Jack Welch - Any Jerk Short-Term Earnings

The ultimate measure of a leader is how well their business unit performs AFTER they are gone.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
D. Brown Management
May 27, 2018 2 minute read
Share

Retired Navy submarine Captain David Marquet explains this very well in:

Quote: Any jerk can have short-term earnings. You can squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, and the company sinks five years later. Jack Welch Retired Chairman and CEO of GE.

With the construction industry heading into even bigger talent shortages it is critical that leaders focus on building other leaders.  This must be done at an accelerated rate just for contractors to maintain their market position and profitability.  

Jack Welch discusses this in his memoirs written after he left GE.  

Look at your organizational chart and ask the following: 

  • Who are your strong leaders?  
  • Who are your up-and-coming promising leaders?
  • Who can you trace their development back to?  
  • What training or coaching can you put in place to help your leaders become better people builders?

Evaluate all leaders in your company on the following.  Rate them 0-10 both in today’s demonstrated capabilities AND in what you believe they could be reasonably capable of in 3-5 years.  

  • Building the Projects
  • Building the Business
  • Building the People

Where are your strengths?  Where are your gaps?  

What can you do to leverage those strengths and close those gaps? 

Succession Planning at All Levels
If a construction company is growing at 15% per year, then it will double in size about every five years. Therefore, in general, every position must be training at least two people that will be capable of succeeding them within five years.
Related Article
Incentive Compensation for Contractors - Audience Question: When?
While an incentive program won’t turn around a completely bad culture, there is also no such thing as a perfect culture. There are are important prerequisites to have in place before getting started with an incentive program.
Related Article
Leaders Make Things Fun
Leaders are always looking for ways to make really challenging things fun. This stretches teams and builds the relationships that hold teams together in good times and bad.
Related Article