Last June, as the business world watched expectantly, General Electric (GE) promoted three key executives (David Calhoun, Joseph Hogan and John Rice). Each would report to one of the three potential candidates to succeed CEO Jack Welch (James McNerney, Jeffrey Immelt and Robert Nardelli). Thus, if one of the latter moves into Welch’s office, another seasoned GE professional will be ready to assume his role. Where do GE leaders come from? They do not spring up out of the earth overnight. For many years the company has worked hard to develop ongoing sources of leadership talent — not only to prepare for Welch’s retirement next year, but also to enrich every level of the organization with strong leaders. When Ronald Reagan was spokesperson for GE, their slogan was, “Progress is our most important product.” Today the mantra could be, “Leaders are our most important product.”

Leaders who keep learning may be the ultimate source of sustainable competitive advantage. With that understanding, many companies are investing in leadership development (programs that help key executives learn leadership skills). As early as 1993, Business Week estimated that $17 billion was being spent annually on helping managers develop the thought processes and company-specific skills that could enable them to move up and lead their business areas. Training magazine estimates that in... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.

Get a premium subscription today to read this and all MIT Sloan Managmeent Review articles.
More Info.

Buy this article. Purchase one or more copies of this article as a PDF.

Subscribe today to read the most recent articles and the current issue of MIT Sloan Management Review.

Upgrade to premium

Username:
Password:

Current Subscribers: Do you subscribe to MIT Sloan Management Review? Register for online access.

• Register for free access to recent articles and the current issue of MIT Sloan Management Review.
• Subscribe and read articles from the past three years online.
• Premium subscription—access to the entire archive of articles.