man or woman working in a corporation must understand that the corporation will and must change and that such changes can only occur if its employees change. The path to change is through education. Thus, according to de Geus, top managers should devote a lot of time to training their subordinates. He encourages executives to spend a quarter of their time on development and placement. Сам Jack Welch заявляет, что этим вопросам он уделяет половину своего рабочего времени.

The corporate man will only survive if he continuously learns and develops. Welch argues that the acquisition of new experience and the right to make mistakes are very important for personal development. According to him, “a top manager of GE should not work for 15-20 years, but no more than ten, otherwise the person loses touch with reality. During my time as president of the company, five or even six heads of administration have changed in some places. You come to the meeting, and there is already a new leader. In the first few years, the leader tries to accomplish something quickly, goes with quick steps. I think we need to learn to live with our mistakes and work on them. Бизнес - это многосторонний процесс, где не все идеально отлажено». The desire for development is everything. The imperfection of some actions means that next time you will do it better.

Gain Experience

It used to be that the power of leadership was in the ability to direct and move the organization, in the ability to oil the wheels of corporate culture. This applied to power, politics, as well as everything else. Organizations are now beginning to understand that the potential that lies in the pursuit of learning, growth and change is also important, while the work takes place in another dimension.

According to Randall P. White, co-author of Breaking the Glass Ceiling and The Future of Leader-ship, in order to increase their competitiveness, organizations began to consciously, through various job assignments, form two categories managers. One category consists of high potential managers; they are given the best opportunities for development and are likely to become future leaders of the organization. The other group is a kind of reserve fund of managerial talent, which is engaged in current work, and no one purposefully promotes them. But as organizations began breaking down boundaries between departments, it became necessary to give creative, initiative-driven assignments to these "technical managers" to keep them in good working shape. Using a job strategy to develop both business and personality in parallel will have positive benefits for any organization.

The idea of ​​learning from previous experience is not in the least innovative. In earlier years, organizations had already begun to look to the diverse experiences they had accumulated for the development of future leaders. Следствием этого стала вновь открытая истина: опыт - это бесценный, самый лучший учитель для руководителей.

We need to distinguish what kind of experience people want to learn from. Understanding what a manager wants to achieve allows you to sort out from the mass of experience exactly those components that will be useful in his training.

In his research, White pointed out that tasks such as fixing a failed business, starting a new business, developing a special project, or marketing on a large scale most often served managers as stimuli for learning, growth, and change.

Executives say they have gained valuable experience dealing with others, both respected and hated, mostly former bosses. This experience was both instructive and unpleasant. Но при ближайшем рассмотрении видно, что самый лучший источник опыта - это все-таки собственная деятельность и выполнение заданий, которые предлагает организация.

It was found that each type of task includes its own problems and difficulties. Setting up a faltering business and starting a new business creates very different management problems. Therefore, different tasks teach different lessons. For example, to create a new business, you need to be able to take responsibility, limit your claims, defend independence, understand what other people live. Special projects and tasks teach how to feel confident in uncertain situations, how to work with managers, understand the motives of their behavior. These lessons also develop the important skill of negotiation.

If the potential for the development of production begins to grow (for example, new, previously unknown methods of work appear), then the degree of risk for the business also increases (the risk of lost time, money, productivity). Because most companies are risk averse, or at best risk cautious, they usually assign a potentially developmental assignment to a candidate who has done the job before. For example, if there are serious problems at one of the company's factories, the person who has established a similar business before will be sent there. Такая практика часто приводит к появлению организаций, где существуют «специалисты узкого профиля» - подобный специалист знает, как справляться с кризисной ситуацией, но совсем не владеет теми навыками, которые требуются для управления уже налаженным бизнесом.

When problems of this kind disappear in an organization, then a narrow specialist becomes unnecessary. This is a loss not only for the organization, but also for the individual himself.

Here are a few important caveats to using development work assignments:

• People who are selected for a development assignment must be told why they are receiving the assignment. Moreover, they should be given all kinds of support.

• No need to focus on weaknesses or try to create a leader out of everyone.

• Most organizations do not have a large enough number of assignments to cover all the managers they will need in the future. But there are other opportunities to develop people, and not just send them to start a business in Warsaw, Poland, or close a factory in Tanzania. It is possible to raise cadres on the spot, for this it is enough to give them additional, clearly defined responsibility for some business.

• Any task for everyone is an opportunity for development. Но самый важный шаг - это обеспечить полное вовлечение в процесс решения задачи того человека, которому она была дана.

Summary: Corporate person

Skilled work requires new skills. Actually any job requires updating skills all the time. Here's what GHN's Stella Sinden says: “To be a top-notch director, you have to be very good at managing people. If you look at a board meeting of any company, you will see that the room is filled with individuals who seem to be assertive and successful. They reached the heights in the organization, bypassing all competitors. Now they are on the board, and they have to take on completely different roles. They have to adapt to new conditions. They have to be responsible for something, accept the opinions of others, understand the other side.

• Learn from your experience. Jack Welch уверяет, что он приобрел огромный опыт, работая на начальном этапе компании GE. He developed many new useful skills.

• Give employees time to make mistakes, to learn from them, and to improve. Our business culture, on the one hand, is aimed at quick results, and on the other hand, it is waiting for endless success. When the boss fails, he is fired. But what if he was given the opportunity to understand his mistakes and get the job done? It would give him confidence for a long time. And he could focus on long-term improvement rather than momentary survival.

• Education и развитие кадров - это новый вид контракта. A new psychological contract is generated by the desire for improvement, development and growth. Companies need to develop the abilities of their employees so that the best people tend to come to them.

Chapter 10 Manage the Shop

«GE - это просто семейный гастроном со средним доходом в 60 млрд долларов в день».
Headline in Industry Week.

The biggest shop in the world

Люди не могут понять, как Jack Welch снова и снова добивается успеха. Many try to analyze and consider from all angles his leadership style at GE. Adrian Slivotsky пишет: «У Джека Уэлча есть много качеств, которые сделали его знаменитым, значительным, устрашающим, респектабельным и вызывающим восхищение. He is steadily moving towards his goal. It creates a simple and clear attitude to communication in the organization. He is a high-level virtuoso merchant."

According to Forbes magazine, the secret of Welch's success lies "not in a series of brilliant intuitions, not in bold risk, but in a fanatical attention to detail." In one book it is noted that "Welch inspires sympathy and respect from the managers of GE and arouses their enthusiasm." This thought can be continued with a quote from the speech of one of the leaders of GE: “He is incredibly smart and resourceful. He can think strategically, but he also communicates easily with staff, partners, politicians. He gives managers the kind of advice that only a smart and well-informed person who sees the situation from the outside can give.

Руководитель нового типа Jack Welch стоит на земле, а не витает в облаках. He runs GE like no one else could. Welch treats GE like a business as usual. «Да, конечно, мы продаем товаров на миллионы долларов, мы доминируем на рынке, у нас всемирный успех, но бизнес - это не ракетостроение», - говорит Уэлч. He continues: “What is important in medicine or technology is just as important in a grocery store.” If the consumer is dissatisfied, if the goods are stale, if the shelves are in disorder or the seller is inattentive to the buyer, then all these things are of the same order. You must run any business like a small grocery store.

Manage money supply

Спросите любого владельца небольшого дела, что является для него самой большой проблемой, и он непременно ответит - наличные деньги. However, if you go to a larger company, cash is unlikely to be mentioned there. Managers of large