Jack Welch Keynote at SuccessConnect in New York
I attended the SuccessConnect keynote of Jack Welch and Lars Dalgaard in New York on June 7, 2007. You can find a short video here: Keynote Video. Carlos Watson did a great job moderating the Q&A session. [Update: You’ll find the long version of Jack’s keynote here.]The following comments from Jack and Lars were the most memorable for me:
- Jack: HR should be equal to Finance in corporate America. People first, then strategy.
- Lars: Megatrends (e.g., baby boomer’s leaving the work force) are forcing corporate America to elevate HR’s role in the organization.
- Jack: Managers should commit to telling employees where they stand — the good and the bad, the Stars and the low-performers. HR needs Sarbanes-Oxley like compliance. “Phony appraisals are a SIN!”
- Jack: 20/70/10 rule: Let 10% of the non-performers go, highly reward the top 20% and compensate the middle 70% well.
- Lars: Most important interview question — “What did your mom teach you?”
- Jack: Most important interview question — “Tell me about your previous job?” If the person has a victim mentality then let them go. If you find a star, then hire them on the spot. Don’t send them to HR and don’t let them leave the building. Give them love!
- Jack: Terminate people with dignity. Help them find another job. They will be a reference — good or bad — you want them to be a good reference. Spend a lot of time with them after they leave the company.
- Jack: The following are the top 3 character traits of a leader:
- Authenticity: Top character trait as a leader. Be real and true to yourself.
- Resilience: If a leader falls, how do they get back on the horse!
- Ability to look around corners: This is a leader’s secret sauce. Their ability to see around corners to spot hidden trends and changes in the direction of a business.
- Jack: The compensation system should align with what you want to achieve as a leader.
- Jack: Performance gets you in the game, aligning with company values gets you promoted. For example: If a manager delivers the numbers, but doesn’t life the company values — BAD, get them out. Long term they will destroy the company. Top performers are people who align with company values and deliver the numbers.
Jack’s final comment was the most important. Candor with your employees and management is the most important thing in business.What do you think of Jack’s approach and management style?
SuccessConnect 2007 in New York
This week I’ll be in New York to attend the 2007 SuccessFactors User Conference. Jack Welch will be the keynote and you can view the web cast on Thursday, June 8.
Switch to WordPress
Today I decided to switch from Apple’s iWeb to WordPress for my business blogging. I will migrate the old blog entries over time. Here is the link to my old blog: http://web.mac.com/cbekker/iWeb/CarelsBlog/Blog/Blog.html
Shai Agassi – Post-SAP
Shai Agassi recently left SAP AG to pursue other interests including alternative energy. Here is the press release. He is still a technology consultant to SAP with an office in Palo Alto.His post-SAP blog is called the Long Tailpipe. You can also find a great podcast here that he recently delivered at Stanford.What is your view of Shai leaving SAP?
SAPPHIRE 2007 in Atlanta
SAP is definitely faced with some interesting challenges at the moment. The Oracle lawsuit and now with Shai Agassi leaving. I live in Atlanta and look forward to attending SAPPHIRE. I’m sure it’s going to be an interesting event. It is now a joint event with ASUG and it is from April 22-25, 2007 at the Georgia World Congress Center.Let me know if you are going. I look forward to seeing you there.
South African businesspeople in the US
As a South African businessman living in the US, I’m always interested to find and research other successful South African businesspeople in America. This is the start of a series that will continue until I run out of people to profile.South Africa is known for a number of famous people. Nelson Mandela, Ernie Els, Gary Player, Charlize Theron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mark Shuttleworth (Ubuntu fame) and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk. I know of a number of others, however you’ll have to wait to hear about them. My focus will be on businesspeople and not celebrities or politicians.Next time I’ll start by profiling Elon Musk of SpaceX.Send me an email if you want me to profile a specific businessperson.
SAP HR2007 in Vegas – Update
I had a very productive time in Vegas attending the SAP HR, FI and GRC conference from March 11-13. I met a number of business associates and former colleagues. This is a great conference to learn more about the SAP product set, as well as to network with business partners and customers. The Venetian Hotel is a stunning venue and a very impressive hotel. It’s also a very big venue — I got a lot of exercise walking back and forth between the exhibit hall and the coffee shops.My good friend, Ken Kiefer, at Wispubs shared the following information about the conference:
- About 4800 people attended the conference, and 1700 HR attendees,
- with 96 unique vendors,
- 301 total presentations and
- attendees from 53 countries including: Denmark, China, Israel, South Africa and Mexico.
This is a great example of a very focused and well-executed conference. If you attended, please let me have your comments.Interesting story: March 13 @ 2:30am the Stardust Hotel was imploded and they did it in Vegas style. See it all on youtube:
Launching the Beyond438 Web site today!
I am proud and excited to announce my new Web site today. The name of my consulting company is Beyond438 and you can read all about this interesting name on the Web site.Please review the Web site and send me a private email or leave a comment on this blog.
SAP HR2007: March 12-14, 2007
SAPInsider will be hosting this year’s SAP HR conference in Las Vegas from March 12-14. This year it will be combined with the SAP Financials 2007 and SAP Governance, Risk, Compliance 2007 conferences.I will be attending to represent one of my clients and hope to see you there. Let me know and we can catch up over a coffee.Update: Next year’s conference, SAP HR2008, will be held in Orlando from March 10-12, 2008.
No E-mail Fridays
A local, Alpharetta, Georgia based company started a national movement to ban e-mail use on Fridays. Greg Dockter of PBD Worldwide Fulfillment Services started the movement and gives the following seven easy steps to get the initiative rolling:1. Gain support from top level of management. Lead by example.2. Offer open communication outlets for discussing the implementation of “No E-mail Day” implementation.3. Communicate the benefits company-wide.4. Offer alternatives to e-mail (face-to-face, phone, handwritten note, document storage on a shared server, company intranet, etc.)5. Track e-mail volume to watch the volume decrease; if it doesn’t, you may need another talk with your team.6. Employees are allowed to send out only external emails. All internal communication is to be done in person or via phone or fax. [Carel’s comment: I would actually recommend that external communications should also be done in person or over the phone on Fridays.]7. Solicit feedback from employees on a regular basis.
The four key benefits are:1. Employees stop to think about communication practices, which may lead to better e-mail management on the other days of the week. To encourage this, offer e-mail etiquette training classes.2. Employees interact more frequently.3. Employees experience less miscommunication — and snubbed feelings — which often occurs when e-mailing.4. More productivity. Calling a person takes less time than creating an e-mail.The information above is an extract from an article posted on the Vistage website. Vistage (formerly TEC) is the world’s largest CEO Membership Organization.Here are some more links to the story in the media:
Do you have no e-mail Fridays in your company?
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