How Are You Developing Future Leaders?
"Your old road is rapidly aging," Bob Dylan proclaimed to the powers that be in 1964. "Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand." Recent experiences have left me thinking often of that now-iconic line over the past few days; in this post, I want to encourage you to
right think about whether you are either standing in the way or offering a hand to those coming after you.
In the last couple of weeks, I've listened to Bill Clinton give a commencement speech to my eldest child and his classmates; done a half-day session on leadership with ten GE company officers, followed by dinner with CEO Jeff Immelt; and led a meeting with the dozen or so physicians who constitute the senior executive corps of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. I can't stop thinking of Dylan's song and wondering how we're doing on developing the generation of leaders.
Hard as it might be for old folks in positions of power to see the world in a new light and embrace it, these senior people with whom I've been spending some time are trying their best to lend a hand to the next generation as they roll down a new road. Smart seniors who want to leave a positive legacy will pay attention to these and other examples, learn from them, and follow suit in a way that works in their world.
For decades GE has been, and remains, the most prolific net exporter of leadership talent in the corporate world, because it has a tradition — a strongly-held cultural belief — supported by the tangible commitment of time and money, for developing people. The Business Week article about GE's efforts a few months back got it wrong in describing the current state of GE's leadership development system as out of
right step with these digital times
阅读(330) | 评论(0) | 转发(0) |
