My Funny Valentine

Twenty years ago I fell in love. Like all good romances, I wasn’t looking for love so it was all the sweeter. It didn’t bother me that the object of my love was well past their 100th birthday and spoke a language that was, at least initially, unfamiliar to the point of being intimidating. That all worked, because I fell in love with the inner being, which of course is what true love is all about.

The love of which I speak is for GE, a company that has been my home and an enormous part of my life. Along with the most talented team on the planet, I have spent the last two decades extoling the virtues of a company that builds things the world really needs…energy to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer; jet engines that bring people safely to wherever they want to go and healthcare equipment that gives doctors and their patients the best possible diagnosis.

I’ve had the enviable opportunity to bring our stories to life and to help others fall in love with the company. At times, we’ve shouted from the treetops, like taking over the ceiling of Grand Central Station to show the unseen stars of women in STEM. Other times, we’ve been softer, geeking out with YouTube creators in our research labs over a spectacular new material science. But the desire to help others fall in love with GE’s purpose–Thomas Edison’s stated goal of inventing what the world needs–has never wavered. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to entice others to see the GE I do and do it with people who are the absolute best in the biz [ Giant Spoon , 天联广告公司 , Gary Vaynerchuk , Laura Correnti , Trevor Guthrie , Benjamin Palmer , Laundry Service , Zara Mirza , Andy Goldberg , Beth Comstock , Nadia Malik , Sydney Williams , Lindsay Stein , Sam Olstein , Michael Ventura , Alexander Jutkowitz ].

I plan to leave GE at the end of April when the company is through its final separation into three independent public companies. It’s a fact that is not a secret but perhaps not widely known. The timing could not be better, for as GE enters a new era, I too will begin again. GE is in the best shape it’s been in for well over a decade. Under the superb leadership of our Chairman and CEO Larry Culp , whom I deeply respect and admire, today we stand strong operationally, financially and culturally. I believe the history books will judge this as the greatest turnaround in industrial history. It’s been momentous. My beloved team is largely staying to work at either GE Aerospace, GE Vernova or GE HealthCare. And with Larry Culp , Scott Strazik & Peter J Arduini at the helm plus leaders like Tara DiJulio , Megan Newhouse , Meghan Thurlow , Kristin Carvell , Melissa Washko , Anne Kave , Danielle Halstrom , Steven Winoker in place, the company has the best teams imaginable to carry the three companies and their brands forward. I will be their most vocal cheerleader in the years ahead.

As for me, it’s pretty simple. I am looking to fall in love all over again. I have my criteria of course…people whom I’d gladly go into battle with; a purpose that really, really matters; a strong desire to play offense; an opportunity to build a brand or company; a “Challenger” mindset; the desire to play to the whistle; and staying on the field in a full-time operating role. But in the end, my hope is to do something completely new and completely different.?I’ve always been most excited by new beginnings, a funny admission from someone who has been in a 20-year monogamous relationship, but the marketer in me knows it to be true.

So Happy Valentine’s Day 2024. To GE, I could not love you more and hope the world continues to see you through the same lens I do…a company that changes the world for the better. And to the future…I could not be more excited to embrace what comes next. Xo

Linda