"We're pebbles in an ocean, but he knows about us"
Those were the words of Brian Nailor, a marketing manager of industrial products who attended a Croton-on-Hudson conference.
The words he says are a tremendous testimony to the reach that welch had throughout the company. It wasn't that he simply made his presence and desires known across the company, it was that he would know so many people that they were literally shocked that he contacted them, knew them by name or what were some of the specific problems they were wrestling with.
Nailor went on to say concerning Welch that, "He's able to get people to give more of themselves because of who he is. He lives the American dream. He wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He got himself out of the pile. He didn't just show 
up."
In spite of Welch's strong personality and drive, he had the respect and admiration of the majority of his people because they knew that he understood where they were coming from. He understood their specific problems and challenges. The fact that he knew so many people and their specific problems they wrestled with was from the road he personally had to travel. It's called empathy. He felt what they felt, had traveled the road they were traveling.
Knowing the struggle his people were facing motivated him to be in contact with many of them across numerous General Electric (GE) properties. The results show that he had touched the pulse of the workforce and they appreciated and respected him for it.
It's a weighty statement to be said about a business leader in a company the size of General Electric to have people feel that you know about them. It was another way of saying that he cared. His people rewarded him and the company many times over.
Other Jack Welch Resources:
Jack Welch's advice to MIT Sloan students
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