Jack Welch Inspiration and Motivation

Who is Jack Welch?
For 2 decades, during his time as CEO of General Electric (GE), he took it from a old, slow moving company of $14 billion to a $500 billion company that was willing to take risks. I read his book, Jack: Straight from the Gut.  If you work at a big company, it is worth reading.

 

I don’t agree with all of what Jack Welch says but here are 13 quotes that I agree with (and a quick thought about each):

1. “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”
   Don’t get stagnant.  Always be learning, be agile and change to stay competitive.
2. “Control your own destiny or someone else will.”
   Don’t get complacent.  Keep changing and stay ahead of your competition.
3. “Change before you have to.”
   Competitors are always coming after you, so change to stay ahead.
4. “Be candid with everyone.”
   Be genuine.  Great leaders are genuine.  (My post on Genuine Leaders)
5. “Culture drives great results.”
   Make sure you hire by culture and instill the right culture in your employees.
6. “One of the jobs of a manager is to instill confidence, pump confidence into your people.  And when you’ve got somebody who’s raring to go and you can smell it and feel it, give’em that shot.”
   Develop your team and keep them motivated.
7. “Only two words matter for leaders today: truth and trust.”
   Very important.  Employees need to trust their leaders.
8. “Big companies can’t change quickly.  Every big company’s gotta be a small company in their head.  You want the muscle of a big company, and the soul of a small company.”
   Act big but think small and be agile.
9. “You want people to think every day about speed.”
   Install a culture of speed so the organization keeps changing.
10. “When they trust you, you will get truth. And if you get truth, you get speed.  If you get speed, you’re going to act.  That’s how it works.”
    If employees trust leadership then they will act faster which is necessary against the competition.
11. “You backroom is somebody else’s front room.  Backrooms by definition will never be able to attract your best.”
    Convert your backroom into someone else’s front room and insist on getting their best. (My post on Outsourcing)
12. “Finding great people happens in all kinds of ways, and I’ve always believed everyone you meet is another interview.”
    Always be looking and connecting with individuals.  You never know where you might find a future great employee.
13. “There has to be structure and logic so that every employee knows the rules of the game.”
    Let your employees know the priorities, the culture, and how they should perform.

Hope you enjoyed these inspirational and motivational quotes by Jack Welch.  Which one caught your attention?  Let me know.

Photo Credit: StockSnap.io (130)