Jack Welch: The Bridge between Drucker and Goleman
Sam Arthur, Natasha Herring, Lee Morrison, Andy Bertsch

Abstract
As a self-proclaimed social ecologist, Peter Drucker established himself as a prominent and seminal contributor to management theory. Drucker is credited with creating many management concepts such as management by objectives and is often referred to as the founder of modern management. Fast forward to the 1990’s, Daniel Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence has become a significant force in leadership studies today. As a psychologist, Goleman has established a defensible platform connecting brain science and human behavior to the leadership field. Between Drucker and Goleman lies the focus of our investigation. Jack Welch relied heavily on Drucker’s work and applied many of Drucker’s leadership theories that led to a complete overhaul of General Electric. Welch was later named “Manager of the Century” by Fortune due to the successful implementation of these practices. We examine Drucker’s most prominent thoughts on leadership, how these thoughts were implemented by Welch, and how Welch inspired Goleman. We postulate that Welch was a key bridge between Drucker and Goleman.

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