Winning Welch way

We relish heroes! We always look upon them! We wanted to be them when we grow up! We emulate them! We copy the way they talk, the way they walk and sometimes we even laugh the way they laugh! Our heroes are the people whom we want to be!

Then we grow up! We get a job or become a leader. We feel wonderful! What a great time to get into action all that we wanted to be! Just like our heroes!

Jack Welch is my hero. Not because he is the sort of hero I wanted to be. It’s because he is the sort of hero I never wanted to be. He is the sort of guy who I not only wanted to be but also the sort I wish I never had to put up with.

Not anymore!

My heroes have always been the super hero types; The ones who charm their way out of adversity and command respect with ‘super human’ charisma; they spread the picture of perfection, sophistication and elegance personified. I wanted to be one of them. The ones who hold the finest of French wines, wearing a ubiquitous smile in their face and mesmerize the fellow fragile humans out of their comfort zones. The ones whom you can see in those luxury car ads. I always wanted to be one of them. The ones driving the deals and the board room, who are looked upon as a natural leader. The ones for whom nothing can go wrong and display a picture of perfection. Yeah. I always wanted to be one of them.

Not anymore!

What I found out eventually that, though I always strived to be one of them and act like one of them, it lit upon me that I never really liked to work under them. Don’t take me wrong. They are not any less inspirational. In fact they are more inspirational as leaders than any other kind are. They exist in media, books and the movies. But when it comes to reality, when it comes to the real people with ‘blood and skin’ they never really inspire or to put it in a correct perspective they never really exist.

The inspirational leaders are not those sophisticated utopian types but those who blatantly reflect humanity. The inspirational leaders are those who make mistakes like rest of us, who live and breathe and eat like rest of us and who make us believe that if they can then we surely can. The inspirational leaders are not those who gain our admiration for performing super normal tasks and producing super normal results. The inspirational leaders are those who like rest of us fight like hell to build a career or enterprise within the system and produce the belief in us to join their journey of fighting like hell to the way up. I found this whole damn thing a big irony. Here I am who always admired super heroes and always wanted to be one of them. But now I am in the field firing from all cylinders taking the cue from leaders whom I never wanted to be. It is then I realised an important lesson on the leadership. Being a leader is not being a super hero. In fact it’s not about you any more. It’s about the people around you. The people around you do not want leaders as some sort of angels whom can be met only in a church. The people around you want their leaders as a person who endure the same environment as theirs, understand them and inspires them to run a journey towards a bigger picture. They want more blood and flesh. They need people, not picture perfection.

I have met such people in real life. I have worked my best under them but never really had my view of a perfect leader towards them until later I realised what clicks for a leader. No one bestowed such change of mindset on me better than Jack Welch. Now I know that you are as damn sure as I am that I have never worked under him. I never have. But I have worked for other Jack Welches elsewhere. Again, not that I have worked for picture perfect leaders. But that their uniqueness comes from their imperfection, their humanity.

There is reason why Welch has made such considerable impact on me. Not because he has lead the world’s largest enterprise successfully for many years. But because of all the dozens of books I have read so far which has created an image of virtual down pouring of thoughts from heaven into me, Jack Welch’s book created an image of someone standing next to me, touching on my shoulders and showing the way as it is. Though sometimes it's hard to swallow. He never gives you step by step protocol to success, nor do it like me to win propaganda. He simply says – damn, there’s awful lot of things to do. Go grab it and do it the way you do it and be real.

His first book, ‘Straight from the gut’ felt like a 100 meters dash. Made me wonder if this guy ever had time to breath. Such an amount of exuberant action packed life. The striking aspect is that he had an opinion on virtually anything under the sky. Nobody in this world have any clue on what is going to happen to this world. Nobody has a clue. So everyone follows the lead of the person who has strong convictions, who knows exactly what to do. It never really matters if that conviction is right or not. All it matters if you have a strong conviction or not.

His second book, ‘Winning’ though a management guide book never gives a step by step formula for managerial success. But it gives amazing insight of looking at things the way it is. Something which gets you out of your comfort zones and urges you to put things under perspective. The template I wish I follow.

In midst of all this, it’s not like Welch is the perfect man to follow. He had survived two divorces in his life, few heart attacks; he has been described in the media as an arrogant corporate despot. He made his share of mistakes in his stint as the CEO of the GE. But despite of all this, the reason which makes him my hero and the prime message he wants to convey to all of us, which perhaps explains his few short comings and the enormous success in his life is, in a nutshell is this.

Be real!

Yes he is sort of guy who I never wanted to be. And yes, the true leader will never make you act like him. The true leader will make you act like you. And that is why he is my hero.