STOP OVERCHARGING ON CREDIT CARDS.

WHY ARE OUR PRESIDENTAL HOPEFULS AND ELECTED OFFICALS AT ALL LEVELS NOT ADDRESSING THE MAJOR PROBLEM WITH AMERICAN CONSUMERS...NAMELY CREDIT CARD INTEREST...

IF WE WOULD ENFORCE THE USUARY LAWS AND STOP CHARGING CREDIT CARD USERS EXHORBANT INTEREST RATES. (15% PLUS) THE SAME AS THE LOAN SHARKS CHARGE WE WOULD RELEAVE THE AVERAGE AMERICAN OF AN ENORMOUS BURDEN. MOST AMERICANS ARE MAXED OUT BUT BEING CHARGED THESE LOAN SHARK RATES...TAKE A STAND AGAINST THIS ILLEGAL AND MORAL ABUSE.

Bill Rothschild, CEO of ROTHSCHILD STRATEGIES UNLIMITED LLC.

"Never Over promise and Minimize (if not avoid) Surprises"

This was the essence of the Ralph Cordiner and Reg Jones eras in Strategic GE's history.

• These are some quotes from my book" The Secret to GE's Success" which focus on creating and meeting investor expectations:
  " In the 1950's, Cordiner initiated Investor Relations as one of the new corporate functional services. The organization's job was to help create realistic expectations among the investment analysts and then communicate expectations internally so that the operating and executive officers understood the right level of profitability to achieve


• "Jones was one of the most skilled executives in this regard. He established a team consisting of staff members from investor relations, finance, and strategic planning (my job at the time) as well as his own vice chairmen to determine the expectations that could be achieved consistently.


• "If there was a gap between what business units promised and "Wall Street expectations" Jones recognized that if he compelled all of the businesses to increase their profit levels, he might negatively impact the ability of at some divisions to execute their approved strategies.. a special evaluation was created to assure that the increased profit levels didn't negatively impact the "growth businesses" (again one of my jobs).
  

I had the good fortune of being part of the Jones process and helping the company meet Wall Street Expectations while implementing the approved strategies. It was challenging but fun.

Bill Rothschild, author of THE SECRET TO GE's SUCCESS the most comprehensive, objective assessment of GE's 127 years of progress, now in six languages.

THE GENERATION THAT GAVE...EVEN WHEN IT HURT THEMSELVES..

I grew up during the Great Depression, which demonstrates that I am not young, though I still feel, THANK GOD, young and my brain is more vibrate than those much younger. I remember the GREAT WAR...when he had air raid drills, no lights, when we had to wear HEAT RESISTANT name tags, so if we were killed they would know who we were; when there was no gasoline, no meat and so on...but GUESS WHAT we didn't feel sorry or deprived.

When the war was over...we had the EISENHOWER era...when America was the leader...things were good, but unlike our older brother we had to pay for our education, NO GI BILL...some of us went to war...Korea...Viet Nam... BUT many didn't serve...

We went to work...but it was the BABY BOOMER, MBA, generation that ultimately took over..but we were happy since we were much better off than our parents, and we were able to live a VERY GOOD life...

Now we are suffering because... the BABY BOOMERS took our jobs and then they had the government reduce interest and now they were able to put the country in the most serious economic situation since the depression.

Overall, my generation is the GREATEST GENERATION because we experienced it all, but unfortunately contributed to the WORSE GENERATION, the baby boomers who have destroyed our ability to grow, and prosper and now may even have put us back to where our parents were..

But the real issue is where our grandchildren will be...will they follow the successes and failures of those before my generation,or my generation or be totally unprepared for the REALITY of the WORLD TODAY...

I am faithful and hope they will learn and follow the BEST GENERATIONS...those who served in WWII and those in my generation and NOT THE BABY BOOMERS and the current crop of those who have failed to lead and only take and run...even when they fail.

Bill Rothschild... author of THE SECRET TO GE's SUCCESS... which shows the dedication of my generation and before...

Marie Antoinette School of Business Graduates.

Based on the track record of many of executives and Government officials it would appear that they all graduated from the "Marie Antoinette School of Business".

They have managed failing or failed companies with the attitude that there is just one stakeholder, themselves. They appear to have been taught that they must first negotiate contracts that pay them handsomely even when they fail.

Their handpicked boards of directors have not only supported this, but in many cases get handsome fees, benefits and even pensions. All have the Marie Antoinette attitude of " let them eat cake".

This must stop. CEO and Boards must recognize that they must meet the balanced best interests of all the key stakeholders, starting with those who dedicate their lives for the organization, then the shareholders and of course the customers.

Further they must recognize that they have a responsibility to their communities, the States and the UNITED STATES in total. This means the build plants and invest in the United States and not just in China, India...

It is time that the Business Schools teach what leadership really is and not just how to do creative book keeping, negotiate golden parachutes to optimize yourself. We need the rebirth of real leaders and not just optimistic negotiators.

Bill Rothschild, author of THE SECRET TO GE's SUCCESS... the book that shows how GE historically have had dedicated, home grown, professional leaders that put the company and key stakeholders above their own personal gain.

The Impossible Job Is Available... Why would anyone want it and can anyone succeed during a crisis?

Imagine that you have just been selected to lead the largest, most powerful organization in the world. You are now on the job the first day and this is what you find:

• You have no real power. The programs sent to you are not yours but those of other key vented interests. You must either agree or disagree what is proposed, you can't change any of the items or veto those parts which are not part of the proposal, but vented interest additions.


