After a short stint teaching high school math, Bob McEwan spent 34 years in engineering, manufacturing and service operations at GE Aviation’s– a $20 billion division of General Electric. Bob oversaw numerous manufacturing plants and managed thousands of employees worldwide, retiring as the General Manager of GE Aviation’s global supply chain. During his career he led teams in all functions engineering, supply chain and product services.  He was instrumental establishing/executing the new product introduction system, from initial design to certification to full industrialization.  He had also hired, trained and mentored leaders throughout the GE family. Bob is certified in numerous GE management programs, most notably Six Sigma Black Belt and LEAN production systems. He also served as GE Eflun (Volunteer Organization) Chairperson from 1999 to 2001, leading more than 4,500 members and generating 100,000 hours of community service annually.

Since leaving GE Aviation in (2014), Bob has written Five Fundamentals to Unleash Millennial Talent, a book that focuses his leadership development theories on the Millennial generation. He is an executive-in-residence at Xavier University’s Williams College of Business, serving as a guest lecturer and advisor to department deans. Bob serves as local advisor to the UC Blue Ash College board supporting the dean. Bob volunteers as the President of the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati and has chaired the ALZ WALK to END ALZ for ‘19, ‘20 and ‘21 raising over $3M to find a cure for those impacted by Alzheimer disease.

He also keeps busy in the business world. He founded Bob McEwan Management Consulting, LLC as a vehicle to consult with companies regarding management, manufacturing and introducing new advanced technologies.  And he continues to consult with GE Aviation, its partners and other aerospace companies in engineering and supply chain management.

Bob holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Morehead State University and master’s degrees in education and business from Xavier University.

Bob's Approach to Leadership

Great advice is always simple, often deceptively so. Putting it into practice is another thing entirely.

Bob McEwan’s approach to leadership – both his philosophy and his ability to live it – fits this mold. Its power is evidenced not only by Bob’s success at one of the most admired companies in the world but through the dozens of careers he helped launch and nurture, at GE and beyond.

Organizations function as families, with teamwork at the critical center. The leader’s job is to instill and foster this teamwork ethic, empowering individual growth but directing individual accomplishments toward organizational goals. So, how do you do that?

Create a winning environment.

Leaders play a defining role in setting the right atmosphere for team members to bring their best work forward. Operationally, that means providing the tools and resources they need, eliminating roadblocks and communicating constantly. Philosophically, the leader must be accessible to ideas, suggestion and questions. They must recognize successes and follow through on promises. And the leader always remembers they are part of the team, too.

Identify and develop talent.

Identifying and developing talent is a strategic part of any leader’s position. They must know the strengths and weaknesses of all team members. More than anything, the leader must not fear the employee who knows more than they do. These are the employees who will birth the new ideas that enhance the overall performance of the team.

Build the team.

Statistics suggest fully 50% of American workers are “not engaged and just kind of present…they are not inspired by their work or their managers.” That is sad at best and obscenely counterproductive at worst. Engaging the team is the single most important role of the leader. The leader is the coach who is aware of how each player on the team is doing, making them feel valued and drawing out their ideas.