After many, many long months of campaigning and debating, the 2008 election has finally arrived! 

 

Many political races are projected to be very close and in the case of the presidential race there may be as many as 60 million voters whose candidate of choice is not elected. That is a lot of disappointed voters!

 

So what happens if your candidate loses his or her race?  John Miller weighs in on this topic and reminds us that how we react is a matter of personal accountability and responsibility. 

 

Read John's advice on what to do if your candidate loses...

 

Five Common Reason's CEOs and Executives Fail to Share Their Strategic Vision

When you think about a CEO or senior level executive one of the first things that often comes to mind is that of a strategic visionary for the company - the man or woman with the "master plan" who sets the strategic course for their organization. 

 

While this is often an accurate description of a CEO or C-level executive, these individuals don't always do the best job of communicating their vision to those they lead.  This often has an adverse impact on an organization's overall performance as it is absolutely critical that all team members, supervisors, managers, and executives are "rowing" in the same direction for an organization to realize it full potential.

 

In working with owners, presidents, CEOs, and other high level executives from numerous organizations we have found five common reasons that these individuals fail to effectively communicate their vision for the organization. 

 

As far as big names in the business world go, they don't get much bigger than Jack Welch.  Welch is well known for his illustrious 40 year career with General Electric, the last 20 of which he served as chairman and CEO.

 

For Jack Welch business is all about performance and he is well know for his brutal candor with his direct reports. 

 

So focused on performance was Welch, that he made a practice of firing the bottom 10% of his managers each year, while distributing bonuses and stock options to the top 20% of his managers.  Welch's propensity for eliminating under-performers ultimately led him to be dubbed "Neutron Jack" by fearful employees after the nuclear bomb that vaporizes people but leaves building standings. 

 

While Welch's approach to performance management has been criticized by some, there is little doubt that it ultimately contributed to much of the success that GE enjoyed under Welch's lead.

 

Jack Welch has authored several books including the best sellers Winning and Jack: Straight from the Gut.  Along with his wife Suzy, Welch authors a weekly column for Business Week Magazine.

 

In light of today's presidential election and all the recent talk about and promise of change, we'd like to feature an article by Jack Welch from the October 9th, 2008 issue of Business Week where he takes a look at what it really means to be a change agent.