Tools of a Gardener
by Miki SaxonAs you probably guessed, Jack Welch has been on my mind, mainly because I was stuck having lunch with a retired executive who went on and on about what a great role model Welch is.
When I disagreed, with specific examples, he informed me that he expected my reaction because I was a woman.
Huh?
Wow. I’m really glad this guy is retired, because he sure doesn’t relate to today’s workers no matter their age.
Jack Welch said a lot of stupid things (IMO), but one of the worst was his attitude towards work/life balance.
“There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.”
Another was his evangelizing Six Sigma as the solution to everything.
But nothing replaces high EQ, empathic, humane (not just human) bosses.
Not processes, not technology, not AI, and definitely not robots.
No matter what big and little tech want, believe or tell us, people are analog and always will be. For that matter, the real world is analog and always will be.
So, for the foreseeable future, the management and leadership skills needed to grow strong, creative, highly productive workers will be found in those who understand the limits of digital and can move freely and successfully in an analog world filled with analog people.
They are the true gardeners.
Image credit: Jane Nearing