{"id":1064,"date":"2026-01-03T14:16:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T14:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/?p=1064"},"modified":"2026-01-03T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T14:30:00","slug":"leadership-impact-is-measured-in-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/03\/leadership-impact-is-measured-in-absence\/","title":{"rendered":"Leadership impact is measured in absence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Building strength that outlives us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of us think we will be measured by the results that we produce when we are at the helm. if results are good, we are good leaders, but if results are not delivered, we are not good.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I recently read an interesting article and&nbsp;one line in that article really made me think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>\u201cWelch built a company that performed exceptionally well while he was in the room. He did not build a company that knew how to perform without him.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>You can read this article on this link:-&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong> (article is by Malcolm Gladwell)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2022\/11\/07\/was-jack-welch-the-greatest-ceo-of-his-day-or-the-worst\">https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2022\/11\/07\/was-jack-welch-the-greatest-ceo-of-his-day-or-the-worst<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Malcolm Gladwell&nbsp;is one of the most amazing minds and writers, and his book David and Goliath is one of my favorite reads.&nbsp;&nbsp;Malcom is someone who can provide interesting contrarian viewpoints.&nbsp;This article on Jack Welch was really interesting take on what we consider as success in leadership. Jack Welch, for those who don&#8217;t know, is considered one of the greatest business leaders in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Here is a summary:-&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:start;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:start;}.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);}.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap > div:not(.added-for-specificity){grid-column:initial;}.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:repeat(3, minmax(0, 1fr));}.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap > div:not(.added-for-specificity){grid-column:initial;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:repeat(3, minmax(0, 1fr));}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap > div:not(.added-for-specificity){grid-column:initial;}.kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}<\/style><div class=\"kb-row-layout-wrap kb-row-layout-id1064_8fd678-ca alignnone wp-block-kadence-rowlayout\"><div class=\"kt-row-column-wrap kt-has-3-columns kt-row-layout-equal kt-tab-layout-inherit kt-mobile-layout-row kt-row-valign-top\">\n<style>.kadence-column1064_946f62-35 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1064_946f62-35 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1064_946f62-35 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1064_946f62-35 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1064_946f62-35 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1064_946f62-35 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1064_946f62-35{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1064_946f62-35 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column1064_946f62-35 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1064_946f62-35\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-theme-palette-7-background-color has-background has-small-font-size\">Welch Era &#8211; Exceptional Performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Most successful leaders of corporate America. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He led for 2 decades and transformed GE from&nbsp;&nbsp;Grew from&nbsp;$14 billion to over $400 billion. Briefly making GE most valuable company in the world<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delivered a historic 80 consecutive quarters of earnings growth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary><strong>During his time at GE, the success showed a a perfect example of leadership excellence.<\/strong><\/summary>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1064_bac2b0-95\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-theme-palette-7-background-color has-background has-small-font-size\">After Welch. Performance Suffered<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>By 2024, GE ceased to exist &amp; the company was broken into three independent entities&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>GE\u2019s stock lost nearly 90 percent of its value from its 2000 peak to its 2020 low. y<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2018, GE was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary><strong>After Welch stepped down, his successor struggled to keep the company on growth track.&nbsp;<br>Experts commented that his successors inherited a company that looked strong but was structurally fragile.<\/strong><\/summary>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1064_50f27b-2a\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-theme-palette-7-background-color has-background has-small-font-size\">The Core Criticism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Welch optimized for <strong>present performance<\/strong>, not <strong>future resilience<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He engineered numbers more than the business. eg.&nbsp; GE Capital was used to smooth earnings when industrial units underperformed. The results were legal, but artificial.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary><strong>The illusion of stability collapsed once his personal oversight was gone.<\/strong><\/summary>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What This Means for Us &#8211; learnings for us to think over<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My article is not about Jack Welch or GE. They are too big and too distant. This is more about middle managers who run countries, functions, and businesses today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can implement the following learning to deliver a performance that will last beyond us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Deliver Today While Deliberately Building Tomorrow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Focus on building the future. However, at the same time,&nbsp;there is no excuse for weak current performance in the name of the future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spend time on thinking about strategy, planning.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Execute current business with discipline<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Build pilots, processes, and platforms for what comes next<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Build Systems &amp; processes that can survive beyond people &amp; their biases to build institutional knowledge.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary><strong>Institutionalise knowledge through systems, documentation, and repeatable processes and focus on the future while delivering the present <\/strong><\/summary>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Succession Is About Future Needs, Not Past Success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the common mistakes that organisations do is replacing a successful leader with someone similar in skills, attitude those of like predecessor.This often fails as&nbsp;organizations evolve. The skills required at different stages also change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rebuilding phases need hands-on operators<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scaling phases need delegators and system builders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary><strong><em>Succession planning must be about what the business needs next, not what worked last.<\/em><\/strong><br><\/summary>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Anchor Culture to Principles, Not Personalities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When culture or success depends on a single leader\u2019s presence, it is fragile. we need to focus on building&nbsp;value and enforcing them through Governance &amp; Incentives. If culture or performance needs you in the room, it is not culture\/or performance system. It is control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-theme-palette-7-background-color has-background has-small-font-size\"><strong>Building Strength That Outlives<\/strong> Us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Leadership is not proven by how well things work when you are present. It is proven by how well they work when you are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s ask ourselves honestly &#8211;&nbsp;  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are we building or running something that can grow without us?<br>Or are we simply managing numbers to protect our reputation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The first is leadership.<br><em>The second is just expensive management.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building strength that outlives us Most of us think we will be measured by the results that we produce when we are at the helm. if results are good, we are good leaders, but if results are not delivered, we are not good.&nbsp; I recently read an interesting article and&nbsp;one line in that article really&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[51,47,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-decisions-thinking","category-business-leadership","category-my-readings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1064"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1070,"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064\/revisions\/1070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viveknotes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}