It's the sustained ability to change that really counts. Jeffrey R. Immelt More Quotes by Jeffrey R. Immelt More Quotes From Jeffrey R. Immelt I love working with customers. Sales has really influenced everything I do. It has instilled in me the important traits of operating with a sense of urgency and listening to people. Jeffrey R. Immelt important listening people Good leaders are very curious, and they spend a lot of time trying to learn things. Jeffrey R. Immelt curious leader trying I'm out talking about this company (General Electric) seven days a week, 24 hours a day, with nothing to hide. We're a 130-year-old company that has a great record of high-quality leadership and a culture of integrity. Jeffrey R. Immelt talking integrity years If the only common thread you have as an industrial company is the fact that you think you're well managed, you can still be a pretty good company, but you're not going to be a dominant company, a competitive company over time. Jeffrey R. Immelt common-threads facts thinking People ought to invest in us because they like our company and the way they run it. We still do quarterly earnings guidance, but we tell people openly that they ought to look at the company for the long term and that's how they ought to invest. Jeffrey R. Immelt running long people Really, the one thing that actually works - you know, state-run communism may not be your cup of tea, but [China's] government works. Jeffrey R. Immelt government tea running I've been seeing the change. It's been steady. It's been more controlled than people think. And my own belief is that China knows it also needs to be part of the world, and that it needs to be able to have trade with Europe and the United States in order to house and feed a billion people. That's really kind of single-mindedly what they see their role as being. Jeffrey R. Immelt business change believe Enron and 9/11 marked the end of an era of individual freedom and the beginning of personal responsibility. Jeffrey R. Immelt eras individual responsibility I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and my parents are really right wingers. My dad watches, like, five or six hours of Fox News every day and stuff like that. Jeffrey R. Immelt cincinnati-ohio dad parent I'd be lying if I didn't say there were days when I went back and said, 'I wish I'd done this. I should have done that. I handled this the wrong way.' But it's always in the motivation of getting better. I've never once looked in the mirror and said, 'Oh boy, can't do this one.' Jeffrey R. Immelt mirror boy better way Is France a completely open market to G.E.? No, of course not. I think we're more discerning about China because it's China, and they're big, and they're more concerning. But the best global companies are ones that are nuanced. Jeffrey R. Immelt more big best think The one thing that people don't get about GE is that, to the people who work here, it's not a company. It's not just a job. You feel like you're part of a 120-year-old ever-growing, ever-improving family. Jeffrey R. Immelt you family work people You can stay too long in a job, that's for sure. But by the same token, in the 12 years I have been CEO of GE, there have been four CEOs of Toshiba. So there's too short a time to do it, and there's too long a time to do it. Jeffrey R. Immelt job you time long Many bought into the idea that America could go from a technology-based, export-oriented powerhouse to a services-led, consumption-based economy - and somehow still expect to prosper. That idea was flat wrong. Our economy tilted instead toward the quicker profits of financial services. Jeffrey R. Immelt expect wrong go america I think that if you run a big company, you've got to, four or five times a year, just say, 'Hey team, look, here's where we're going.' If you do it 10 times, nobody wants to work for you. If you do it zero times, you have anarchy. Jeffrey R. Immelt look you team work I'm a complete globalist. I think like a global CEO. But I'm an American. I run an American company. But in order for GE to be successful in the coming years, I've gotta sell my products in every corner of the world. Jeffrey R. Immelt run think company world I think we should have basically the same tax policy that Germany, Japan, the U.K., everybody else has, which is a tax rate in the mid-20s and no loopholes. Zero. The U.S. has the most antiquated tax system. And that means some people are going to pay more taxes, and some people are going to pay less. Jeffrey R. Immelt some-people some think people I think this notion that it's the population of the U.S. against the big companies is just wrong. Jeffrey R. Immelt wrong big just think I do business in 170 countries; none of them is perfect. There is not even one country that I think of, and I am like, 'God, that did everything that I wanted it to do.' Jeffrey R. Immelt i-am think business god When I was a young guy, when I first started with G.E., Jack Welch sent us all to Japan because in those days Japan was gonna crush us. And we learned a lot about Japan when we were there. But over the subsequent 30 years, the Japanese companies all fell behind. And the reason why they fell behind is because they didn't globalize. Jeffrey R. Immelt why behind reason young
