Based on a very short piece in Fast Company…

– Immelt’s ten keys to leadership begin with “Personal Responsibility” because the balance has now shifted from the era of individual freedom to that of personal responsibility. This means learning how to build teams and to develop other people.

– Simplify Constantly. Great leaders must be able to explain the top three things the organization is working on.

– He advises us to “Understand Breadth, Depth, and Context”. Immelt’s recommendation here fits in well with the new emphasis on a wider range of stakeholders, and the heightened pace of externally-driven change.

– Emphasizes the importance of alignment and time management, which calls on leaders to invest their time in setting priorities, measuring outcomes, and rewarding them.

– Familiar advice for leaders to learn constantly, but also to “learn how to teach”.

– Immelt’s sixth piece of leadership wisdom is to “stay true to your own style”, by which he means that leaders need to be especially self-aware.

– Recognize the importance of freedom within the organization, but strongly urges the vital role of four boundaries: commitment, passion, trust, and teamwork.

– “Stay disciplined and detailed.”

– Advises us to “Leave a few things unsaid”, letting a team find its own way.

– The final tip is to “Like people” – in the practical sense of understanding them, being fair, and wanting the best in them – because “Nobody’s here who doesn’t want to be here”.

It just goes to show though – to my mind, there is nothing here that any self-respecting leader type doesn’t know from the copius management/leadership books written; it is whether the leader does these things on a consistent basis…