The New DNA of Winning: A Virtuous Teaching Cycle

Allan P. Limin

I am really impressed by the way Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric directed his creativity and energy to find new ways to attract customers which made GE’s double-digit rates of revenue growth in the latter half of the 1900’s because of what he called “Virtuous Teaching Cycle” at work. In this cycle he asserted that in the process of teaching, the teacher can also learn something valuable from the students which can make him smarter and teach new ideas. This kind of interaction and continuous exchange of ideas made GE so successful over the past two decades and remained one of the world’s most valuable companies for some time to come.

As a teacher, I marvel at the manner Welch created a world-class Teaching Organization at GE. Personally, I want to establish the same nature among my constituents in the school where everyone teaches, everyone learns and everyone gets smarter every day. I want to build an environment of belongingness where each person is a part of the whole in order to produce the best learning institution in the city.

I would like to quote on Jeff Immelt, the new CEO of GE, who is also a product of the Teaching Organization about what he believes that the most important core competency of GE leader is to be a teacher. Since I am a teacher, I feel grateful because many successful companies manifested what a teacher does in order to reach at the top. I want also to initiate a winning organization where I practice my profession and make every person share their ideas, expertise and plans to conceive a lasting ambiance in our school.

I appreciate the Rangers of the Special Operation Force who were watched by Eli Cohen while doing his research on “The Leadership Engine book. These men were trained to make split-second decisions in difficult circumstances. They always do the After-Action Review where they stop, sit and go over through the mission phase by phase where everyone contributes and learn from others. I want also to be like these men who can make split-second decisions especially when situation in the school gets tough particularly issues concerning the benefit of the students and my colleagues.

True leaders develop leaders and winning leaders are teachers. Teachers in their own rights are leaders when they facilitate interactions among the students and establish an exchange of ideas that will drive them toward a competitive attitude. Leaders are also smart because they have the ability to raise the collective intelligence of his or her team and keep its members aligned, energized and working to please costumers. Teachers must also be smart in order to align, energize and work to motivate, encourage and inspire their students to achieve their dreams and enthusiastically reach their goals.

We need to form “The Teaching Organization” where everyone is a teacher, everyone is a learner, and reciprocal teaching and learning are built into the fabric of everyday activities especially in the school. The principal must set the direction, shape the culture and share the valuable insights and knowledge in his or her head.

Developing others to be leaders, creating leaders at every level, and getting them aligned and energized matter most for many successful companies in order to win over their competitors and win the hearts of their customers. Leaders in the school should also promote interactive teaching to harmoniously form a winning environment. In an interactive teaching there must be a mutual exploration and exchange during which both the “teacher” and the ‘learner” become smarter. An alliance of learning is established which they also call “1 + 1 = 3” which is an important design effect described by Josef Albers and Edward Tufte. It means that two elements in close proximity cause a visible interaction. This interaction can result in perceiving information that is not there and attracting those smart, talented people and raising their level of play becomes a core competence.

Leaders must make sharing ideas and information a central part of their everyday work. They are big, fast and smart. Teachers in the school must also manifest the same principle to showcase their best practices and dedicate their life in molding the future generation of our country. Leaders in the school must be agile, flexible, and adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Each leader must invent his or her own Teachable Point of View and take full ownership for teaching other leaders. Leaders must come from the DNA of the embryonic organization so that it can hold and grow later. Over time, it’s the ability to attract, develop, and effectively utilize talent that separates the winners from the losers. Leaders with the return-on-time mind-set are always thinking about getting the most out of every minute. Leaders with a return-on-time mind-set consciously design processes and structures that simultaneously accomplish more than one goal.

David Novak, a former PepsiCo Executive and CEO exercised a Virtuous Teaching Cycle because he committed himself to teaching, creating conditions for being taught and helped the students in his company have self-confidence to engage and teach as well. I am a teacher and I must practice this kind of attitude too in order to embrace fully the New DNA of Winning; Demonstrate a Virtuous Teaching Cycle, interacting, mingling, and becoming smart everyday with my students, colleagues and the rest of the community in the school.

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The author is Teacher-III at Pampanga High School