Leadership Traits of Jack Welch at GE

According to Tichy and Sherman (1993), Jack Welch created a new organization at General Electric (GE) that depended as much on shared values as on hierarchy or coercion. Welch moved GE away from its reliance on the doctrine of scientific management and overthrew the established order at the company, challenging everything that GE believed it had learned over the course of its lifetime. It is the purpose of this report to examine the leadership style of Jack Welch within the context of a theoretical framework proposed by Kouzes and Posner (1995). Kouzes and Posner (1995) believe that when leaders are at their best they challenge the process, inspire a shred vision, enable others to act, model the way, and also encourage the heart. These are actions and strategies that are associated directly with Welch during his tenure at GE.

Among the traits identified by Kouzes and Posner (1995) as most valued by workers and managers alike are honesty, forward-

looking attitudes, the ability to inspire, competency, fair-mindedness, and the willingness to be supportive of the endeavors of others. These six traits were identified in research conducted by Kouzes and Posner (1995). Using Welch's speeches, publications, and critical commentary on his career, this report will assess the degree to which he exemplifies each of these traits.

Honesty is defined by Kouzes and Posner (1995) as exemplified in the behavior rather than in the statements of admired leaders. Welch has bee

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nities and the best allocation of dollars in the right place" (in Van Clieaf, 1995, p. 7). Welch's competency and ability to inspire others has also never been in doubt despite the fact that he has at times enormously irritated many of his fellow workers at GE (O'Boyle, 1998). Welch believes in "KISS" or Keep It Simple, Stupid. In a letter, Welch wrote the editors of Fortune, he described his business as not "rocket science; we've chosen one of the world's more simple professions. Most global businesses have three or four critical competitors (Welch, in Fortune, 1988, p. 8)." Welch's competence has been described by Lowe (2001) as based on four key qualities. He is a skillful, intuitive portfolio strategist. He is willing to change the rules if necessary. He is highly competitive. He is a great communicator and motivator. Motivation invariably speaks to the capacity of a leader to inspire others (Kouzes and Posner, 1995). To inspire people, Crainer (1999) maintains that Welch makes enormous efforts to invest in their success, education, training, and empowerment. While he invests in people, he is not an executive who is afraid of confrontation, but is one who created at GE a climate of constructive confrontation i

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