I found this a tough read. Wasn’t great at making his professional journey a riveting story. Just seemed like he was showing off about the large deals he was involved in.

One of my absolute favorite books of all time. Incredibly interesting to hear about all the major professional achievements and challenges that Welch faced in his 40 years with GE in great detail touching on topics such as employee training, leadership, culture, strategy, M&A, and macrotrends. The book offers a lot of key takeaways and I can definitely recommend the book to anyone interested in business and management.

I read the Chinese version in high school after a teacher recommended it. This book is the reason I decided that my only goal in college is to find out what I want to do in the rest of my life, so I tried many categories of classes. Completely ruined my GPA.

In my first master program's courses for international business, my professor started by quoting Mr. Jack Welch. I didn't pay close attention to these CEOs before, because there were just so many to remember. However, I started to change my ideas during my courses. Gradually, I realize there must be something I could learn from them. I am just still a young bloke who doesn't know the true meaning of leadership, management, corporate strategy, etc. These fancy business terms do not resonate with me. But something occurred to me last year, I felt there were something, say, wisdom or useful experience, that I could learn. To the least, these prominent business leaders must possess extraordinary ideas that make them stand out.

Since Mr. Welch is arguably the best CEO of 20th century. His autobiography is a good place to start. I spent three days closely reading every chapter. Generally, I find him unexpectedly humorous. His give-outs are general as you can expect. Be kind to people, meritocracy, quality perfection (six sigmas), trust... to name just a few. Honestly, everyone can speak these philosophy out loud these days. But from his words, it marks difference. I think this book makes me 'think' in the position of CEO. It's definitely hard to manage such a big conglomerate. Being strong is undoubtedly one critical requirement.

In addition to the routine management preach, I think the most interesting parts are the miscellaneous stories here and there. GE is a big group which consists of so many different companies. Mr. Welch normally devotes one chapter to one industry. He mentions the media company (RCA), the GE Capital, engines, medical equipment... and many more. He chronicles the development of each company, and shows readers what the challenges are. Generally, it seems GE could always break through difficulties. Mr. Welch would attribute the success to great leaderships of managers and the formidable corporate culture. It's obvious he wants every reader to believe GE is really different from other MNCs due to its unique culture.

The first 1/3 book centers on Mr. Welch's personal life and his early days in GE. Afterwards, he told the story of the career as the CEO. We can learn the history of GE (1980~2001) and the life of a great manager. I always feel awed how these people interact with other powerful figures. He played golf with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, consulting with Kissinger, and partying with chairman of Goldman Sachs. It reveals this kind of special life to us. I also find the life of CEO 'amusing': endless M&A, strategy meetings, litigations, business negotiations, and the list goes on. I hope to learn and experience more to achieve (jokingly) maybe 10% of his capability, and it would be far enough to deal with anything.

091-Straight from the Gut-Jack Welch-Biography-2001
Barack

"If you don't know what failure is, you never know how to succeed. If you don't know, you'd better not come to the game. ."

Jack: Straight from the Gut, first published in the United States in 2001. Autobiographical books. This book introduces Jack Welch's life experience and heart course for most of his life.

Jack Welch, born in Salem, Massachusetts, in November 1935, died in March 2020. He attended the University of Massachusetts at Ames and the University of Illinois at Champaign. In 1960, he joined GENERAL Electric's Plastics Division as soon as he graduated from Ph.D.

In 1971, Welch became the General Manager of GE's Chemical and Metallurgical Division. In August 1979, he became vice-chairman of GM. In April 1981, Welch became the youngest chairman and chief executive in GE's history. Welch officially retired in September 2001.

Part of the directory.
1. Build self-confidence.
2. Stand out.
3. Take off the roof.
4. Fly under the radar.
5. Close to the big leagues.
6. The sea is wide with the fish leaping.
7. Facing the reality
8. Vision.
9. The "middle son" years.
10. RCA trading.

Undergraduate In the course of Business Management, the teacher suggested that we compare Li Ka-Shing and Jack Welch. They do have many similarities and differences. Both are good leaders and entrepreneurs who can talk about people who have influence in a region or even around the world; The former is like water, calm and calm, while the latter is more like fire, and his passion and talent can be seen from a far away.

In business management, Welch firmly believes in the "number one, two" principle, and the rule of the people. To sell all the businesses that the company can't do in the top three in the industry, and to combat the bureaucracy of the company, a company with tens of thousands of people will inevitably encounter this problem and attract talent by the measure of competence.

Entering the 1990s, Welch was given a variety of auras by public opinion, but in the early1980s, the whole GE was full of confusion, anxiety, and confusion. Over five years, about a quarter of its employees left GE, bringing the total to 118,000, and the company was nervous up and down, wondering what would happen to them tomorrow. Welch has also been labeled a "middle-of-the-post jack" and "America's toughest boss."

