值得提醒大家的是，過去大家盲目崇拜Jack或GE是值得反省的
或譯 {從A到A＋}）提出所謂「第五層次的領導人」，他或她基本上有專
問：傑克.威爾許(Jack Welch)是第五層次(水準)的領導人嗎？
答：關於他的成績單，要直到Immelt（GE新任執行長）超越他才算數。如果Immelt未能超越他，那他就失敗了。傑克威爾許並沒有讓GE變成了不起。GE原本就了不起了。毫無例外的，每一個GE的執行長都和傑克威爾許一樣，在其時代中表現卓越。GE的開創花了五十年，是好幾個世代的領導者所創建完成的。你問的簡介Lean /Six Sigma 運動（1979-2007）
鍾漢清 (Hanching Chung)*
For Ex-CEO, Even Welch, Best Role Is Modest One
Over the years, Jack Welch has guided the thinking of American business on lots of issues. When it comes to the right role for retired chief executives, however, the former General Electric CEO might do better by sitting still and listening to his peers.
The 72-year-old Mr. Welch appeared on CNBC last Wednesday to blast GE's current boss, Jeff Immelt, for poor quarterly results. If that happens again, Mr. Welch said, 'I'd get a gun out and shoot him.'
The next day, Mr. Welch recanted, praising Mr. Immelt effusively and declaring: 'Nothing is as disgusting to me as some old CEO chirping away about how things are not as good under the new guy as they were under him.'
In his rush to make amends, Mr. Welch changed so abruptly from Indignant Jack to Chastened Jack that he skipped over the middle ground for a former corporate chieftain -- a modest, constructive role behind the scenes.
That's a shame, say three well-known former bosses: Intel Corp.'s Andy Grove; Medtronic Inc.'s William George and Continental Airlines' Gordon Bethune. They don't provide on-air critiques of their successors. But in private, they offer occasional advice or at least a sympathetic ear. Done properly, they say, such counsel can be helpful.
Ex-CEOs can be most useful on judgment calls such as when to settle a lawsuit or how to negotiate with regulators, says Mr. George. Such management challenges are so nuanced that no one can master them entirely on the first few tries. Old-timers -- who have dealt with many such situations -- may be able to ask a probing question or suggest an unanticipated alternative. By contrast, Mr. George says, former executives' expertise decays rapidly when it comes to sizing up financial results. In those areas, he says, active managers are the only ones who know enough to make the call.
At Intel, Mr. Grove, who retired as CEO in 1998 and stepped down as chairman in 2004, says he likes to help talented, younger people sort out career questions. He shies away, however, from opining on technical aspects of the chip company's business. 'I was an obsolete technologist when I retired,' Mr. Grove says. 'Now I'm an obsolete, out-of-date technologist.'
Keeping any advice private is essential, Mr. Grove says. 'There's a Hippocratic oath at work here,' he says. 'First do no harm.' Retired CEOs' comments, if made public, can take on meanings beyond what's constructive, he observes.
Mr. Grove says he also has learned to weigh in only if asked. 'If you're proud of your insight, it's hard to accept signals that your input isn't wanted,' he says. 'But after all the goodbye parties are done, you have to realize that even if they put your statue in front of the building, you're no longer in charge.'
In the past year, a handful of company pioneers have come roaring back as CEOs once more after having kicked themselves upstairs into chairman-only jobs for a period. These include Michael Dell at computer maker Dell Inc. and Howard Schultz at coffee-bar operator Starbucks Corp.
In those cases, business performance had stumbled under the early CEOs' successors. That prompted the companies' original leaders -- also sizable shareholders in their own right -- to reclaim the reins.
It's much rarer, though, for CEOs hired later in the game to come back for a second act. Louis V. Gerstner, the former chief executive of International Business Machines Corp., defined retirement for such bosses, including himself, in his final shareholders letter, in IBM's 2001 annual report.
'A decade or so is long enough to be the leader of a large complex company like IBM,' Mr. Gerstner wrote. He wished his successor, Sam Palmisano, well and predicted that at some point, IBM would face a major shift in its market. 'When it comes, I hope he throws out everything that Gerstner ever did . . . . My time as IBM's leader is over.'
