Stay Hungry

042512

Jack Welch knows what he’s doing. My favorite part about the guy is that he’s nothing special. I don’t mean that in a negative way. I mean that he’s a regular guy, like Buffet, and I feel like I could do what he’s done. I didn’t really know much about him until I watched this video - which was in my shelby.tv watch later queue for months - and I’m glad I finally did.

He talks about building a team and the importance of that. It’s how Jobs built an amazing company at Apple and the reason they didn’t just topple when he died. It’s something Reece and I are working on diligently. The idea that HR is about birthdays and parties is something I (like many others) picked up while working at Cisco. Jack gave me the other perspective that HR should be #2 in the company because that’s how you build an amazing team. That really changed my perspective on how to organize a company.

In another bit of common-sense wisdom, Jack says that the kindest form of management is to let people know where they stand; what they’re doing well and what they suck at. It’s cruel to fire somebody without having give them a chance to improve via regular honest appraisals of their standing. Makes sense.

“Enjoy the success of those who work for you.” Again, it seems like common sense, but I can see how manager forget this.

“Be outspoken.” This is probably the hardest to work on. I think your personality has developed and been shaped by your early years, but it’s not like you can’t move the needle on this one.

“I would move faster on instinct. Can’t wait for perfect data.” Learned this with HomeField and practicing it with Shelby. Doesn’t hurt to remind yourself often and critically examine your own performance in this respect.

Welch also says mentorship is a dumb idea (what if your mentor is a dick?); you should have a thirst for knowledge, reading everything on the best ideas and digging into the leaders your respect. I slightly disagree. Though I haven’t had one, I think a mentor can be a great thing. But they should only be a single data point and shouldn’t replace a broad knowledge. We’d probably see eye to eye on that.

I think I’ll be digging deeper into Jack Welch.

tags: jack welch management shelby.tv