Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE, spoke on campus Monday about “21st Century Leadership at GE.” Although he explored some of what the future of GE will focus on, and what he thinks companies who wish to succeed should work on (technology, globalization, and entrepreneurship to name a few), I was most struck by his desire to give us students words of advice while looking towards our career.
What I most appreciated about Immelt’s presentation was his approachability and humor. I was lucky enough to be selected to be in the picture with him and some other student representatives, and he shook each of our hands, saying hello. He made jokes with Father Peter about events on campus, and added in a few bits of humor to his presentation. For example, when asked what kept him up at night, he responded: “I sleep like a baby… I wake up crying every hour.” But most of all, he really wanted to find a way to give us something to think about that related to our lives and what we were interested in, whether that be in his career tips or the long question and answer session.
His tips:
- Do what you want to do. Sounds simple enough, but really hit hard for me. It was great to see an influential businessman tell you that what you love is important- that you should not just do what is best in the current economy.
- It’s not what you know, but how fast you’re willing to learn and how hard you’re willing to work. Although I have a great base with my Villanova education, it was reassuring to hear that my skills can change over time as I learn on the job and continue to soak up what people know around me.
- Persistence, hard work, and a decent sense of humor will get you far. Your peers have to LIKE you for you to succeed.
Lastly, he values when people are truly open to change and innovation, and do not live in fear of it.
In relation to previous posts of mine, Immelt focused a lot on globalization and the need to export more products. He realizes that the bulk of consumption in the world is no longer going to come from the United States, and we need to prepare ourselves to better market to other economies. I certainly agreed with his statements to focus on collaborating with other economies and to work as a team. Although his stance was supportive of America, he realized the importance of working with and being in a marketplace with other countries.
Was there any discussion on Jack Welch management style and changes at GE since his departure?
An audience member did ask about Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt’s answer was great- he started out by saying that it is always more fun to replace a loser, but that wasn’t the case for him. He told us that as a world leader GE had to value the legacy of Welch but be willing to change. The world is going to be different than when Welch built up the company, most specifically in terms of globalization, and Immelt’s management practices will have to change with that.
You could tell Immelt had great respect (as we all do) and a great friendship with Welch. He understood that the little things, like forming relationships with his co-workers and community leaders is as important as the big decisions made.
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