Strikingly, Mr. Welch until last week was viewed as a model of how to let go. He remained in the public eye, appearing regularly on CNBC and in print with business advice and commentary. But he generally shied away from talking about GE in detail, except to affirm support for Mr. Immelt, whom he had helped pick in 2000 as his successor.
Mr. Welch, in an email exchange, declined to add to his comments last week. But Mr. Bethune, the former Continental Air boss, says he and Mr. Welch both do their share of live television. And in such settings, Mr. Bethune says, even executives who think they are media-savvy can get swept up in the moment.
'You start thinking that you're sitting in your living room, shooting the breeze,' Mr. Bethune says. 'And you're not.'
George anders
The 72-year-old Mr. Welch appeared on CNBC last Wednesday to blast GE's current boss, Jeff Immelt, for poor quarterly results. If that happens again, Mr. Welch said, 'I'd get a gun out and shoot him.'
The next day, Mr. Welch recanted, praising Mr. Immelt effusively and declaring: 'Nothing is as disgusting to me as some old CEO chirping away about how things are not as good under the new guy as they were under him.'
In his rush to make amends, Mr. Welch changed so abruptly from Indignant Jack to Chastened Jack that he skipped over the middle ground for a former corporate chieftain -- a modest, constructive role behind the scenes.
That's a shame, say three well-known former bosses: Intel Corp.'s Andy Grove; Medtronic Inc.'s William George and Continental Airlines' Gordon Bethune. They don't provide on-air critiques of their successors. But in private, they offer occasional advice or at least a sympathetic ear. Done properly, they say, such counsel can be helpful.
Ex-CEOs can be most useful on judgment calls such as when to settle a lawsuit or how to negotiate with regulators, says Mr. George. Such management challenges are so nuanced that no one can master them entirely on the first few tries. Old-timers -- who have dealt with many such situations -- may be able to ask a probing question or suggest an unanticipated alternative. By contrast, Mr. George says, former executives' expertise decays rapidly when it comes to sizing up financial results. In those areas, he says, active managers are the only ones who know enough to make the call.
At Intel, Mr. Grove, who retired as CEO in 1998 and stepped down as chairman in 2004, says he likes to help talented, younger people sort out career questions. He shies away, however, from opining on technical aspects of the chip company's business. 'I was an obsolete technologist when I retired,' Mr. Grove says. 'Now I'm an obsolete, out-of-date technologist.'
Keeping any advice private is essential, Mr. Grove says. 'There's a Hippocratic oath at work here,' he says. 'First do no harm.' Retired CEOs' comments, if made public, can take on meanings beyond what's constructive, he observes.
Mr. Grove says he also has learned to weigh in only if asked. 'If you're proud of your insight, it's hard to accept signals that your input isn't wanted,' he says. 'But after all the goodbye parties are done, you have to realize that even if they put your statue in front of the building, you're no longer in charge.'
In the past year, a handful of company pioneers have come roaring back as CEOs once more after having kicked themselves upstairs into chairman-only jobs for a period. These include Michael Dell at computer maker Dell Inc. and Howard Schultz at coffee-bar operator Starbucks Corp.
In those cases, business performance had stumbled under the early CEOs' successors. That prompted the companies' original leaders -- also sizable shareholders in their own right -- to reclaim the reins.
It's much rarer, though, for CEOs hired later in the game to come back for a second act. Louis V. Gerstner, the former chief executive of International Business Machines Corp., defined retirement for such bosses, including himself, in his final shareholders letter, in IBM's 2001 annual report.
'A decade or so is long enough to be the leader of a large complex company like IBM,' Mr. Gerstner wrote. He wished his successor, Sam Palmisano, well and predicted that at some point, IBM would face a major shift in its market. 'When it comes, I hope he throws out everything that Gerstner ever did . . . . My time as IBM's leader is over.'
Strikingly, Mr. Welch until last week was viewed as a model of how to let go. He remained in the public eye, appearing regularly on CNBC and in print with business advice and commentary. But he generally shied away from talking about GE in detail, except to affirm support for Mr. Immelt, whom he had helped pick in 2000 as his successor.
Mr. Welch, in an email exchange, declined to add to his comments last week. But Mr. Bethune, the former Continental Air boss, says he and Mr. Welch both do their share of live television. And in such settings, Mr. Bethune says, even executives who think they are media-savvy can get swept up in the moment.
