Good leaders are very curious, and they spend a lot of time trying to learn things.

Surviving a failure gives you more self-confidence. Failures are great learning tools - but they must be kept to a minimum.

Live with passion. Live with purpose.

Good leaders don't tell people what to do, they give teams capability and inspiration.

I think there's a need for somewhat of a mindset change. We need to have a consistent external focus. We've always had the research labs. We've always had the resources to be innovative, and we've been innovative in a number of businesses. But, in any big company, you have to constantly push people to look at markets and customers, rather than look internally at themselves.

I'm out talking about this company (General Electric) seven days a week, 24 hours a day, with nothing to hide. We're a 130-year-old company that has a great record of high-quality leadership and a culture of integrity.

Managing innovation better may be the only way out of the abyss called commodity hell.