Courage - Tony Mathis CEO of Edison Works and Military Systems Operation

Engineering Leadership

Tony Mathis is the Chief Executive Officer with GE Edison Works and Military Systems Operation.

Tony is an Air Force veteran officer with a flight test engineering background. He has over 25 years with General Electric and became the creator of the GE Edison Works business. He chose Courage as his topic.

3-Bullet Summary

1. Learning to feel comfortable in uncomfortable situations is an act of courage.
2. You only grow when you go outside of your comfort zone.
3. Being intelligent is not enough. First, you should understand the context of the business you’re in, and then use your intellect to help shape the company's vision.

3 Quotes

• “You really must be thoughtful about what you go after, how you go after it, and understand that a lot of our customers’ lives actually depend on what we do and how we do it.”
• “Being uncomfortable is just like any other muscle; the more you exercise that, the better you get at it.”
• My biggest fear is that I get so far away from customers, so far away from the product, that we're now making big decisions about running a business totally disconnected from the real world.”