????這所學校的課程里有很多案例研究、角色扮演、播客、商業游戲等等，而且還有來自一些商界高管的視頻咨詢和建議。其中有好幾位高管還曾經是韋爾奇在通用電氣時的下屬，比如波音公司（Boeing）的CEO詹姆斯?邁克納尼，他曾一度被認為是韋爾奇在通用電氣的接班人。還有尼爾森公司（Nielsen）的CEO大衛?卡爾霍恩，他曾在通用電氣公司擔任副總裁。

????白克曼指出，學校還為每個新學生指派了一名“成功教練”，幫助學生盡快適應課程。“另外我們也給學生提供了寫作輔導，尤其是如果這些學生來自信息科技領域，或者英語不是他們的母語。”

????這所學校稱，授課的教授都是來自康奈爾大學、東北大學（Northeastern）、弗吉尼亞大學、波士頓大學（Boston University）等知名商學院。他們都有沃頓（Wharton）、哈佛、倫敦經濟學院（the London School of Economics）或是明尼蘇達大學卡洛森管理學院（the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management）等名校的學位。

????而學生的構成也很廣泛，既有中小私人企業的管理者，也有波音、聯邦快遞（FedEx）、家得寶（Home Depot）、萬豪（Marriott）、尼爾森和威瑞森（Verizon）等知名企業的高管。

????湯普森最初報名的時候還有點擔心自己能不能與其他學生和教學人員熟絡起來，畢竟他們不是坐在同一個教室里。不過她現在表示：“雖然是虛擬的課堂，但感覺仍然很親密。我是一個非常愛交際的人，這一點對我很重要。”

????現在湯普森已經開始上她的第三門課程了——財務管理（一）。湯普森每天早上九點通過網絡會議軟件登錄課堂，與老師和同學們會面。她的同學們則分別從埃及、佛羅里達、德克薩斯、紐約和伊利諾斯等地登錄。

????最近在與學生進行反饋后，白克曼又想到了幾個進一步提高教學質量的點子。她表示，學校打算推出一些為期五周的短期課目，在課堂中引入更多的商業模擬環節，而且有可能的話還會舉辦一個畢業典禮，由韋爾奇本人親手頒發畢業證書。

????有個學生在最近的一次視頻會議上問韋爾奇，如果受到老板的批評該怎么辦。韋爾奇用他典型的“嚴是愛松是害”的思路，告誡那個學生要振作起來，勇于承受批評。“你必須坐穩了，讓那個勇于坦率批評你的人知道，你不會拍案反唇相譏。在這種討論中唯一說了算的就是你的老板。你要讓他知道，你是個愿意接受意見的人，而且你的確有學習的欲望。所以把氣往肚子里咽，想辦法面對這些批評，哪怕你認為他說得不對。”

????說到這兒，韋爾奇停了一下，思考了一會兒說：“我在職業生涯中也收到過很多坦率的反饋。大多數都是說：‘你太傷人感情了，你太激進了，慢一點，耐心點。’雖然我一直沒達到那種境界，但也好多了。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：樸成奎

????The Welch curriculum is filled with case studies, role-plays, podcasts, business games and video snippets of counsel and advice from a number of executives, many of whom reinforce the Welch message and several of whom worked directly under him at GE. They include Boeing (BA) CEO James McNerney, who Welch once considered as his successor at GE, and Nielsen CEO David Calhoun, a former vice chairman of GE.

????Backman says incoming students are assigned a "success coach" who helps students fit the program into their schedules. "We also have writing coaches for students, especially if they come from an information technology background or speak English as a second language." About 30% of the grades at the Welch Institute are based on discussion questions and student responses to them.

????And the faculty? The institute says that its professors have taught at such places as Cornell, Northeastern, the University of Virginia, and Boston University. They have graduate degrees from Wharton, Harvard, the London School of Economics, and the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

????Students include a wide range of managers and executives from small-to-mid-sized private companies to such major corporate players as Boeing, FedEx (FDX), Home Depot (HD), Marriott (MAR), Nielsen (NLSN), and Verizon (VZ).

????When Thompson signed up for the program, she was initially concerned about whether she could bond with fellow students and faculty who were not in the same room. "It is a virtual experience but it is still intimate," she says now. "I'm a very social person and that was important to me."

????Now into her third course—Financial Management I—Thompson still meets with her original study group at 9 a.m., using web conferencing software. Her fellow students are piped in from Egypt, Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois.

????Backman came away with several ideas to improve the program after a recent feedback session with students. She says the institute expects to launch shorter five-week courses, introduce more business simulations in classes, and explore the possibility of a graduation ceremony where Welch hands out diplomas in person.

????During the recent videoconference, Welch was asked by one student for advice on how to accept criticism from a boss. In typical Welch tough-love fashion, he told the manager to buck up and take the heat. "You have to sit back and show the person giving you the candor that you are receptive and that you are not trying to get ready on the edge of your chair to combat the arguments," Welch instructed. "The only person that counts in this discussion is your boss. You have to show your boss that you are wide open to suggestions and you really want to learn. Suck it up and try to deal with the criticisms, even if you don't think they are valid."

????Welch paused and reflected. "I got a lot of candid feedback in my career: Most of it was, 'You are too damn abrasive, you are too aggressive, slow down, be patient.' I never got all the way there, but I got a lot better at it."