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The most important quality of leadership is intellectual honesty. The reality principle - the ability to see the world as it really is, not as you wish it were.

Jack Welch

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Jack Welch
Age: 84 †
Born: 1935
Born: November 19
Died: 2020
Died: March 1
Author
Businessperson
Engineer
Journalist
Manager
Writer
Peabody
Massachusetts
John Francis Welch
Jr.
John Francis Jack Welch
Jr.
Wish
Reality
Principle
Important
Honesty
Really
Intellectual
World
Leadership
Principles
Quality
Ability

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Globalization has changed us into a company that searches the world, not just to sell or to source, but to find intellectual capital - the world's best talents and greatest ideas.
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Every leader makes mistakes, every leader stumbles and falls. The question with a senior level leader is, does she learn from her mistakes, regroup, and then get going again with renewed speed, conviction and confidence?
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I wanted to change the rules of engagement, asking for more- from fewer. I was insisting that we had to have only the best people...If you wanted excellence, at a minimum, the ambience had to reflect excellence.
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One of the things about leadership is that you cannot be a moderate, balanced, thoughtful, careful articulator of policy. You've got to be on the lunatic fringe.
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People always overestimate how complex business is. This isn't rocket science. We've chosen one of the world's simplest professions.
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Strategy means making clear-cut choices about how to compete.
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If you have a reputation as a big, stiff bureaucracy, you're stuck.
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A good leader remains focused. Controlling your destination is better than being controlled by it
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If we get the right people in the right job we've won the game.
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Managers can waste a lot of time at the outset of a crisis denying that something went wrong. Skip that step.
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You got to be rigorous in your appraisal system. The biggest cowards are managers who don't let people know where they stand.
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Above all, good leaders are open. They go up, down, and around their organization to reach people. They don't stick to the established channels. They're informal. They're straight with people. They make a religion out of being accessible. They never get bored telling their story.
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The biggest opportunity for big companies has come by far in the digitization of internal processes.
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In difficult times your best must be hugged, loved, kissed, rewarded, paid - everything. And your worst must be the people that leave, because your best are going to take you to the next game.
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We have built a company with a business mix and operating system that will allow us to deliver record results in any foreseeable economic climate, ... We have just completed a very successful management transition and I've never been more confident about the company's future.
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If your CFO is more important than your CHRO (Chief Human Resource Officer) you're nuts!
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Failing to differentiate among employees — and holding on to bottom-tier performers — is actually the cruelest form of management there is.
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A company has only so much money and managerial time. Winning leaders invest where the payback is the highest. They cut their losses everywhere else.
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The value decade is upon us. If you can't sell a top-quality product at the world's lowest price, you're going to be out of the game.
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When you were made a leader you weren't given a crown, you were given the responsibility to bring out the best in others.
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