Chick-fil-A Leadercast: Jack Welch

Any time you get to learn first hand from a leader like Jack Welch it’s gold…and this interview was no exception. Here are some of my notes from Fortune Magazine’s Manager of the Century, Jack Welch,

  • In businesses, people want to run big things. Leaders are reluctant to prune things and let go of things because when you prune things they get smaller.
  • It’s absolutely critical that each of your direct reports know where they stand with you as their leader/manager
  • The cruelest form of management is not being clear and candid with your employees
  • If you don’t like people then being in the people business is a terrible job

You find a generosity gene in every great leader:

  • They love to give raises
  • They love to give promotions
  • They love to give more responsibility
  • They love to see you grow

The 3 C’s:

  1. Self Confidence: As the leader pour this into your team everyday.
  2. Simplicity: This leads to clarity and only self confident people can be simple.
  3. Speed: If you get this, you win the game.
  • The team that fields the best players wins
  • Key question to ask about change: “What’s in it for them?”
  • A budget review is just a personnel review with numbers
  • When you say something is important, back it up with your best personnel
  • You can give 1,000’s of speeches as a leader but one personnel move can really show where your values are
  • Make your boss smarter than he was before the meeting
  • Managers need to take care of their best people so well, they don’t want to leave

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