Abstract
The last decade has witnessed the rise of some very charismatic leaders. One of them, Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric (GE) from 1981 to 2001, was among the most admired and respected leaders. Named in 1999 by the Fortune magazine as ‘Manager of the century', Jack Welch was more than a good manager with impeccable knowledge and skills; he was also considered as a great leader. He had vision and a real passion to achieve his goals, but more importantly, he had the ‘ability' to lead his team. All this allowed Jack Welch to succeed in his profession by injecting enthusiasm and energy into his team.
In this paper, we'll analyze the different management and leadership theories. We'll try to highlight the main differences and characteristics of a transformational leader in comparison to a transactional one. Furthermore, we'll apply such theories to Jack Welch's leadership and try to analyze his leadership style and determine his approach towards General Electric.
