Jack Welch offers and explains (“Winning”) the leader characteristic of “edge” to describe the leader’s ability to see through the fog, give yes or no responses without explanation, and know which decisions will be unpopular with the workforce. Who can argue with that?

However, I see the leader’s “edge” in another light and that is when the leader listens carefully to staff input, but possesses an “edge” that others know and recognize that when they have done and said enough and that by going any further, they will get their heads bitten off.