Legendary chief executive Jack Welch is famous for building General Electric into one of the world’s biggest companies and a market leader in many sectors.
This means he is more than qualified to talk about the dangers of a top player losing its number one position.
“The fine line between self-confidence and arrogance is thin,” Welch says in this video from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
He says the key is to believe the competition is always breathing down your neck.
“The only way to break that is to make sure that everybody comes to work and try to find a better way.
“Never let yourselves get to the point where you think you know better.”
In this fascinating video Welch also talks about the dangers of complacency, the challenges of new management styles and why he’s wary of investing in the tech sector.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
