situation and a sincere answer, he will know you are something to do business with.
Setting the tone is one of the leader's important functions, according to Welch. In his own words, "the organization takes its cue from the person on top"
. First of all, it is a matter of example. Employees that see their manager working 12-14 hours a day and laying down an impressive effort to commit to the specific jobs he has in plan and to subject himself to the overall strategic objectives of the company, are likely to handle themselves in a similar manner.
On the other...
This is, in my opinion, one of the fundamental differences between a manager and a leader. A manager recognizes the necessities of the company and works in order to solve them. I would see him as a short and medium planner and organizer. On the other hand, a leader sets a long-term vision and guides the company towards its achievement.
On the other hand, according to Jack Welch, people come first and the strategy second
. The most important issue for him is "getting the right people in the right jobs"
rather than developing a strategy. Strategies, in their purest form, is a pleasant presentation and a set of objectives one is determined to attain. Unless the right people adopt a strategy, believe in it and are determined to carry it through, it will remain at the same level and will produce lousy results. From GE history, Welch exemplifies with the ultrasound and services branches, which had remained unsuccessful projects until the right people were placed in charged of them and helped carry them through.
Informality is also something Jack Welch believes should be implemented in an organization. According to Welch, informality is about getting to everybody the message that they all count, they all have an important role in the organization, a determining act in their own way.
On the other hand, informality improves communication, both besides members of the same hierarchical level and on the top-down communication path. An informal atmosphere will…
Bibliography
1. Jack Welch with John A. Byrne. Jack-Straight from the Gut. Warner books. October 2003. Page 464
Jack Welch with John A. Byrne. Jack-Straight from the Gut. Warner books. October 2003. Page 464
Ibid. Page 466
Ibid. Page 467
Change management is very critical in project management and must be covered in this set of three articles. #2: The rest of the students are not interested in academic careers, however, you feel it is important that they receive a theoretical knowledge of the subject matter. What five essential theoretical lessons would you share with your students that you feel are the most important in assuring professional success as a
Project Management Involved Formation of Airbus Project Management involved in Formation of Airbus The report investigates factors that led to the A380 project crisis. Analysis of the project revealed that Airbus did not integrate an effective project management model into the project lifecycle leading the project to be two years behind schedule, which eventually led to the costs escalations. The report reveals several lessons to be learned from the A380 project crisis.
The use of Gantt charts for enabling interprocess integration and knowledge management in the A&D industry is a best practice for also managing process-intensive projects (Singh, Keil, Kasi, 2009). These include the development of new computer systems and advanced technologies where the project needs to capture the knowledge to fulfill its objectives. Project management's core set of tools therefore needs to be focused on how to augment and strengthen
Project Management Context Elements The case study that is to be reviewed in the response below centers on John Parker and how he had to revolutionize the project management framework and ensuing performance at AG Edwards starting in Fall 2001. Parker was given the dire nature of the situation up front and it was noted that there was a mission-critical upgrade that was about to commence that could not go south as
Starting with the pre-contractual phase, which was for the most part skipped as the EDS teams focused primarily on technologies first, the project lacked the necessary foundation to succeed from a planning standpoint. Focusing on the pre-contractual phase could have also helped to have more clearly defined the SLAs and metrics used for managing the project over the long-term as well (Cross, 2007). With 23 SLAs and 51 metrics,
If so, the project manager has the necessary tools to assess the project's progress and communicate its status and needs to others. Conclusion: Useful tools are defined for project management. Prior to initiation, there are tools for ensuring that all parties agree on the goal, the approach, the costs, the personnel, the timetable, and the "deliverables." Yet, only when these are defined and agreed upon can the project planning begin. Furthermore,