General Manager and Managing Director for General Electric, IBM Corporation
Q: Do you think that your success may have evolved as you began to adopt management techniques that have been traditionally use by males?—Sheila Wurtsbaugh, Athens, Ohio

A: Sheila, no, I don't believe in any way I had to "adopt" male-dominated techniques.

The leadership skills and competencies I've gained are just key to any successful leader. It's critical I understand my market, my customer's market and industry...that I have insight to their business issues/opportunities and solutions to make them more successful. I need to be decisive, a good coach, recognize the right talent for the right opportunities and leadership needs. Good leaders get results, they execute with consistency and speed, and when needed they find the breakthrough thinkers to find those "outside the box" ideas. And, good leaders are passionate about their business...they desire to win, to make change for better results, and do whatever it takes to make it happen.

Having said all that, I have been continually cognizant of what techniques make male leaders successful and those that cause them to fail. For instance, I've learned that their networking skills far surpass most women's and it matters in managing in relationships, especially upward relationships. So, although I wouldn't be comfortable perhaps doing my networking the same way some of my male colleagues do, I've learned it would be helpful to do more than I was doing in order to compete for equal positions.

CEO, Xerox

Q: How do you get large corporations to change their mindset or to listen to a new idea—or try doing something differently, before simply disregarding it without seeing if it works—Robert Magid, Norwalk, CA

A: My advice is quite simple. Know your people, what drives them to succeed and what influences their performance. Then, apply this knowledge to every decision you make. Too often leaders seek to completely change a culture -- a massive undertaking that rarely results in success. As a 25 + -year veteran at Xerox, I'm part of an incredibly rich culture that is founded on a strong set of values. When I was named president of Xerox and then CEO, I knew the company needed to make substantial changes in order to thrive in today's digital marketplace. We needed to be faster, leaner and more focused. But how could I disrupt a culture that was such an important part of my professional life? The right answer was to not even try. Instead, we began implementing a turnaround program that preserved the best of the Xerox culture while eliminating our weaknesses. For example, in 2001, we identified actions that will reduce annualized costs by $1.1 billion . And, this year, to-date we have taken actions to reduce costs by another $175 million. Despite this aggressive cost-reduction program, we continue to invest in the future through R&D and maintain high standards for customer satisfaction. Investing in the future is as important as stabilizing the present. The Xerox management team didn't try to create a new culture. Instead we rallied Xerox people to refine the existing one. They did and it's stronger than ever.

Now our management can point to our success as the best incentive for encouraging change: We have proven that certain change -- strategically developed and executed with precision -- can and does work. At Xerox, people are now motivated by the power of change. They embrace it and run with it.

General Manager and Managing Director for General Electric, IBM Corporation

Q: Is the progress in technology being utilized to give more autonomy and dignity to those at the bottom of the economic rung in a company?—Maxine Brown

A: Maxine, the answer is yes...in many ways. First, progress has been made in utilizing technology to improve processes and productivity from the lowest levels of responsibility to the highest. Automation and re-engineering have benefited all aspects of business, thereby impacting all employees. Secondly, the ability to reach every employee in a company, through email, websites and portals, webcasts, stream presentations, and e-learning, has broken through all barriers of communications and opened up more opportunity for employees to learn and to participate in discussions.

Today, when our CEO speaks to the IBM employees, he often does so over a webcast that can be replayed anytime, anyplace. This affords every employee the opportunity to hear his message, from him. The consistency and ability to view and hear this personally, gives everyone an opportunity to be informed and makes everyone feel important, needed, and a part of the team.