An overview of Jack Welch and his leadership characteristics

1. Bruno Dias | Fábio Ferreira | Fiona O’Driscoll | Paulo Correia
PEOPLE & ORGANIZATIONS

2. The Man
• Born in November 19, 1935, in Peabody,
Massachusetts;
• His mother was very important in building his self-
confidence – “[My mother] always felt I could do
anything. It was my mother who trained me, taught
me the facts of life”;
• Received his degree in Chemical Engineering in 1957
and completed his PhD in 1960;

3. The Man
• 1960: joined GE has a junior engineer;
• 1963: a chemical factory exploded and Welch had
one of his biggest learning experiences.
• 1968: promoted to general manager of the plastics
division (the youngest ever, at the age of 32);
• 1971: promoted to run the entire chemical
metallurgical division;
• 1973: promoted to group manager, overseeing
several divisions worth $2 billion;
• 1980: became GE’s CEO;

4. “Neutron Jack”
• “Toughest boss in America”
– [Fortune Magazine]
• “Not only could anyone have run GE in the
1990s, [his] dog could have run GE...”
– [Jeffrey Immelt, successor to Jack Welch]
So what’s all the fuss about?

5. GE – Before Welch
• Founded by Thomas Edison in 1889
• One of the original 12 companies of Dow
Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
• Its mission was to explore all the possibilities
of electrical devices
• Had revenues of $26.8 billion in 1980

6. GE – The Welch Era
• Increase of almost $130 billion in assets;
• Increase of $27 billion in consolidated revenues;
• Stock rose from $12 billion to $58 billion during the
eighties (from 11th to 2nd in value);

7. M&A
Flattening pyramid
Divestures
Reduction of Staff
Union relations
Differentiation
Rewards
Management Development
HARDWARESOFTWARE

8. A new boss in town

9. Mission and Values
Differentiation
Leadership
People Management
Change

10. Mission and Values
Moment of company’s
leadership definition.
Inspires workers and
makes them feel part of
something big and
important.
Points the direction a
company should take to
obtain profit.
Mission:
Responsibility: Management
“Vision must be
communicated in every
opportunity managers have
to do so”

11. Mission and Values
Values Path that leads to the goal: winning.
Company has to reward those who follow the
values, and punish those who don’t.
External factors must not influence the
management decision regarding employees
that doesn’t follow the organization’s Values
Responsibility: Management

12. Mission and Values
Differentiation
Leadership
People Management
Change

13. Differentiation
Nurture the strong,
let go the weak.
20%
70%
10%

14. Differentiation
• Positive, rewards those who deserve it
• Fair, promotes teamwork
• Effective, holds the more talented people in the
company, in a transparent, fair and quick way
• Constant feedback is key to implement an effective
differentiation mechanism in the company
• Clarifies the business and makes it work in all aspects

15. “SYSTEMS THAT DON’T PROMOTE MERIT WILL
EVENTUALLY AUTO-DESTROY THEMSELVES…”
Differentiation

16. Mission and Values
Differentiation
Leadership
People Management
Change

17. Leadership
“ONE OF THE PARADOXES OF LEADERSHIP IS KNOWING
HOW TO MANAGE SHORT-TERM WHILE THINKING
LONG-TERM”

18. Simplicity
Speed
Self Confidence
Welch always encouraged his employees to do more,
in a way to be like him
Leadership

19. “LEADERS AREN’T JUST BORN…
THEY ARE MADE.”

20. Welch’s 4 E’s of Leadership
Energy – People who move at 95 miles-per-hour in a 55
mile-per-hour world;
Energizers – Know how to spark others to perform
Edge – Those who know how to make the really difficult
decisions
Execute – The key to the entire model. Recognize that
activity and productivity are not the same and are capable of
converting energy and edge into action and results.

21. 8 Leadership Principles:
1) Improve the level of their team
2) Assure their team live the vision
3) Transmit energy, optimism
4) Establish confidence with transparency
5) Take unpopular decisions; follow intuition
6) Investigate and incentive with curiosity
7) Encourage risk taking and continuous learning
8) Celebrate: creates positive energy, recognition
environment, and makes their team feel victorious

22. Leadership
“BEFORE BEING A LEADER,
SUCCESS IS RELATED TO
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.
AS A LEADER, SUCCESS IS
RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT OF
OTHERS…”

23. Mission and Values
Differentiation
Leadership
People Management
Change

24. People Management
5Secrets - Making sure your team members:
1. Work together
2. Constantly improve their performance
3. Feel motivated
4. Continue working at the company
5. Grow and develop as leaders

25. Mission and Values
Differentiation
Leadership
People Management
Change

26. Change
“A COMPANY CAN BOOST PRODUCTIVITY BY RESTRUCTURING,
REMOVING BUREAUCRACY AND DOWNSIZING, BUT IT CANNOT
SUSTAIN HIGH PRODUCTIVITY WITHOUT CULTURAL CHANGE. . . “

27. Change
Change
Management
Habit of
Change
4practices for change management:
1) Associate each change to a clear objective and
purpose;
2) Exclusively recruit people that believe and implement
change;
3) Identify and let go change averse workers;
4) Search for business opportunities in the most
unpredictable events.

28. “PRODUCTIVITY IS LIMITLESS, IT’S AS BIG AS
YOUR DREAMS ARE…”

29. “Manager
of the
Century”
Fortune Magazine
1999

30. Jack Welch – the Legacy
In his 21 years as CEO, Jack transformed GE into the
world's most admired and successful company with his
innovative management techniques.
Revenues grew five-fold from $25 billion to $130
billion
Income grew ten-fold, from $1.5 billion to $15 billion
The company's market capitalization had a 30-fold
increase of more than $400 billion

32. And Jack’s Spirit continues

33. “Toughest Boss in
America”
Fortune Magazine
1984
The legendary chairman of GE, the take-no-prisoners tough guy who gets
results at any cost, becomes human.
His slight stutter, a handicap that has bedeviled him since childhood, makes
him oddly vulnerable.
The students see all of Jack here: the management theorist, strategic thinker,
business teacher, and corporate icon who made it to the top despite his
working-class background. No one leaves the room untouched.
Business Week, 1998
Jack Welch – The Contradiction
Everyone, from secretaries to chauffeurs to
factory workers, calls him Jack. ”We're
pebbles in an ocean, but he knows about us”,
says Brian Nailor, a marketing manager. ''He's
able to get people to give more of themselves
because of who he is. He wasn't born with a
silver spoon in his mouth. He got himself out
of the pile. ''

34. Welch vs. Other Leaders
Tough
Love
Father
figure
Sharing
vision
Empowering
people
Incomplete
Leader
Company
culture

35. Conclusion
“He wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth…He got
himself out of the pile”.
One of the world's most respected and celebrated
CEOs:
• Known for his unmatched track record of success
• Enormous love of people,
• Fierce passion for winning,
• Unbridled desire to change the world for the better using his
unique management practices - The Welch Way.
 His achievements are considered epic, and as a result,
thousands of companies around the world have adopted
the Welch Way

36. Jack Welch: Destined to Succeed!
• Restructuring the company
– Flat Organization
– Flexible
– Habit of change
• Creating a culture
– Differentiation,
– Risk taking,
– Learning with mistakes
– Induce the change habit
– Becoming Leader in all segments: winning

37. Jack Welch: Destined to Succeed!
• Sharing the company vision
– Mission and Values
– Communicate, Communicate,
Communicate
• Surround himself with the best
• Allowing people to grow
– Coaching & Feedback
– Reward their success
“Control your destiny, or someone else will…”

38. “LIFE IS ALL ABOUT WINNING…”