Quotes by Jeff Immelt

I think there's a need for somewhat of a mindset change. We need to have a consistent external focus. We've always had the research labs. We've always had the resources to be innovative, and we've been innovative in a number of businesses. But, in any big company, you have to constantly push people to look at markets and customers, rather than look internally at themselves.

If you weren't CEO, what would you really love to be doing?

In some next life, I want to do something where I could give back. Teaching is one way. I would probably teach business, somewhere, someplace, somehow. I'd love to say I could teach math, but I can't even help my daughter with that.

You can't delegate growth or customer satisfaction. I'm spending four or five days a month with customers. Twice every month, I do town-hall meetings with several hundred customers to share ideas on GE's direction and listen to their thoughts on what we can do better. And we're doing what I call dreaming sessions with key customer groups, trying to think about where our business and their business will be in 5 or 10 years. I'm probably spending 30% of the time on people, teaching and coaching. I'm using 10% of my time on governance, working with the board, meeting with investors. The rest would be time spent on the plumbing of the company, working on operating reviews and strategy sessions.

You can't delegate growth or customer satisfaction. I'm spending four or five days a month with customers. Twice every month, I do town-hall meetings with several hundred customers to share ideas on GE's direction and listen to their thoughts on what we can do better. And we're doing what I call dreaming sessions with key customer groups, trying to think about where our business and their business will be in 5 or 10 years. I'm probably spending 30% of the time on people, teaching and coaching. I'm using 10% of my time on governance, working with the board, meeting with investors. The rest would be time spent on the plumbing of the company, working on operating reviews and strategy sessions.