With a successful 20-year run as the Chief Executive Officer of a Fortune 500 company, Jack Welch has the credentials to back up the title of his recently published book, Winning.
Yesterday, Welch, the former CEO of General Electric- -- a company that he began working for as an engineer in 1960 -- spoke to students and faculty about the challenges of being a leader in today's business world.
The event received so much interest that it had to be simulcast in two other classrooms to accommodate the overflow.
"Winning companies are the only thing that runs a society like ours," Welch said.
However, he also assured students that winning wasn't always the most important leadership trait.
"Winning is not linear, and it is how well you get back on the horse that will determine how good you are," Welch said.
Welch also advised the future generation of leaders about the value of integrity and culture -- the atmosphere of a company -- in a business environment.
"Candor is the biggest problem in developing leaders," he said.
Welch has focused on the idea of candor throughout his career. He believes that "building good people" is the most important job of a CEO or business leader in today's world.
Welch pointed to three Dow 30 leaders who were executives during his reign at GE. He attributes their success to the environment and culture that he developed at GE.
Earning the name "Neutron Jack" early in his career for his tendency to quickly fire workers -- Welch fired more than 100,000 employees during his reign at GE.
However, he believes that his ability to constantly re-evaluate his employees is a method that should be more commonly used.
Welch commented that students are evaluated from their first day of school, but in the business world most do not receive criticism until they are fired.
Welch also gave advice to the students about making the jump from college to the business world.
He believes that the experience of dealing with classmates that students gain in school is the most important part of education.
"Dealing with each other is what you are going to be doing for the next 40 years of your life," Welch said.
Wharton Dean Patrick Harker said that bringing Jack Welch and other current leaders is an important part of current students' education.
"Learning doesn't just happen in the class room. It's a mix of what you learn in events like this and what you learn from each other," Harker said.
Wharton and Engineering senior Daniel Maloney said that Welch's definition of winning was a lot different than he expected.
"You don't have to be a CEO of a major corporation to be successful," he said. "That's not necessarily winning, but what does matter more is your own personal priorities"
This is Welch's second visit to Penn in four years, and he attended the event with his wife and coauthor of the book Suzy Welch.
