Thursday, October 28, 2004
WSJ.com - Five Questions to Ask . . .
WSJ.com - Five Questions to Ask . . .: "Who's Around Him?
In tough times in particular, a leader needs to surround himself with people who are smarter than he is, and they must have the grit to disagree with him and each other.
Every time we had a crisis at GE, I would quickly assemble a group of the smartest, gutsiest people I could find at any level from within the company and sometimes without, and lean on them heavily for their knowledge and advice. I would make sure everyone in the room came at the problem from a different angle, and then I would have us all wallow in the information as we worked to solve the crisis. These sessions were almost always contentious, and the opinions that came at me strong and varied. And yet, my best decisions arose from what I learned in these debates. Disagreement surfaced meaningful questions and forced us to challenge assumptions. Everyone came out of the experience more informed and better prepared to take on the next crisis.
A great leader has the courage to put together a team of people who sometimes make him look like the dumbest person in the room! I know that sounds counterintuitive. You want your leader to be the smartest person in the room -- but if he acts like that, he won't get half the pushback he must get to make the best decisions."
This is why Jack Welch is one of the most respected business leaders in history. In this article in today's WSJ, Welch proposes five questions voters should ask themselves before voting next Tuesday. This particular question struck me, because CB knows a little something about building brilliant teams. That is one of the things about this administration that amazed CB. This President had the confidence to sit among people that may make him feel stupid. If you have no faith in him, you must have faith in those who counsel him, Condi, Colin, Rummy, etc.
In tough times in particular, a leader needs to surround himself with people who are smarter than he is, and they must have the grit to disagree with him and each other.
Every time we had a crisis at GE, I would quickly assemble a group of the smartest, gutsiest people I could find at any level from within the company and sometimes without, and lean on them heavily for their knowledge and advice. I would make sure everyone in the room came at the problem from a different angle, and then I would have us all wallow in the information as we worked to solve the crisis. These sessions were almost always contentious, and the opinions that came at me strong and varied. And yet, my best decisions arose from what I learned in these debates. Disagreement surfaced meaningful questions and forced us to challenge assumptions. Everyone came out of the experience more informed and better prepared to take on the next crisis.
A great leader has the courage to put together a team of people who sometimes make him look like the dumbest person in the room! I know that sounds counterintuitive. You want your leader to be the smartest person in the room -- but if he acts like that, he won't get half the pushback he must get to make the best decisions."
This is why Jack Welch is one of the most respected business leaders in history. In this article in today's WSJ, Welch proposes five questions voters should ask themselves before voting next Tuesday. This particular question struck me, because CB knows a little something about building brilliant teams. That is one of the things about this administration that amazed CB. This President had the confidence to sit among people that may make him feel stupid. If you have no faith in him, you must have faith in those who counsel him, Condi, Colin, Rummy, etc.
