A book which explains that buisness is like war and you can only win a war if you trust your gut and you keep evolving. Must read for all the entrepreneurs.

Jack Welch : Straight from the Gut

Coming from a moderate background, brought up by a dutiful father and a strong mother, Jack Welch grows up as a Mamma boy. How he grows up and puts the loss of parents behind him forms the first part. Nothing special till now.

Then he finds entry in 100+ years old Corp in US and how he transforms himself from a salary negotiator into an exciting leader who literally blows off the roof, thankfully not resulting in any fatal losses, and faces an enquiry. And the real ride begins there on how he moves from strength to strength and attains the pinnacle point.

When you think this is the highest point of the book, you will be in for a surprise. After he takes the grand stage, challenges the status quo and transforms the company as a people factory focusing more on human resources - mentoring, rewarding by making the A-players as owners through stock grant options, promoting across functions, preventing head hunting, graceful push, collaborate with union to understand their views and through that make the opposite to understand his. If you can relate, at regular intervals, you will keep on saying wow, wow, just wow. You will find yourself wondering if he is a simple man putting complex things in a simple manner or were the things complex per se.

Then comes the absolute treat on the initiatives - Globalization, Services, e-Business, Six Sigma. Acquisitions, streamlining post mergers, litigation, bureaucracy, Constitution... name it, he takes on everything.

The book just gets better, better and better as you move on. Good number of pages have been written about his succession plan on how he goes about finding the contenders, how he narrows it down and how it gets narrowed by the situation leaving the three for the top job of the Corp. It deals in great detail on the struggle Jack Welch goes through to pick the first among the equals.

GE vs. Honeywell and talks with European Commission will unfold like a cinema before the readers' eyes; very well crafted. Through out the book, his love with Golf comes along. Believe me, he has a chapter for it as well.

Who says it is lonely at the top! You have to find the answer for it in the final pages of the great auto-bio written in collaboration with John A.Byrne.

Overall, this is an awesome read with novel feel, unputdownable...with lots of fist pumping moments. This book will find the new You in You, and (re)ignite the passion through it.

Zaposlivši se 1960. u General Electricu kao mladi inženjer s godišnjom plaćom od 10.500 dolara, Jack je potrebu da se “izdvoji iz gomile” spoznao onog trenutka kada mu je uručena povišica koja se nije razlikovala od povišice koju su istoga dana dobili i svi njegovi kolege. Podalje od korporativne birokracije ostao je i dok je, odjeven u traperice i pulover, iz ureda smještenog u hotelu Hilton u Pittsfieldu, rukovodio General Electricovim poslovnim divizijama čija je vrijednost dosizala 2 milijarde dolara.

Služeći se anegdotalnim pristupom i nerijetko šalama na vlastiti račun, u ovoj nas knjizi Jack upoznaje s velikom ulogom svoje majke Irkinje, s mnogim ljudima koji su oblikovali njegov život te s uspjesima i promašajima koji su obilježili njegovu karijeru. Vodi nas kroz razdoblje borbe za mjesto generalnog direktora GE-a, kroz godine tzv. Neutronskog Jacka, kada je u sklopu inicijative “Popravi, prodaj ili zatvori” otpustio više od 100.000 ljudi, kroz brojne poslovne krize, kroz proces izbora svojeg nasljednika te brojne druge poslovne i osobne uspjehe i padove.

Iz sadržaja:

Rane godine (izdvajanje iz gomile, približavanje društvu velikih) / Stvaranje vlastite filozofije (vizija, kupnja RCA-a, duboko uranjanje) / Usponi i padovi (prepun sebe, GE Capital, TV NBC i žarulje, kada se upustiti u borbu a kada uzmaknuti) / Promjena pravila igre (globalizacija, širenje uslužnih djelatnosti, inicijativa šest sigma i još bolje, elektroničko poslovanje) / Gledajući unatrag i unaprijed (što zapravo znači biti generalni direktor i u čemu je draž tog posla)

Interesting, just not one of the most interesting or useful business memoirs out there.

