Fireside Chat

At midday, students were treated to an open forum question-and-answer session with Jeffrey Immelt at the "fireside chat." Bill Achtmeyer TU'81, co-founder, chairman, and managing partner of the Parthenon Group and the chairman of the Tuck Board of Overseers, briefly introduced the session and then opened it up to the floor.

To an audience packed into Stell Hall, Immelt answered questions that ranged from "what keeps you awake at night" to "the role of golf at GE." Some highlights:

On avoiding the bureacratic pitfalls of a large company: Place leaders who will drive growth. Immelt personally drives forty growth ideas, and teaches twice a month to stay in touch with the people at GE who are potential leaders. He also does what he terms "deep dives," taking a project though all its stages.

For those entering the workplace now: Immelt recommends they pick what they want to do and then get on a linear path and do it. "Build robust careers by being aligned with some good leaders," he urged. "Do every job like you are going to have it forever." He believes that in the near future, depth of experience will be more important than breadth.

On the most valuable part of his Dartmouth experience: An unbelievable set of friends who have supported him through difficult times. "There is no success without friendship," Immelt said.