'You start thinking that you're sitting in your living room, shooting the breeze,' Mr. Bethune says. 'And you're not.'
George anders
前任高管 低調為上
多
年 來﹐傑克•韋爾奇(Jack Welch)一直引領著美國商界人士在許多問題上的所思所想﹔不過﹐在退休高管應該扮演怎樣的角色這一問題上﹐倘若這位通用電氣公司(General Electric Co.)前首席執行長能安靜地坐好、聽聽同道中人的想法﹐那麼他可能會做得更加出色。
退休後的韋爾奇在作演講
而到了第二天﹐韋爾奇的立場就來了個一百八十度的大轉彎。他不僅盛贊了伊梅爾特﹐還聲稱﹕“我覺得最惡心人的事情就是一位卸任CEO在那裡喋喋不休﹐說新人接管後事事都不如他自己當年幹得好。”
由於要急著修正自己此前的言論﹐韋爾奇一下子就從暴跳如雷狀轉為了穩重通達狀﹐全然沒有中間地帶﹐徹底忘記了一位前CEO本應該在幕後溫和地發揮建設性作用。
在 三位同樣大名鼎鼎的前CEO──英特爾(Intel Corp.)的安迪•格魯夫(Andy Grove)、美敦力公司(Medtronic Inc.)的威廉•喬治(William George)以及大陸航空公司(Continental Airlines Inc.)的戈登•貝脩恩(Gordon Bethune)看來﹐那樣做是很丟人的。他們從不公開批評自己的繼任者﹐但私下裡卻偶爾會給予建議﹐或至少願意懷著顆同情心聆聽新人訴說。他們認為﹐如 果拿捏得當﹐自己的建議是會對繼任者有所幫助的。
1998 年從英特爾CEO位子上退休、而後在2004年時離任董事長之職的格魯夫表示﹐他願意幫助有才華的年輕人解決他們職業生涯中的問題。不過他卻怎麼都不肯就 這家晶片巨頭的技術發展前景發表看法。格魯夫說﹐我退休時就是個老派的技術員了﹐現在嘛﹐我不僅老派、還徹底過時了。
格魯夫指出﹐不論你給出什麼建議都切記要保持其私密性﹔這裡面有一條“希波克拉底誓言”──首先是不要傷害別人﹔如果前CEO大肆宣揚自己的觀點﹐那麼產生的效果就不是建設性的了。
格魯夫表示他還學到了一點﹐那就是只有在別人尋求幫助時才施以援手﹔如果你自負於自己的遠見卓識﹐你就很難察覺到自己的介入根本不受歡迎﹔但是﹐實際上一旦所有的告別派對都曲終人散﹐哪怕後人把你的塑像都立在了大樓前﹐你也該意識到自己應該不在其位不謀其政了。
去年有不少前CEO們在擔任了一段時間董事長之後又捲土重來、再掌帥印。其中包括戴爾公司(Dell Inc.)的邁克爾•戴爾(Michael Dell)和星巴克(Starbucks Corp.)的霍華德•舒爾茨(Howard Schultz)。
在這些事例中﹐相關公司的業績都在上一任CEO手中栽了大跟頭。這就促使公司的創始人﹐同時也是持有相當股權的大股東再度出山。
不過﹐對於那些受聘而來的職業CEO來而言﹐再次返場的情況就非常少見了。國際商業機器公司(IBM)的前CEO郭士納(Louis V. Gerstner)在他最後一封致股東的信中這樣描述了他這類老板們的退休生活。
其實直到上週之前﹐韋爾奇還被視為讓繼任者放手去幹的前任CEO典範。雖然他仍活躍在公眾視線中、定期在CNBC電視頻道和印刷媒體上露面﹐發表商業建議和評論﹐但除了對伊梅爾特表示堅定支持外﹐他的話一般都不會詳細涉及通用電氣。這位繼任者是2000年由他欽點的。
韋爾奇在電子郵件中拒絕對他上週的評論作解釋。但大陸航空公司的前CEO貝脩恩表示﹐他和韋爾奇在作電視直播時都會盡力去做好。他說﹐在那樣的環境中﹐即便是非常擅長和媒體打交道的高管也有可能一時失手。
貝脩恩說﹐你當時會想自己是自家的起居室裡縱論天下﹔但可惜不是﹐很多人都在看著你的一言一行。
George anders
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