08 Mar 2008 12:28:06 | Alan Boyer
A few months ago I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes
with Jack Welch, past CEO of GE. A fantastic opportunity.
Some of the things he said about who they hire and what they are
looking for in managers sort of hit home with what I am telling
clients, and what I am telling my teen leadership group (our
Rising Stars program).
The Best Managers Aren't Perfect But They Keep Getting Back on
the Horse
Jack Welch--"We look for people that are not perfect. People
that have made mistakes, but know how to quickly get back up on
the horse when they've been thrown off, and those that turn the
loss around into a win. It isn't about never making mistakes,
it's about getting back up and moving forward toward the
results. If someone has never experienced falling off and shown
their ability to get back up they might not be the managers we
want."
"Leadership is about results, not experience, not education, or
any of the other things that everyone claims is leadership. It's
about
o Being able to consistantly deliver results, o Being able to
recover from falling off that horse, o And geting right back on
until you ultimately deliver results."
That's so in line with what I keep telling my clients and my
youth leadership groups I work with. The path to your
destination is almost never a straight line. There will be zig
zags, side trips, and steps backward.
Too many people slip off the trail, and just walk away telling
themselves they just failed. The winners are the ones that learn
from what took them off the trail, figure out how to get back on
the trail, and keep steadily plodding toward the goal even with
the setbacks.
Failure Is a Choice--Choose to Win
You only fail one time--when you say you have....and QUIT.
When that happens there is only one guaranteed outcome--Failure.
That makes failure a choice. Those that choose to not get back
on choose to be victims.
Those that win choose to get back on the horse, get back on the
trail and plod along toward the goal.
About Author :
Alan Boyer, CEO of The Leader’s Perspective, LLC is considered
one of the world’s leading breakthrough specialists. 
