Blankenship says helping others boosts his growth as a leader

Chip Blankenship

Connecting with teams and helping them solve problems are the primary methods Chip Blankenship uses to keep GE Appliances & Lighting on track. The term “servant leader” describes Blankenship’s management style, but he told Full-Time MBA and Business Honors undergraduate students at Mays Business School he just considers it the best way to empower and engage his employees while leading the organization forward.

Blankenship is president and chief executive officer of the $8 billion operating unit comprised of GE Appliances, headquartered in Louisville, Ky., and GE Lighting, headquartered in East Cleveland, Ohio. The businesses employ more than 27,000 people around the world who invent, build and deliver innovative products. “On our best days, we bring creative solutions to our customers’ problems,” he explained. “Our chairman says he wants GE to be a great company and a good company. I embrace that, because it aligns with the way I want to lead.”

Each person has control over the most important element he can bring to the workplace, Blankenship said. “I think attitude is almost everything, especially at the beginning,” he said. “Be curious, ready to learn, looking to produce a good product. Getting off on the right foot is essential. It is difficult to repair a bad first impression.”

Blankenship has been with GE since 1992, moving from staff scientist to program manager to leader of the CF6 Airline Support Engineering Team. He moved to Brazil for a few years, where he led the team to develop a new GE engine for a new Embraer airplane. “I had an opportunity to learn a language and a culture. It was very rewarding.”

After the company decided to reverse its practice of outsourcing manufacturing, GE rebuilt its factories and hired local American employees. Blankenship partnered with a nearby university to help the new employees improve their strength so they can handle the physical demands of their jobs.

Blankenship said he learned how to learn during his undergraduate years, then learned to teach himself during graduate school. “I figured if there was something I needed to learn – either to teach it to myself or to benefit my team – I could do that,” he said. “My training from my engineering days gave me a good combination of technical knowledge, and that made me an asset to the team.”

Blankenship said he works to maintain control over his time, starting with a planning session on Sundays. “I try to balance things — sometimes with customers, sometimes in the factory, sometimes in product management decisions. Then over the next couple of months, I will spend more time with people in appraisals and evaluations, and lose some time in the other areas.”

Family has an important place in Blankenship’s planning process, as well. “I put my goals in a discrete fashion on the calendar, as well as kids’ plays and basketball games. If they’re not on the calendar, they can be usurped,” he said. “I not only do this for me, I set an example. Sometimes I’ll tell folks I’m going to be late or out because I am going to a ball game with my family or taking my son to college. In doing that, I am reminding them to prioritize.”

Rebecca McGill ’14, one of the students in Blankenship’s presentation, said the takeaways were impactful. “I learned a lot about what kind of sacrifices you have to make to be a leader, and how important it is to always prioritize your time,” she said. “Balance is something that you achieve over a long period of time; it’s not something that stays the same from day-to-day. It’s important to evaluate your priorities over a long stretch of time and to recognize whether or not you’re happy with the balance you’ve achieved in those areas.”

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.