My first day back in School - OB

Not bad, I am back and still in one piece. I am impressed with myself for having done well, after so many years of professional life. The key will be to sustain it over the whole year. But I know, I am here for the learning and Learning I will.

We discussed the Jack Welsh case study in the Organizational Behavior (OB) class. A very interesing question popped up, would Jack Welsh have been as successful in Europe as he was in the US.? The answers were predictable, it talked about the Workers Council and Union issues in Europe, making it difficult for Jack Welsh to work miracles in Europe. I think the question should be different, Would Jack Welsh be successful in Europe as he was in the US? and my answer is 'YES'. If Jack Welsh is a good leader, he will know what works andwhat does not and that is the hallmark of a good leader. A quotation from today when he was asked what he would differently, his answer was that he did not move fast enough initially. One way of interpreting this would be to think of him taking time to explore what he could get away with and when he realised that, he could get real fast.

Where am I taking this response? If Jack Welsh were to manage a company in Europe, he would have modified his approach enough to see what fits Europe and then he would go the whole way as it takes for him to transform the company to be a world beater. It will not be the same as what GE is today, but it would still be a world beater. An example inpoint is Carlos Ghosn when he went to work in Japan on Nissan. What he eventuallydid in terms of breaking up the Supplier cartel, aggressively advocating Layoffs, etc are not practiced in a close fisted Japanese business culture. But he became a legand, a comic super hero and post Ghosn, even the flagship Japanese company, SONY had a non Japanese boss. People respect what is achieved and if Jack Welsh were to achieve in Europe, I am sure that he would have been given the mandate to go the distance (or maybe a little less than in the US). Imagine what that would have done to the face of European Business.

Closer to the turf - What Thatcher did in UK was unthinkable before or for that matter what Sarkovsky (when he gets time off from his girl friend) is trying to achieve in France. These require leaders who can cause paradigm shifts. People may not accept the neutron Jack but then he may not be a neutron Jack in Europe, he may be someone else who still created a World Beater Business.

The difference is that leaders are leaders regardless of the culture they are in. The true leaders can make the rules work for them.