agement. Jack Welch also made a point to turn workers into owners in the company, knowing they would direct more energy into their work.Leadership Secret 19- Listen to the People who actually do the WorkIn 1990, Jack Welch implemented the Work-Out program. He believed that the best way to improve a process is to ask the people closest to the work. A large cross-section of GE employees would gather together and break into small groups and discuss ideas. Each session lasted approximately 2-3 days. At the end of the session, top management officials were invited in to listen to the group’s proposals and provide, on the spot, either a yes or no answer to each idea. If they needed time to research an issue, they had to form a team to gather facts and return an answer within thirty days. In its history, most proposals received a “yes” answer on the spot. Although it is difficult to calculate an exact number, the Work- Out program has saved General Electric millions of dollars with its innovative solutions.Leadership Secret 20- Go Before Your Workers and Answer All their QuestionsNow, with so many people in the company asking questions and presenting problems, it was necessary that everyone received an answer. Leaving questions unanswered would only discourage employees to speak out, and good ideas would go unheard. Questions were broken down into two categories, Rattlers and Pythons. Rattlers were easy problems to solve. They could receive a yes or no answer on the spot. Pythons, on the other hand, were problems that were entangled between different business units and suppliers and required some effort to solve. Nonetheless, everyone received answers to their proposals, no matter how involved the project.Part IV- Next Generation Leadership: Initiatives for Driving- And Sustaining- Double-digit GrowthLeadership Secret 21- Stretch: Exceed Your Goals as Often as You CanThe concept of Stretch was developed to get t...
