Great Teams Shine Like Holiday Lights

On December 6, 2019, GE Lighting employees, families and friends kicked off the 95th annual holiday light display at our global headquarters. For the first time ever, we used the C by GE smart home mobile app to turn on more than half a million colorful energy-saving LED lights.

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about holiday lights. Each year I feel compelled to write about our ceremony as I am continually inspired by this great Cleveland tradition that kicks off a special season.

This time of year, I reflect on how fortunate I am to lead an organization that understands, recognizes and values teamwork. I’m proud to say that every day teams across our business strive for continuous improvement in all we do. It’s our secret sauce.

To use a seasonal analogy, inefficient and ineffective teams are like old strings of traditional holiday lights. If one single bulb didn’t light up on a string, none of the other bulbs on that string could shine. In other words, a group of individuals won’t succeed as a team if a single member isn’t aligned.

Also, multi-color holiday light designs tend to be the ones that leave an impressive lasting effect. Similarly, greater diversity in people and perspectives gives teams a better chance to produce results that wow.

No business can succeed in an environment where expectations around teamwork aren’t communicated and observed. We communicate with great frequency about individual and team behaviors, and expectations, so we can all flourish and deliver the best possible results.

The following four tenants help guide how we work together:

1) Trust and respect. We trust one another and treat each other with the utmost respect regardless of age, race, gender, tenure or job title. Whether it be creating lean operational processes or progressing innovation in the smart home space, we empower and inspire one another.

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