Four Types of Managers
Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 2001, described four categories of managers in General Electric’s year 2000 annual report.
Type 1: shares our values; makes the numbers—sky’s the limit!
Type 2: shares the values; misses the numbers—typically, another chance, or two.
Type 3: doesn’t share the values; doesn’t make the numbers—gone.
Type 4 is the toughest call of all: the manager who doesn’t share the values, but delivers the numbers. This type is the toughest to part with because organizations always want to deliver and to let someone go who gets the job done is yet another unnatural act. But we have to remove these Type 4s because they have the power, by themselves, to destroy the open, informal, trust-based culture we need to win today and tomorrow.
We made our leap forward when we began removing our Type 4 managers and making it clear to the entire company why they were asked to leave—not for the usual “personal reasons” or “to pursue other opportunities,” but for not sharing our values. Until an organization develops the courage to do this, people will never have full confidence that these soft values are truly real.
Live by Corporate Values
Organizations face the challenge of developing and sustaining a culture that is both values-centered and performance-driven. They begin by developing mission and value statements that, in due course, become little more than wall decorations because the organization’s leaders and managers fail to uphold these values.
Nothing hurts morale more than when leaders tolerate employees who deliver results, but exhibit behaviors that are incongruent to values of the company. For instance, an organization that thrives on teamwork will suffer, over the long term, if a manager habitually claims all credit for his team’s accomplishments.
Idea for Impact: Core Values Matter!
As a manager, drive accountability. Hold employees responsible for their behaviors. Reward employees for proper behaviors and publicly discourage behaviors that do not uphold values. Do not make exceptions—exceptions signify your own indifference to the upholding of values.
As an employee, understand that an essential requirement for your success in your organization is your fit. Your behaviors must be congruent with the character and needs of your organization. Even if you are talented, you will not fare well if your behaviors are inconsistent with the values of your organization. Reflect on your behavior. On a regular basis, collect feedback from your managers, peers and employees. Seek change.
Keep the company values front and center in people’s mind.
It’s a treasure for people interested in management.
I loved this article! It gave a lot of real insight to how leadership (according to Jack) should be done. I agree with him fully. I think more managers should do this and like Jack said they will see results! Great article!
But the fact is that, nobody shows the courage to remove the type 4.
When so many organizations are concerned with the bottom-line, this is in fact a difficult principle to push through in an organization. Unfortunately, those companies are not looking at the long-term results. In fact, I have worked for an organization where the values upheld did not concern them as much as profits. So how does one overcome the resistance in these situations. The message and direction must come from the top down; and if that doesn’t take place, it will not happen.
Most managers that I have encountered in Indian MNCs are Type IV even including at GE India Tech Center. These folks recruited their cronies from previous organizations, ensured that they were promoted; even on Six Sigma front I have personally sat next to a GM for his MBB certification; someone who had no clue on “alpha”.