Following Through

A CEO can make such overrides from time to time, but Tichy warns that they have a limit: "If he or she keeps making calls against the majority, even though you're the CEO of the company you begin to undermine the people, alignment, and support."

When is the right time to pull rank? That depends. According to Tichy, Immelt is known to solicit input from those around him before making a decision. But he's also earned a reputation for trusting his instincts, as best articulated by the catchphrase used to describe him in Leadership: "Boom, then I make the decision."

The final step of Immelt's judgment was execution. "Jeff understands that his job in the judgment process is not only to make the call, but to make certain in the execution phase that the [appropriate] adjustments are made, the learning happens, and that there's a payoff," says Tichy.

Since GE is a company of many unique businesses, most adjustments rely on cooperation among the heads of each business unit. This was one of the toughest parts of the execution process, according to GE spokesperson Peter O'Toole: "Ecomagination had to enable our business leaders to work better with their customers," O'Toole says. "It couldn't be an 'unfunded mandate' from corporate. So there had to be give-and-take with our top leaders to ensure we were helping our customers."

WORD LIST

§	word or phrase	Russian equivalent
	ream	обычно reams; большое количество, куча
	leeway	свобода действий
	evince	выказывать, проявлять; демонстрировать
	bank on	полагаться на (кого-л. / что-л.)
	tap	выбирать, избирать, назначать
	ease out	Убрать к-л с поста (тихо, без скандала)
	contender	соперник; претендент, кандидат
	prototype	изготовлять опытный образец или прототип
	metrics	исходные параметры, система показателей
	on the back burner	на заднем плане; во вторую очередь put the initiative on the back burner – отложить
	abdication	отказ (от права, ответственности, территории)
	pull rank	использовать служебное положение в личных целях

Discuss your word list, definitions and examples with your team members.

I. Answer the following questions:

1. How do you understand the term "ecomagination"?
2. How did Immelt build his base of support?
3. What are the three phases of the judgment process?
4. What is understood under “preparation” phase?
5. How did Immelt gain the support of the stakeholders? Who are they?
6. Why was the execution process so difficult?

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