If you have ever been a part of a multinational corporation or aspire to be one, this has to be one of the most intriguing and inspiring books ever written(On the other hand if you are not interested in businesses or corporations, move on, you won't decipher half of the stuff and hence won't appreciate the words of the great man). Before reading this book (and specially post reading Steve Jobs biography and watching 'The Facebook') I used to think that being the CEO of a company must be the coolest job ever. Post reading this book I'm shit scared and convinced that I'd never wish it on an enemy.

Yes, that's not the reaction that one would expect from someone who read and UNDERSTOOD the book, right?? Well, look beyond all the glitter and fame and what you are left with is an incredibly gruelling and stressful job to describe which the world 'Thankless' would be an understatement. Yes, Jack would have made tons of dollars while being the CEO and would have met loads of influential people. But imagine being the chairman of a company as complex as GE, managing the vast array of businesses (from semiconductors to a media house to financial entities), fighting litigations with the govt, negotiating with companies on M&As, overseeing the culture of the organization, fighting scandals, firing employees, hiring new employees, managing disagreements with your partners, with the board, managing the shareholder expectations, managing the media (who is out to get you the moment you make the slightest of a mistake). I'm sure there are better ways to earn money.

However, for those who do want to experience the tough lifestyle, this man is an inspiration. He took a giant company that was riddled with bureaucracy, lacking any clear direction and thriving on fractured short term strategy. He took it, turned it into a monster at least 2 times bigger, while inculcating an incredible culture that would continue to foster growth and found out new avenues of growth that would keep the company alive for at least another 100 years. If not for Jack, this company would have died or become irrelevant long back. Imagine GE today without the capital business, without the services, imagine the US based entity as opposed to the global conglomerate that it is today.

It's interesting to compare the lives of the 2 great CEOs of our generation, Jack Welch and Steve Jobs.While Jack focused on setting up processes and systems and inculcating a culture that would enable him to manage this mammoth corporation, Steve worked with a simple idea, focusing on making the lives of the consumers simpler and built a company 3 times the size of GE. While Jack's philosophy might be necessary to run large manufacturing focused entities, I can't help but feel captivated by the simplicity of Steve's sharp focus on a single idea and maximizing its potential instead of trying to grow too many tentacles and eventually getting lost in them.

The book started with the succession plan that Jack received the great news from his predecessor, Greg, and ended with when Jack retired after leaving the throne to Jeff Immelt. There were stories about manufacturing perfection, about processes, and about M&A deals. Overall, Jack Welch seemed a good capital allocator. It was a bit sad to read the book after Jack being deceased, and that after Jeff Immelt became the next CEO, GE stock lagged the overall market. It was a bit bitter that GE, once a great company, was removed from DJIA later on.

A masterpiece on management, i loved every bit of advice rendered. Jack was just sensational; when I grow up, I want to be like him

Very informative and entertaining. I highly recommend this book to students of business.

Это прекрасная книга для руководителей. Настоящих и будущих.
Неважно, будет это собственный бизнес, огромная компания, отдел из нескольких человек, домашнее хозяйство или даже собственное тело.

Джек Уэлч - один из самых известных менеджеров 20 века. Он знаменит своей твердостью и жесткостью, однако при этом огромной креативностью, увлеченностью и, конечно, успешностью. За 20 лет работы на высшей руководящей должности компании General Electric он увеличил размеры компании в 10 раз.

Мне дал прочитать эту книгу начальник, чтобы дать мне возможность личного роста. Для меня важнее всего была психология поступков Джека. А также способность проникать в суть, без которой невозможно управиться с такой огромной компанией.

P.S. Возможно многих, как и меня, безумно раздражают книги про стартап, про то как сделать бизнес и срубать кучу бабла и прочий мусор для фантазеров из которых стоит читать 1 из 20. Эта книга не из этой серии.

Great lessons on leadership, ethics, decision making and golf..

Great book and insights.

This book ages much more poorly in hindsight. So much of the “success” of GE stock under Welch was clearly financial chicanery.