Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

"The biggest change we made, without question, was the move to a boundaryless company. We got rid of the corner offices, the bureaucracy, the `not-invented-here' syndrome. Instead, we got every mind in the game, got the best out of all our people."

The idea of a boundaryless company is of course pretty much ubiquitous now, although at the time the actions were taken Jack Welch and General Electric (NYSE:GE) were ahead of most their major competitors in executing this.

What's more important to me, and something all business leaders and managers must be great at today, is, as Welch said, getting "every mind in the game." Those that are able to do that, do get the best out of their people.

This involves, more than anything, the real understanding of how valuable our people are, and that much of their input is untapped. We never know what they can contribute until we develop ways to draw out their wisdom.

This is another of those skills and commitments we must make in our leadership roles. To do this we must develop and foster a culture in our businesses that open things up to everyone and their input. We also much have ways of appreciating and rewarding our people who come up with exceptional ideas; the same with teams.

Even the way to seek input can be drawn from our people, as we look for ways to get them engaged in the business, and feel they play a major part in the success of the company. People buy in to what they initiate and come up with; they have ownership of the means to get something done.

This is accomplished by laying and perserving the core purpose and values of the company, and then getting out of the way and let our people thrive. Jack Welch was an expert at this, and we need to follow that example to achieve maximum success.