Reflections on Management Paradigms
Reflections on Management Paradigms
Reflections on Management Paradigms
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<str<strong>on</strong>g>Reflecti<strong>on</strong>s</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Management</strong> <strong>Paradigms</strong><br />
(company name) activities outside his own sphere.”<br />
Appraisee's reflecti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> this report thirty years<br />
later:<br />
“I'm glad I found this evaluati<strong>on</strong> later or I might have<br />
d<strong>on</strong>e something stupid – even if he had some pretty<br />
good points. At the time, I probably wouldn't have<br />
accepted the criticism. My boss chalked up my<br />
“limitati<strong>on</strong>s” to “youthfulness and lack of maturity”<br />
but fortunately didn't block me for the divisi<strong>on</strong> job.<br />
Thank goodness (a mentor's name) supported me.”<br />
The defining quality<br />
former CEO of GE. Jack excelled largely by using his<br />
intuitive capacity, which is the defining quality of<br />
leadership.<br />
This thought is further amplified by what Andrew<br />
Weil said so beautifully: “The greatest advances in<br />
man's understanding of the universe are made by<br />
intuitive leaps at the fr<strong>on</strong>tiers of knowledge, not by<br />
intellectual walks al<strong>on</strong>g well-traveled paths.”<br />
“Looking back, there were enough reas<strong>on</strong>s for my<br />
boss and others to have reservati<strong>on</strong>s. Obviously, I<br />
wasn't a natural fit for the corporati<strong>on</strong>. I had little<br />
respect for protocol. I was an impatient manager,<br />
especially with people who didn't perform.”<br />
“I was blunt and candid and, some thought, rude. My<br />
language could be coarse and impolitic. I didn't like<br />
sitting and listening to canned presentati<strong>on</strong>s or<br />
reading reports, preferring <strong>on</strong>e-<strong>on</strong>-<strong>on</strong>e c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
where I expected managers to know their businesses<br />
and to have the answers.”<br />
“I loved “c<strong>on</strong>structive c<strong>on</strong>flict” and thought open<br />
and h<strong>on</strong>est debates about business issues brought<br />
out the best decisi<strong>on</strong>s. If an idea could not survive a<br />
no-holds-barred discussi<strong>on</strong>, the marketplace would<br />
kill it.”<br />
Most of you may have guessed the CEO's name and<br />
his company in this example. Yes, it's Jack Welch,<br />
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