Hierarchy is an organization with its face toward the CEO and its ass toward the customer.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the disconnect between corporate leadership and customer focus.
Jack Welchβs quote reflects a critical perspective on how organizations can often prioritize the interests and perspectives of their leadership, particularly the CEO, over those of their customers. This hierarchy can lead to decisions and operations that are out of touch with customer needs, suggesting a need for companies to realign their focus toward broader stakeholder engagement, especially toward their customers.
In practice
In a meeting about improving customer service, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of customer feedback.
You've got to eat while you dream. You've got to deliver on short-range commitments, while you develop a long-range strategy and vision and implement it. The success of doing both. Walking and chewing gum if you will. Getting it done in the short-range, and delivering a long-range plan, and executing on that.
I wanted to change the rules of engagement, asking for more- from fewer. I was insisting that we had to have only the best people...If you wanted excellence, at a minimum, the ambience had to reflect excellence.
A leader's role is not to control people or stay on top of things, but rather to guide, energize and excite.
Control your own destiny or someone else will.
The idea flow from the human spirit is absolutely unlimited. All you have to do is tap into that well. I don't like to use the word efficiency. It's creativity. It's a belief that every person counts.
An overburdened, overstretched executive is the best executive, because he or she doesn't have the time to meddle, to deal in trivia, to bother people.
Too many companies are running their business into the ground, I would argue, by being myopically short-term focused on the shareholder.
In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.
If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising then they wouldn't have to advertise them.
Know your numbers' is a fundamental precept of business.
The central task for a business is to make a profit. The challenge is to make a profit by doing things which are genuinely good for people and good for societies.
Time is the friend of the wonderful business. It's the enemy of the lousy business. If you're in a lousy business for a long time, you're going to get a lousy result, even if you buy it cheap. If you're in a wonderful business for a long time, even if you pay a little too much going in, you're going to get a wonderful result if you stay in a long time.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.