GE Advisor to Obama – Business Management Dialogue

Most would agree that Jeff Immelt is one of the great CEOs of our time, and he had better be because GE is one of the largest corporations in human history. And it’s good to see that Mr. Immelt has volunteered to help President Obama bring jobs to America and help us get into the clean energy future, but still, this is very risky for GE’s reputation. and also for Jeff’s. After all, with approval ratings falling sharply, it could spell a dangerous demise for Immelt’s longevity as a top executive in corporate America.

Before Immelt’s appointment to Obama’s internal team to revive our economic prospects, I was having a conversation with a guru of business management and small business consulting about General Electric, and we both agreed that it’s a great company. When talking about why, he believed that GE had great leadership, mentors and coaches and stated;

“Think of Jack Welch and GE, especially in his prime. No one was better at producing top-tier business leaders who knew how to execute. Well, because of the culture and psychology of GE. Because of the leadership and coaching they it happened continuously there. This did not happen accidentally.”

Okay, I said, that’s one way of looking at it, and it’s true, but I suggested that he read the book; Rothschild’s “The Secret to GE’s Success.” (Amazon sells the book online I still believe). So considering GE did a good job with their executive training center, thanks to some smart leadership. I would say that a good part of his success has more to do with his close ties to the US government.

Even today we see that, namely a law to make all citizens change light bulbs, funding for night vision goggles for the troops, and let’s not forget banking laws that help GE Capital, health insurance laws for that division, jet engines for military aircraft, Medicare funding for its high-tech medical division: plastics, nuclear-powered submarines, hydroelectric plants, energy-efficient appliance rebate stimulus, etc., etc., and Seriously, I could go on for 10 minutes on this topic.

So while Jack Welch got it right, and yes I’d say he was a General Patton-type motivator, but make no mistake, GE has bounced back from a series of pretty big mistakes over the last 6 decades. And he would tell you that GE had to set up that executive training center for its employees because the business schools weren’t producing or teaching their MBAs correctly or well enough.

So one can say Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Wharton are the best there is, but I read all their stuff and frankly most of it is like “dah” or so loaded with politically correct horse manure. That’s not worth my time to read. Also, their students and industry faculty explanation, case study or future predictions is in most cases WRONG. And I’m surprised no one can see it, when everything is right in front of them, but they don’t see it.

And I’m happy that GE is being used for case study after case study in these schools, but in retrospect, it’s obvious that because of their closeness and comfort to the government, they’ve been able to do what few companies have. And I would say that close relationship has done as much or more wonders for his success than his ability to train, educate and motivate his team to greatness. In fact, I would say that they had no choice, because they had so much work that they had to rise to the occasion.

Also, this latest relationship with GE and the Obama Administration, well, it will be great for GE’s profits, and raises Obama’s credibility to work with such corporate superstars. But GE’s reputation could suffer from the privilege of that very relationship. Time will prove me right, have a good day.