Winning - Jack Welch [31]
Finally, after all the talking is done, don’t check just the references the candidate gives you. Call around—but you know that. When you do, don’t allow the conversation to be perfunctory. Stop yourself from doing something natural—just hearing the good news you want to hear. Force yourself to challenge anything that sounds like lawyer-speak. Use your chits. Promise you won’t repeat what you hear. Doing that, you’ll get what I did more times than I can count: “You’ve got to be kidding! We were happy to get rid of that guy!”
2. I just need to hire someone for technical expertise. Why do I need to bother with the four Es? Obviously, hiring a person who is both a technical star and demonstrates the four Es would be very nice! But if you’re really just desperate for a person with a certain specialty—say, a computer programmer or a research scientist—then I’d be satisfied with energy and passion, along with a bucketful of raw intelligence, great prior experience, and, of course, integrity. You need that with any person you hire.
3. What if someone is missing one or two of the Es? Can training fill in the gaps? Any candidate you hire in a managerial role must have the first two Es, positive energy and the ability to energize. Those are personality traits, and I don’t think they can be trained into someone. And frankly, I would encourage you not to hire any team member—manager or not—without a good dose of positive energy. People without it just enervate an organization.
Edge and execution, on the other hand, can be developed with experience and management training. Time after time, I’ve seen people learn how to make tough calls and deliver results.
The GE audit staff offers numerous examples. Every year, it brings on board about 120 people, primarily from GE’s financial management training program, but about a quarter from other functions, such as engineering and manufacturing. The typical new hire in auditing has about three years of experience with the company.
Their first year, these “new kids” travel to GE businesses around the world as members of three- to six-person audit teams. After twelve weeks of grueling analysis, they return to the headquarters of the business they’ve just audited to present their findings to the CFO and CEO. Often, they’ve got plenty to tell, some of it not so pretty.
Early on, these young auditors are tentative, holding their comments while the more senior members of the team run the show. But over time, usually three to five years, I’ve seen these auditors develop an edge that is razor sharp. It comes from observing their more experienced teammates, lots of coaching, and plenty of practice. They also develop an incredible knack for execution. After all, they are responsible for making sure their recommendations have been implemented. If they haven’t, all hell breaks loose—and that’s a good teacher.
The proof that edge and execution can be learned is clear: several CEOs of GE’s biggest businesses and a vice-chairman are veterans of the audit staff development process.
4. Can a person get ahead in business without the four Es or passion? Absolutely yes.
A person can reach great heights just by being very smart. Or just by the sheer ability to get things done. We can all think of examples of these individuals. Many are the inventors and entrepreneurs of the world, and usually they run their own shows.
But within an organization, I just haven’t seen too many who have sustained success, especially as leaders, without the four Es and passion.
5. I’ve always tried to hire people who can hit the ground running. What do you think about that as a decisive factor?
When hiring, you have to make a trade-off. Do you hire someone to get a job done fast, or do you hire him based on his potential for growth? My advice is: try to pick the second option.*
I didn’t always feel that way.
The first time I hired managers was when I was