In the videos, both Jack Welch and Steve Jobs show that they value the human asset, the employee.  Jack Welch talks about how the human resources department is the single most important department in an organization and I would agree with him. HR is entrusted to not only hire people but the RIGHT people.  In the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, Jim describes the situation in a similar way.  He describes a company being a bus of people all on the same path. He continues to explain how having the right people on the bus is important.  He goes farther to say that not only do you have to have the right people but they also need to be in the right seats.  This is true for any organization.  You can have capable people in the organization but if they are not suited well for their role, the results will be less than ideal.  Unfortunately, many companies view HR in the same way that Welch describes as a person who hires and shuffles paperwork.  I have seen this many times! His analogy about the sports team was loose and did not add to his argument well but I understood what he was saying.

Steve Jobs describes how Apple is run with “Ideals and no hierarchy”.  There are no committees and no micromanaging.  What I liked the most about his attitude is that each person is assigned a task and is trusted to make the task be completed completely and on time.  He emphasizes trust and collaboration within the Apple organization.  The statement he made about all bringing ideas to the 3 hour weekly meeting was moving as he says that his views are not always accepted.  This is true of a good leader.  They all contribute ideas (like spit-balling) but work out the details for the betterment of the company.

Both of these examples show one common theme – Trust and empowerment of the team.  They both identify that a good leader allows their employees to have the power to make the day to day decisions while having the trust that their decisions will be in the best interest of the company.  They may make mistakes and can learn from them but at least they will be able to make the decision in the first place.