Winning is what matters

Jack Welch, business guru and former CEO of GE, spoke at PMA this past weekend. While I didn't take notes during his speech, a couple of his remarks had some staying power. One of his maxims was that an economic downturn is a good time to " buy or bury" your competition, or raid a rival for a top talent. The team with the best players wins, Welch reminds us.

Another "straight from the gut" exclamation was that the greatest good a company can do is to make money. Making money allows the corporations to hire employees, reinvest profits and create economic activity. Without profits, a company will wither and die, and therefore will not be around to begin sustainability initiatives and propose well meaning and environmentally sensitive projects.

This is the extremely shorthand version, of course, but Welch has a point. And I found a Web site with a few more Jack Welch quotes that communicate the essence of his hard driving and brutally frank message. Here are a few more to chew on:

An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.

Control your own destiny or someone else will.

Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.

Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act.

Strong managers who make tough decisions to cut jobs provide the only true job security in today's world. Weak managers are the problem. Weak managers destroy jobs.

If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete.