Introduction
Effective leadership skills and clarity of vision have a great effect on a business organization. For many years, the issue of leadership in different organizations has elicited numerous debates and how the impact of clarity of vision and leadership skills creates varied opinions. In the corporate world, there are two main entities, “the led” and “the leader” who play a vital role in shaping the destiny of any organization. The five levels of leadership can be seen in various CEOs of successful global companies. One such example is Jack Welch, who was a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Electric (GE) from 1981 to 2001.
Background
Summarizing one’s career as a CEO of 20 years within four pages is a challenging task. First, it is important to understand what did Jack Welch do during those two decades and how did it affect the company. One of the most valued contributions which made Jack Welch a successful leader is the growth of General Electric’s market value from $14 billion in 1981 to $410 billion in 1999 (Ossama, 2020). With modern giant companies such as Amazon, such a number does not seem record-breaking, but at the time, GE was the second largest company in the world after Microsoft.
Starting as a junior chemical engineer in 1960, Jack Welch started to make his career in General Electrics. Disappointed in the company’s bureaucracy, Welch wanted to leave but was persuaded to stay under the condition of working in a small company atmosphere. Hence, from the early years in the company, Welch demanded change and had a vision of what he wanted a workplace to be. As a result, in 1968, he became vice president and head of GE’s plastics division (Lohr, 2020). He continued developing in the executive area, and by 1981 he managed to become the CEO of the company, which resembled his ambitious nature.
Jack Welch’s Leadership Qualities
GE’s CEO, Jack Welch, is an example of a transformational leader. Such style of leadership has four facets: inspirational motivation, idealized influence, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation (Yauney, 2018). Inspirational motivation refers to how well and clearly a leader articulates a vision to his or her followers so that it is appealing and inspiring. Jack Welch’s management style was described differently throughout his career – but the adjectives such as effective, unique, and brutal were some of the most consistent. These words may refer to the aggressive strategy of acquisition that General Electrics became known for.
Jack Welch is also an intellectually stimulating leader. One of the core elements of transformation leadership is intellectual stimulation which shows a leader’s ability to challenge assumptions, seek followers’ opinions and ideas, and take calculated risks. Such a leader encourages innovation and creativity and strives to create a unique organizational culture. One of the essential leadership skills is having a clear vision and the prospect of articulating it in an effective way. According to Yauney (2018) managers with effective leadership skills can articulate a motivating vision and establish a perfect circumstance in which all the employees share the vision. In addition, organizational leaders should have effective communication skills. Hunt and Fedynich (2019), explained the value of interpersonal skills for leaders of an organization. They referred to the reality that leaders should communicate with the various stakeholders of the company on a daily basis, and every stakeholder has their own interests.
Throughout his career as an executive and CEO, Welch demonstrated the willingness to take risks and make hard decisions. According to Day et al. (2021) decisiveness is another essential attribute for an effective leader of an organization. While examining this particular leadership attribute, Day et al. (2021) made reference to “The Great Man leadership theory.” He claimed that those born with the skills of leadership appear to be very decisive than those who have learned and acquired such leadership skills. Nevertheless, the researcher did not justify this argument since he failed to provide any evidence based on empirical research. An effective leader must be able to manage the different resources such as financial, material, and human resources of the organization in an actual and proficient manner to evade wastages or dismissals. A manager should be able to effectively understand the needs of the employees so as to help them in the execution of their tasks.
Self-confidence is another remarkable trait of Jack Welch as a leader. Collins (2019) as also considered self-confidence as an essential leadership skill. They concluded that the importance of self-confidence in the management of an organization becomes essential during a crisis period when the leaders are required to make effective decisions while there is uncertainty about other different factors. During their assessment of alternative leadership integrity and quality, the researchers claimed that presently, it is very hard to cover the lack of integrity by a leader in an organization mainly because of the improved technological developments.
In addition, Cohen (2019) states that a high dedication level to work is considered to be one of the essential skills of leadership. In order to support his argument, he mentioned some of the case studies of prosperous leaders in the business world, such as the former Chief Executive Officer of General Electric, Jack Welch. His dedication to the employees and the firm helped him to accomplish incomparable prosperity in the business environment. Fairness, creativity, openness, sense of humor, humility, and assertiveness are also considered essential leadership skills that can help effective leaders to accomplish organizational goals and objectives.
Conclusion
Welch is an example of a transformational leader. As a leader, he is known as an inspiring motivator and intellectual stimulator. Welch inspires his staff and the people around him by leading by example. He takes calculated risks and persistently focuses on innovating new products. He also encourages creativity among employees. The ability of the leadership to precisely understand the value of skills of leadership and the preciseness of vision is essential. When there is perfect leadership in an organization, the corporate behaviors of the different prospective employees will be transformed, thus leading to their satisfaction. Satisfaction of the employees will normally lead to enhanced performance leading to increased productivity in the organization.
Studying Jack Welch’s leadership style and career is beneficial to business students as it provides the example of a person who managed to grow as a professional and contribute to the growth of the firm. In addition, Welch’s qualities are recognized by the business community, and there is a variety of speeches and interviews that he gave on the topic. Therefore, the former GE CEO is a valuable source of malarial experience and knowledge and represents the 5 level leadership paradigm.
References
Cohen, H. B. (2019). An inconvenient truth about leadership development. Organizational Dynamics, 48(1), 8-15.
Collins, J. C. (2019). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap and others don’t. HarperBusiness.
Day, D. V., Riggio, R. E., Tan, S. J., & Conger, J. A. (2021). Advancing the science of 21st-century leadership development: theory, research, and practice. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(5), 101557.
Hunt, T., & Fedynich, L. (2019). Leadership: Past, present, and future: An evolution of an idea. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 8(2), 22-26.
Lohr, S. (2020). Jack Welch, GE Chief who became a business superstar, dies at 84. New York Times. March, 2. Web.
Ossama, M. (2020). A tribute to Jack Welch: Manager of the century. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research (IJEMR), 10(5), 17-18.
Yauney, R. H. (2018). Leadership development: A study of Elon Musk. Marriott Student Review, 2(2), 4. Web.