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n December 8, 1998, Dennis Dammerman was named vice chairman and executive officer of GE and chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of GE Capital Services. Previously, he was chief financial officer (CFO) of GE. Also, on December 8, Denis Nayden was named president and CEO of GE Capital Corporation. Capital Times recently interviewed Dammerman to help employees get to know this man who is no stranger to GE Capital. Also, while Nayden is well-known to GE Capital employees from his 22 years with the company, most recently as the chief operating officer (COO), Capital Times had the chance to talk with him about his new role.
“ We have the best business model in financial services. It doesn’t make sense to just throw that away because Dammerman or anybody else walks in the door. But that does not mean that we can’t be better.”
–Dennis Dammerman
Capital Times: While being CEO is a new position for you in GE Capital, we understand you have a long history with our organization.
Dammerman: I first joined GE Capital in February 1976 in a financial planning and analysis job, followed by a position in Fairfield (GE Corporate headquarters)
Although the roles have changed,
Dennis Dammerman (left) and Denis Nayden have a long standing relationship as a result of
Dammerman's seat on the GE board and
their joint work on Kidder Peabody.
Capital Times: Most employees in GE Capital know who you are, but they mat not know much about your background.Nayden: I came right out of business school and joined what was then “GE Credit” in 1977. So this is my twenty-second year. GE is the only company I have ever worked for.
where one of my responsibilities was to help Jack Welch understand GE Capital. I came back to Capital in 1979 as comptroller, and then in 1981 I took over as the leader of what was then called the Commercial Finance “department.” Six months later, I was asked to run one of our three “divisions.” I had the Real Estate Division that dealt with such things as commercial real estate, mortgage insurance, mortgage banking, manufactured housing, and second mortgages. Then I became CFO of GE. I never really got very far away from GE Capital in the CFO world. Year in and year out, the business that I spent the most time with was GE Capital.
This exposure kept me very close to GE Capital, and more importantly, gave me an opportunity to get to know a lot of people.
At our Leadership Meeting in January, I think I knew nearly half of the people. I’ve spent almost 32 years with GE and for almost 25 of those years, Capital has been a very big part of my career.
Capital Times: You've seen a lot of change in that time. Nayden: Back when I joined the company, we were a North American company earning barely over $30 million. The contrast is so striking to today when GE is recognized as the company with the best reputation and the best leadership in the world.
Capital Times: In your new role, what do you intend to continue, and what might you change?
Nayden: Obviously, I bring my own style and personality to this job. Every individual does. What I want to do is to continue to grow as a leader. There is a difference between CEO and COO. The COO, in some respects, is the head fireman of the company. While I will clearly be involved in major issues as we go forward, we need a lot of other head firefighters to step up now. I plan to spend more time on strategy, business development, globalization, and, hopefully, with customers. And, so the change in my role is a matter of where I spend my time, not major shifts in strategy.
