Jeffrey Immelt is the CEO of GE and was interviewed by Bill Hybels at the 2014 Global Leadership Summit. My takeaways...

• There has never been a job, in my entire career, that was beneath me.
• Your peers ultimately decide how far you go in the organization. If you are more of a giver than a taker, your peers sense that.
• You can't tell anything about a leader when the sun is up, when times are good. It takes a crisis to really discover a true leader.
• With a large organization that is in 170 countries, you must do something that drives the "oneness" of the company. For us (GE), that is leadership development.
• We expect all our leaders (including me) to teach and train leadership to our employees at all levels. It not only benefits the students--but puts our leaders face-to-face with every level and this impacts our own leadership.
• You want employees who are willing buck the system, question authority, and have a burning desire to change.
• We don't expect people to have perfect careers. We expect them to learn from their failures and get better.
• My belief in diversity comes from believing anyone can do any job--regardless of where they come from. The best ideas, best people get ahead.
• We are focused these days on simplification: 1) Less management, 2) Focused externally, 3) Focus on speed, 4) Empower people with information.
• Leadership is about how much you are willing to learn, how much you are wiling to give, self-awareness, serving others.