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Question: Any good Jack Welch stories? the University of Michigan, and the University of Southern
Kerr: I have done a lot of consulting over the years, California, where he was dean of faculty and director of the PhD
including for GE. While I had enjoyed and learned a program. He is a former president of the Academy of Management.
lot at GE, I had always planned to go back to academ- He has authored or coauthored six books, including “The
ics fulltime. Nearing the end of my consulting assign- Boundaryless Organization and The GE Work-Out,” and Reward
ments, I heard that Jack Welch was interested in me Systems: Does Yours Measure Up?, as well as more than 80 journal
articles. His writings on leadership and “On the Folly of Rewarding
assuming a fulltime position at GE and wanted to get A, While Hoping for B” are among the most cited and reprinted in
in touch with me. For those who have never met him, the management sciences.
Jack is a very charismatic, dynamic individual. I knew
how persuasive he was and didn’t want to have to tell Authors’ Note
him I was uninterested in coming to GE fulltime, so I The three authors who had the opportunity to interview Steve Kerr
kept inventing reasons to avoid returning his calls. had never had the privilege to previously meet with him. Steve Kerr
Finally, Jack tracked me down to a seedy motel in is not only a leading scholar but also a warm, caring, and generous
Indianapolis, chastised me for avoiding him, and asked human being. There is an old saying among the Boston Irish to the
“Don’t you at least owe me the courtesy of a face-to- effect that “I shook the hand . . . that shook the hand of the Great
face meeting?” Naturally, I had to say yes—to the visit, John L.” This saying was in reference to John L. Sullivan the first
and shortly afterward to taking the job. Jack is a very, heavyweight boxing champion of the modern era and a hero to the
very difficult man to say no to. Boston Irish from which he came and was one. Each of these coau-
Question: Anything else you would like to share with our thors feels similarly privileged and grateful to have met, engaged
Journal of Management Inquiry readership? with, learned from, and shook the hand of Steve Kerr. The genesis
Kerr: Well, I mentioned my father earlier. My father was for this idea came from panel discussions at the 2015 Western,
Midwestern, and Academy of Managements meetings.
a great man. He was a great artist and he lived to be
101 years of age. In fact, he was teaching until he was Acknowledgment
98. When I was the Academy of Management
President, my academy meeting theme was the mar- The authors thank Steve Kerr for his generous display of time and
talent.
riage of theory and practice. My father did the art-
work! Anyway, many years ago this young, at that Declaration of Conflicting Interests
time unknown man named Walt Disney asked my
father to come out West and help him make a feature The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
length cartoon. Between the fact that all his friends
and family were in the east, and his skepticism that a Funding
feature length cartoon could ever be successful, he
decided not to go. That decision by my father has The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support
for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This
greatly influenced how I have reacted to opportuni- interview with Steve Kerr was made possible with funds from the
ties throughout my life. I have occasionally been Larkin Distinguished Professorship at Fordham University’s
described as unusually willing to take risks in my Gabelli School of Business.
career, but in fact I consider myself very risk-averse.
However, what I am most fearful of are the potential References
losses of turning down what might turn out to be a Argyris, C. (1964). Integrating the individual and organization.
marvelous growth experience. So, in response to Jack New York, NY: John Wiley.
Welch’s offer and a number of other opportunities Cyert, R. M., & March, J. C. (1963). A behavioral theory of the
that have been offered me, I tend to say yes to things firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
even when the risk–reward ratio seems to indicate Deci, E. L. (1975). Intrinsic motivation. New York, NY: Plenum.
otherwise. To reinforce that point, I keep a sign on my The Editors. (1995). More on the folly. Academy of Management
desk that says “If you’re careful enough nothing bad, Executive, 9, 15-16.
or good, will ever happen to you.” Forbes, S., & Ames, E. (2012). Freedom manifesto: Why free
markets are moral and big government isn’t. New York, NY:
Crown Books.
Steve Kerr’s Biography Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the nature of man. Cleveland, OH:
Steve Kerr is currently a senior advisor to Goldman Sachs, follow- World Publishing.
ing a 6-year term as a managing director and Goldman’s Chief House, R. J., Filley, A. C., & Kerr, S. (1971). Relation of leader
Learning Officer (CLO). Before that, he was General Electric’s consideration and initiating structure to R and D subordinates’
CLO and vice president of corporate leadership development for 7 satisfaction. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16, 19-30.
years, where he worked closely with Jack Welch and led GE’s House, R. J., & Kerr, S. (1973). Organizational independence,
renowned leadership-education center at Crotonville. He has also leader behavior, and managerial practices: A replicated study.
served on the business school faculties of the Ohio State University, Journal of Applied Psychology, 58, 173-180.