Welch Almost Had a Spiritual Belief in the Promise of His People
One of the things that really made an impression upon Reuben Gutoff, who was an early mentor of Welch at General Electric (GE), was what Welch thought of as almost a "spiritual belief" in the potential which his people represented. Probably more than anything else it what made Gutoff take an intense interest in Welch.
When you think of it in that way, you can see how he couldn't fail. When you have that type of genuine belief in the people you manage, you know that they are going to reach beyond what most could imagine.
What that type of belief does is make people start to believe in themselves. When that happens almost anything is possible ... and Welch and General Electric were rewarded year-after-year from that intense, passionate belief in his people.
He believed that within his people there were no boundaries and nothing that they couldn't creatively accomplish. It was one of the reasons why such great managers and business leaders are strewn throughout the General Electric companies. Headhunters comb the company to this day because of the quality of leadership that exists within GE.
Ideas are powerful, but belief in people is even more powerful to me, because that belief is what stirs up the types of ideas that lead to extraordinary breakthroughs, products and customer service. All of this from one person's belief that people have no limitations and can do anything. When you truly have that belief they will. It's a powerful attitude and concept to have within you for your people.
Another powerful side to it is that when you believe it, you treat them much differently than you would if you really did't. They know when you really believe it or not, and when you do, they will respond with great things that will even astound us who believe in them.
Other Jack Welch Resources:
Jack Welch's advice to MIT Sloan students
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» The Jack Welch Management Mystique - 22 from ManagersRealm
What Welch's Belief in His People Lead toThe last post on Welch we talked about his near spiritual belief in the promise that he believed resided in his people. Not only did it result in great leadership across the company, like... [Read More]
Tracked on: March 26, 2007 6:10 PM | Permalink to Trackback