The reality is often to judge a person under the principle of success or defeat. Because we can only judge a person by his actual results, not by speculation about the future. If Welch does not have the support of former chairman 的 Reggie and the board, as usual, to step down, so that the reform of the. Or that his approach, while correct, did not apply to GE in that era, leading to the company's reform without the great success of the late years. What would people say about Welch?

Bai Guyi wrote in "Speaking Five", "Give a king a law to decide the fox suspect, do not drill turtles and wish ." Test jade to burn three days full, the identification of materials to wait for seven years. Zhou Gong fears gossip day, Wang Mangqian did not usurp the time. To make the original body will die, life-long authenticity who knows."

I think that if Welch is in Li Ka-Shing's position, he may not be able to achieve such great success, and if Li ， Ka-Shing is in Welch's position, he may not be able to grasp the historical opportunity. There are too many able people in this world, but only with internal advantages, even half of the conditions required for success may not be achieved. External time, land, and people are also extremely important.

What's the difference between water and fire? Water is in the dark, fire is in the light, water is not necessarily inferior to fire, but hiding very well, it is difficult to find water is the invisible champion. It is those who have lost to the sailors, far more than those who have lost to the fire.

Business is more like a world-class restaurant, and when you peek through the doors of a restaurant's kitchen, the food looks far less good than being in fine china and putting on a table. Business is chaos and chaos. In our kitchen, I hope you will find something that will help you realize your dreams. There is no absolute truth or management secret here. But there was a philosophy in my journey. I follow some of the basic ideas that work for me, and integrity is the most important of them. I always believe most simply and directly. ."

I now truly understand the meaning of "failure is the mother of success". No one's dreams and dreams develop in a straight line. I am a living example. This is the story of a lucky man. He had no plans, was different, and although he bumped into each other, he was always moving forward. In one of the world's most famous businesses, he survived and thrived. It's even the story of a small American city. I never forgot my roots, even after I had seen a world I had never heard of before. ."

"If I have any leadership style that allows everyone to play to their strengths, I think it's all down to my mother." Patience and enterprising, enthusiasm, and generosity are characteristics of the mother. She is very good at analyzing people's personality traits. She always comments on everyone she meets. She said she could "smell the crooks a mile away." She is very warm and generous to her friends. If a relative or neighbor comes to the house and praises the glass in the cupboard for its good style, the mother doesn't hesitate to take it out and give it to him.

But on the other hand, if you offend her, you have to be more careful. She resents anyone who betrays her trust. I inherited my mother's character. Also, many of my management philosophy can be seen in my mother's prototype, such as the following principles: to succeed through competition, to face reality, to use the way to motivate others, to set demanding goals, and to strictly track the progress of the work to ensure the smooth completion of the task. The insight she has cultivated in me has never gone away. Mother always insists on facing reality.

One of her famous words is: "Don't deceive yourself." That's what it is. She always warns me, "If you don't study, you'll be nothing." Nothing. There is no shortcut to learning. Don't deceive yourself! These are the hard and firm advice that haunts my mind every day. My mother's words always correct me whenever I cheat myself that a transaction or a serious problem that is about to arise in business will miraculously turn around. ."

Everyone in life needs to continue to receive positive support and teachings from the outside world. The education we receive before the age of 20 is most important to the growth of our lives. Of course, not everyone is so lucky, some people have a happy family and a healthy family, some people grow up in a malicious family and a vile and vicious family. If we live in the environment of the former, we must either cherish it. On the other, we should not give up hope, but we should continue to re-educate ourselves after I leave my native family and start living independently.

Perhaps the greatest gift my mother gave me was self-confidence. That's what I'm trying to find and build on every executive I've worked with. Self-confidence gives you courage and can fully release your energy. It allows you to take more risks and achieve more brilliant success than you think. Helping others build self-confidence is an integral part of leadership. It comes from providing opportunities and challenges for people like that to do things they never thought they could do - reward them in every way they can after each success. ."

When my father came back, he was always carrying a bundle of newspapers left behind by the passengers on the train. So from the age of six, I've been learning about current affairs and sports news every day, thanks to the abandoned Boston Globe, The Herald, and The Record. Reading these newspapers every night became a lifelong hobby. To this day I am still addicted to news. ."

There is no standard answer to this question. This is the same for most business issues. This process helps you get closer to the dark side of things. There are a few answers that are not white or black. And in more cases, the requirements for smell, sensation, and touch in business are as important as numbers, sometimes even higher than numbers. If we have to wait for the perfect answer, we will miss the whole world. ."

By the time I left Illinois in 1960, I was sure what I liked, what I wanted to do, and, equally important, what I was not good at. Although my expertise is relevant, I am not the best scientist in any case. Compared with many of my classmates, my character is more outgoing, I belong to the kind of people who like people more than books, like sports more than like the development of science and technology. I think these abilities and interests will be very applicable to a job that involves both technology and business. ."

