Not all leadership examples are warm and fuzzy. Look at the ‘Chainsaw’ Al Dunlap, sidebars. He secured his position in business history by authoring Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and Make Good Companies. He prided himself on his CEO Genghis Khan-like qualities. Finding the right balance between management and Brand U leadership may be one of the biggest organizational challenges in the next ten years.
What does Jack think of this? Today’s greatest business leader is probably Jack Welch, GE’s CEO. You can get an idea why by looking at what he spends most of his time on – assessing and motivating GE’s employees. What’s his style? “You have to go along with a can of fertilizer in one hand and a can of water in the other and constantly throw both on the flowers. If they grow, you have a beautiful garden. If they don’t, you cut them out. That’s what management is all about.”
Hymowitz, Carol and Murray, Matt, “Raises and Praise or Out the Door,” Wall Street Journal, June 21, 1999, p. B1.