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10.02.2003
Jack Welch author in town
BEST selling author Jeffrey Krames
presented a lecture on lessons in leadership at the Star Cybertorium at Menara
Star on Monday, Feb 10. The lecture focused on the leadership styles of
America's most successful and powerful politicians and chief executive
officers (CEOs). Krames has written books on US Secretary of Defence
Donald Rumsfeld and former General Electric CEO Jack Welch. He has also
interviewed personalities like Michael Dell, Lou Gerstner, and
Southwest's Herb Kelleher.
Krames' The Jack Welch
Lexicon of Leadership is the first alphabetically structured collection
to place Welch's career in perspective, and trace the evolution of his
key ideas and innovations. Intended to stand on its own as well as
complement Welch's eagerly awaited upcoming memoir, this timely book
provides readers with analysis and perspective on Six Sigma the
revolutionary program that ''changed the DNA of GE'' as well as dozens of
other Welch concepts and initiatives (including Globalisation, Work-Out,
the E-Initiative, and others).
The Rumsfeld Way, meanwhile, explores Rumsfeld's skills, methods, and
strategies through the prism of his own words and accomplishments, and
arrives at a leadership model that is distinctive, powerful, and proven
effective under unprecedented duress. The Rumsfeld Way attempts to
outline a step-by-step model for success in any field.
Lessons
for a manager to be a leader
Byline:
JEFFREY A. KRAMES
THE goal of this book What the Best CEOs Know: 7 Exceptional Leaders and
their Lessons for Transforming any Business (McGraw-Hill) is to help any
manager or aspiring manager learn to lead like the best CEOs of the
modern age.
Jack Welch used to say: ''Business is simple.'' One way to interpret such
a statement is to understand that the foundation of leadership is the
same in Kuala Lumpur as it is in Cleveland, Ohio.
Of course, there are vast cultural differences but certain rules of
business do not change.
An intense focus on customers, treating employees with respect and
dignity, having a vision and implementing the best ideas (regardless of
their origin), are all important and fundamental concepts to businesses.
Each chapter of ''What the Best CEOs Know'' is written as a stand-alone
lesson in leadership. To put the readers in the proper mindset, I started
each chapter with a section called ''What Would Jack Welch Do'' (or
Michael Dell, Andy Grove, etc.).
This puts readers ''in the seat of the CEO,'' so that each could imagine
him or herself running a company.
Then, a case or scenario is presented that tests the knowledge of the new
CEO.
Throughout the chapter, there are many tips and tactics that will help the
newly-minted CEO ''solve'' the case that starts the chapter.
I made sure that the cases and material were timeless, and would be as
useful in Asia than they would be in the US.
In conclusion, it is important to point out that all business today may
be considered ''global.''
The world is much smaller today, and global competition has never been
fiercer.
When running GE, Jack Welch said that he didn't have a global strategy
but that he had a ''Malaysian or ''European strategy.''
He meant that each country indeed had its own set of challenges,
opportunities and circumstances, and that for managers to succeed, each
must understand this, and plan accordingly.
But he also knew that there were great universal truths in business, such
as that ideas and intellect must rule in an organisation.
The key in writing ''What the Best CEOs Know'' was to focus on the
actions and attitudes of the best CEOs, and make sure that the book would
be equally useful in small businesses as it would in large companies,
regardless of where they were located.
Ultimately, it is you, the reader, who will tell me if I succeeded in
making the book a universal learning tool.
* For a full text version of this article click on to http://biz.thestar.com.my/books/
Pix: Jeffrey Krames delivering his lecture Lessons on Leadership at the
The Star headquarters.
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