Some people are lucky enough to realize early in life what kind of life direction they should roughly choose. Some people are bumpier, perhaps not until the age of 20 or even 30 years old to know their way to go. And more people's lives are regrettable, they may always be in an indispensable state of life, they feel that they like the current state of life, but do not want to bear change and risk, in the established 在track of life as inertia to go on. No, don't live like this. To find, to continue to find their way.

"All I want to do is "stand out." If I only answered his question, it would be hard to get noticed. Whenever bosses ask questions, they already have their answers in mind. They just want to be confirmed again. To show that it's different, I think my answer should be broader than the questions asked. I want to give more than just answers, but unexpectedly fresh ideas. ."

I was impressed by Gatos’s recognition that he thought I was different and special. Since then, differential treatment has become an essential part of my management. The standard pay increase I received 40 years ago may have pushed my actions to the extreme. But treating differences is very extreme in itself, rewarding the best talent while eliminating those who are inefficient. Strictly enforcing differentiation can produce real stars - they can create great causes. ."

Feminism may satisfy most people. But as long as we read history carefully, we will find that the number of people who play a key role in great causes is often very small. Most people are only helping them with their careers. Perhaps they provided some information and advice to these minorities, but they ended up in a collective way, rather than as a distinct, determined individual.

"Everyone has to think they have a part in the game, but that doesn't mean everyone on the team should be treated equally. Back in My time at Pittsfield, I had a deep understanding of how to effectively configure the best athletes. Whoever can best configure athletes will succeed. This is no different for business, as Ruben Gatos has repeatedly stressed. Successful teams come from differential treatment, that is, retaining the best, eliminating the weakest, and always striving to raise standards. ."

When people make mistakes, the last thing they want is punishment. What is needed most at this time is encouragement and self-confidence building. The priority is to restore self-confidence. I think when a person encounters a difficult or setback, the human cloud is also the most undesirable behavior. ."

In times of crisis, human clouds can easily plunge people into what I call the "GE vortex." This can happen everywhere. You can see that once a leader loses confidence, starts to panic, and gradually plunges into a bottomless hole of self-doubt, a so-called "GE vortex" occurs. I've seen this happen to the general managers of strong, smart, and confident multi-billion dollar companies as well.

When things go well, they usually do well, but once they've made some bad plans or a loss-making deal - not for the first time - self-doubt begins to slowly erode them. So they started to have no idea about everything, and they agreed to every proposal so that they could get out of the meeting room early or put it off until later. ."

Our success depends on a group of crazy people who believe we can do anything. We're scared, and we're dreaming - try everything crazy to make plastic products successful. ."

I long for such a passion, a passion to devote myself to a cause that I consider great. I knew before I started that I was going to have all sorts of difficulties, but it was as much fun to try to overcome it as it was to win a game.

"One beautiful spring day, after work I went to the parking lot to drive my brand new convertible. The first time I pressed the lever to put the awning down. At this time, a hydraulic pipe suddenly broke, dirty black oil sprayed on my suit, but also destroyed my beautiful new car in front of the paint. I made a fool of me at once.

I've been floating around all this time, and now the smell is pulling me back to reality. It's a good lesson that when you think you're a big guy, something happens that wakes you up. For me, this will be the last time it happens. ."

Forget when you're happy when you're down, you're depressed. This is human nature. This means that most people will do so. If you want to be different, then you must be able to resist this temptation from the depths of your soul. Be cautious at peak and optimistic at low ebb.

"Between 1965 and 1968, we developed very fast, and I took the next leap. In early June 1968, nearly eight years after joining GE, I was promoted to general manager of the $26 million plastics business. This is a top priority for me because at 32 I became the youngest general manager of the company. ."

2016/10/15
2020/04/14

Good read. Similiar to reading Iacocca. Though halfway through the book found it difficult to keep proceeding, but pursued it and got it complete.

Does provide some really good ideas too.
For example, when judging a person to be hired use this - Energy, Energize, Edge and Execution.

How energetic is the person
How good is he at energizing the people around him
How good is his edge or decision making skills. Especially in tense situations.
How good is his execution skills.

Overall, its a solid book that can be used as a textbook reference to turn to whenever you need ideas or operating methods because Jack Welch does indeed talk about numerous problems and how he and his people solved them.

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.

A fairly straightforward, self account by Jack Welch. Not much fluff. He doesn't spin a yarn nor give in to the temptation to exaggerate his impact. Therefore, in certain respects, the book can be rather dry. However, there is much good to be learned from it.

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

Having worked for RCA during the GE buyout, it was interesting to see his point of view.

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.

I have sold to GE, and really enjoyed reading about what Jack did here. I doubt that his super meeting focused method would work in software, but it seems to have worked in GE. There is some debate now as to whether Jack Welch was a great of terrible CEO. I disagree with his pitting his subordinates against each other, and his choice of CEO basically destroyed the company (there is no more GE.) So I guess overall, I'd have to give him a poor grade. Perhaps like Steve Balmer of Microsoft. However, I loved the book and there is a lot of good advice in here.

PS - I used to sell to GE so it was fun for me to read about some of these people I heard about or met.