Rice talked about GE in general, his schedule as Vice Chairman, and about some of his leadership principles. At 51 years of age he is bright, energetic and has an incredible schedule that takes him around the globe meeting with "movers and shakers." Some of the points on leadership include:
- Teamplaying is a leadership skill.
- Leaders have to be flexible and adaptable. He does not expect his employees to work his schedule of time, he does expect them to produce the results he desires.
- A leader has to be "inclusive." If you can't handle diversity you will not be an effective leader.
- Leaders provide consistent and constructive feedback. No suprises at review time.
As he was talking about people he used a phrase that caught my ear. He referred to people's "strengths and development needs" instead of "strengths and weaknesses." That was pretty revealing of his people philosophy.
I know alot has been written about GE, both good and bad, but if Rice is an example of what kind of leader develops within that system then perhaps we should all pay a great deal more attention. I think I will be doing some more reading on GE. Anyone one have any suggestions?