• Your staff is enormous, but the leaders are all temporary and the professionals and clerical employees are all vested and you can't remove them without a very difficult and complex process and the final results will not be what you wish, but a compromise.


• All of the key stakeholders have their own vested interests and not focused on the final solution or even the good of the entire organization.


• Budgets are always overrun ( or loss) and there is no discipline to balance the budgets. When there is an overrun the organization just get permission to add to the deficit. When there is a surplus (or profit) the stakeholders all vie for their unequal share.


• You have a limited time horizon, since it is possible that you will be removed in four years, but definitely in eight years, so everything is short term and not long term. Some of your key stakeholders must reapply for their jobs every two years, others have a life time employment.
  

This is a NIGHTMARE for any executive and it is amazing that anyone apply for it. Yet there are long lines of applicants and some spend their entire lives and resources to get the job. Of course it is prestigious if you win and succeed, but success is very temporal and not well defined.This is the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES situation... so you may wonder why it is so difficult to succeed...and most business executives would not apply and if they do, they are likely to fail. The business executive is an autocratic/ prince... they have the power and if they are smart they would not want to be President of the United States.

This is why the whole notion that a Business CEO would be able to any better than the politicians is not realistic.

Unfortunately the current Presidential situation is only workable when the Country is winning and strong, but it is in crisis.... changes are needed. This is why Franklin D. Roosevelt began a autocratic president and not one like the one I just described. He even lasted three plus terms and if lived might have served many more terms.

The United States needs leaders, but any real leader would not apply of the Presidents job...since they would not have the power to lead... so this may be the reason that our Presidents are quite often not leaders, but just those who can manage the system and with a little luck get out of the office being somewhat popular.

Changes are needed... but these will require a re-thinking of our entire mentality and even a change in whether it is really viable to have a democracy...this is really SCARY...

Bill Rothschild, author of RISKTAKER, CARETAKER, SURGEON, UNDERTAKER- the four faces of strategic leadership...available on AMAZON and http://www.strategyleader.com/

Challenging the FOLKFORE...competence before just loyalty

One of the obvious failings of the Bush administration has been Bush's emphasis on loyalty rather than competence. There is no question that President Bush has had several unqualified members of his team and they have held their jobs because they have been "team players".
This has practice is also very prevalent and obvious in many large corporations and it has negatively impacted all of the key stakeholders.

According to Doris Goodwin's " Team of Rivals", Lincoln selected his cabinet members because they were competent and provided another perspective, even if they have adversarial views. His cabinet included people who ran against him and in some cases even criticized him in public. One of his team was running against him even while a member of the cabinet. But Lincoln used the talents of these adversaries to lead in probably the biggest CRISIS that the country had to face.

In my book: Risktaker, Caretaker, Surgeon, Undertaker- a four faces of strategic leadership I emphasize that there are no one leader for all times and that the team must fit the leadership type and the situation. If an organization is in crisis, the leader and the team must be willing to challenge everything, hold nothing sacred and seek all views.

In my latest book: THE SECRET TO GE's SUCCESS.. I emphasize that GE has avoided the "cookie cutter" approach and selected leaders and team players that were different and fit the unique situation.

When I was GE's Corporate Strategist, I always looked for and selected people who provided different insights, even if I didn't agree with them. When I led the Management Development Program and Strategic Planning Workshops and Seminars, I included professors and outsiders who challenged the GE Folklore and didn't just recite the party line.

I am not sure what is happening in GE today, but it is vital that all companies and organizations seek out people who are competent and not just "back slapping/ yes" people. Unfortunately it appears that most of the failing companies today have not sought "teams of rivals" but "teams of friends, neighbors and those who refuse to challenge the folklore".

Bill Rothschild, CEO of Rothschild Strategies Unlimited, LLC

Back to SELECTIVITY...Learning from past successes.

The last time that GE had to have a "white knight" come to their financial rescue was in 1897, when Edison GE and Thomson Houston had to merge and JP Morgan put in capital to save the company.

On October 1, 2008, it happened again... this time it was Warren Buffet, bought $3 billion of Preferred Stock... to help save the GE TRIPLE A rating.

Since I wrote my book, THE SECRET OF GE's SUCCESS, I have challenged IMMELT and team...GO BIG strategy. It was clear to me that promising to grow the company 8% organically seemed to be improbable, if not impossible. Unfortunately, I have been right and a change in strategy is required.

GE introduced strategic thinking, decision making and planning in the 1970's because Fred Borch had embarked on nine new, organically grown, ventures. Five of ventures failed, but Fred recognized and admitted his mistakes and focused on being selective and not growing for the sake of growth. This action enabled the company to focus on winners and contributed to the Welch's remarkable earnings and stock value growth.

There are lessons to be learned from this period in GE's 126 year history.I still have faith that GE leadership will rise to the occasion and replicate the company's past success and ability to adapt to change. However, it will require all five key success factors: Leadership, Adaptability, Talent, Influencing and Networks (LATIN).

If you wish to learn the reasons for GE's past success, take a look at my book: The Secret to GE's Success, now available on Amazon's Kindle and in six languages.

Bill Rothschild, author of Global best seller: The Secret to GE's Success, Risktaker, Caretaker, Surgeon, Undertaker- the four faces of strategic leadership, GEWatcher blog on Rothschild Strategies Unlimited LLC website: http://www.strategyleader.com/