Larry Bossidy

Lawrence Arthur "Larry" Bossidy (born March 5, 1935) is an American author and retired businessman. He served as CEO of AlliedSignal (later Honeywell) in the 1990s, prior to which he spent more than 30 years rising through executive positions at General Electric.

Quotes

• The leader’s job is to help everyone see that the platform is burning, whether the flames are apparent or not. The process of change begins when people decide to take the flames seriously and manage by fact, and that means a brutal understanding of reality.
  • Larry Bossidy, The CEO as Coach: An Interview with AlliedSignal’s Lawrence A. Bossidy, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1995

• I think you don’t change a culture. I think you coach people to win. Basically, people want to be successful. They want to go home at night and feel that they’ve made a contribution.
  • Larry Bossidy, The CEO as Coach: An Interview with AlliedSignal’s Lawrence A. Bossidy, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1995