Back in the early 1980s, soon after Jack Welch was named chief executive officer of General Electric, he unleashed such a torrent of layoffs that the media dubbed him 'Neutron Jack'. The moniker was derived from the neutron bomb, which leaves buildings unscathed but kills the people inside them.



Today, however, Welch views people as flowers to be cultivated rather than as objects to be destroyed. "Managers must walk around with a can of fertiliser in one hand and a watering can in the other," he says.



Speaking to a standing-room only crowd at Wharton as part of the Zweig lecture series, Welch said that each employee is like a flower.



"As a manager, you've got to be nurturing flowers all the time," he said. If this is done right, companies will end up with magnificent gardens. But with a hint of the old neutron touch, Welch added, "If the flowers don't grow, you've got to cut them out."



Welch's philosophy has certainly paid off handsomely for GE. During his tenure Welch has generated more than $200 billion in new wealth for GE's shareholders. As Fortune once wrote, "Ten thousand dollars put into GE at the start of Welch's term in 1980 would be worth $367,479, two-and-a-half times the value of an identical investment in the S&P 500."



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http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jun/23/slide-show-1-how-to-be-a-leader-lessons-from-jack-welch.htm