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Jack: Straight from the Gut (平装)
by Jack Welch
| Category:
Leadership, Management, Execution |
| Market price: ¥ 178.00
MSL price:
¥ 168.00
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MSL rating:
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| MSL Pointer Review:
We can't discuss leadership without mentioning Jack Welch, and to understand this incredible manager, you have to read this book and its follow-up Winning. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 11 items |
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Warren Buffett (Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
All CEOs want to emulate him... they'll come closer if they listen carefully to what he has to say. |
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Michael D. Eisne (Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
Jack... took an industrial giant and turned it into an industrial colossus with a heart and a soul and a brain.
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Publishers Weekly (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
It doesn't matter whether you love or hate Jack Welch. Who can resist hearing the man tell his story? This abridged version of his recently published autobiography, featuring Welch himself, is quite entertaining. With his slightly raspy Boston accent, Welch discusses his childhood and his career. When he proclaims something, he gives examples to illustrate his point. For instance, he says his mother was the strongest influence on his life. He then recalls the time he threw a hockey stick across the ice in disgust after losing a game, and his mother stormed into the locker room as some teammates were changing to exclaim loudly, "If you don't know how to lose, you'll never know how to win." When discussing his long career at GE, Welch is equally detailed. While some listeners unfamiliar with the corporation may find some of the discussions tedious, most will be captivated by what appears to be Welch's brutal honesty. He talks about having to lobby for promotions because he didn't "fit the GE mold," and he's open about making some poor business decisions. He's not as forthright as it appears, though. He talks about his beloved wife, Carolyn, who provided a stable home while Welch was rising in GE's ranks, but barely mentions their divorce. Still, this audiobook will be interesting listening for anyone who has followed Neutron Jack's career. |
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Bryan Carey (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
Jack Welch gives many important tips throughout the book, on what works and what doesn't, when it comes to managing employees. Much of what he says seems very simple and glaringly obvious, but it's surprising how few companies actually follow the same philosophy. For example, Welch points out that high- performing workers should be recognized and rewarded for their great performance on the job, through either promotions, stock options, pay bonuses, or a combination of incentives. As obvious as this idea sounds, there are many companies who practice the opposite philosophy. I once worked at a company where it was common practice to give rewards to the worst employees. The rationale behind this is that a poor performer might get the boast in morale that he/she has been looking for, and improve performance, when a reward is given to him/her. This, of course, is counter- productive and it encourages weakness, but the management at my company couldn't see this. Like Welch would point out, this is going to hurt the long- term success of the company because the best employees will look elsewhere for more rewarding work, while the weakest employees will remain, still performing as poorly as before.
Welch does show humility in the book, which is good. He admits that he was starting to get a little full of himself at one time, but the Kidder- Peabody deal and the failed attempt to acquire Honeywell brought him to his senses. In other parts of the book, he even criticizes himself for some of his decisions and points out that it was really the great workers at GE whom he owes much of his success.
With such a large company to deal with, Welch knew that his every move would always be subjected to harsh scrutiny by the media. On some occasions, he admits that he was personally hurt by the critics, like when the media started to refer to him as "Neutron Jack", a reference to the fact that many GE jobs had been trimmed during Welch's reign, but the buildings were still standing. Welch knew that this type of criticism came with the job, and he was able to stand up, lick his wounds, and move on with his leadership of the company.
There isn't quite as much personal information in this book as you might hope. Welch spends less than 20 pages talking about his years as a youth and his days in college. He also makes just a brief mention of his four children, and his marriage to his second wife, Jane. Even though the book is considered to be an autobiography, most all of it details the day-to-day life at GE, with the bulk of the book dedicated to Welch's career as CEO.
I did find out some things about Welch that I didn't know before reading this book. For instance, I didn't know that Welch began his career at GE as a Chemical Engineer and I didn't know that he earned a PhD. Not many CEO's begin their climb up the corporate ladder as a Chemical Engineer, and very few have a PhD. I also had forgotten about GE's ownership of NBC and RCA, and I didn't realize that Jack Welch was one of the people who had to negotiate the huge salaries for some of NBC's actors and television show hosts.
Jack Welch has come a long way from his beginnings in Salem, Massachusetts, to the helm as the leader of one of the world's largest corporations. It's been an interesting ride for Welch, who himself has described the job of CEO as "wild... fun... outrageous... crazy... passionate... etc.". He doesn't seem to have any regrets about the company or his overall handling of its business affairs. He admits that some mistakes were made, but he seems content overall.
On a personal level, Welch states that the only regret is that his own parents did not live to witness his success. He often alludes to what it would have been like for his proud parents to see their son meeting with the U.S. president and other important heads of state from around the world. His mother died in 1965, and his father in 1966, so they never had the pride of witnessing their son's great achievements.
Jack Welch is now retired, but he will be remembered and consulted for advice for many years to come. He left behind a very strong legacy of success with GE. His twenty years as CEO were not without a few disappointments, but they were some of the happiest and most successful of his life, both personally and professionally. His successor, Jeff Immelt, has his hands full, standing in the shadow of one of America's most popular and successful corporate leaders: John F. "Jack" Welch Jr. |
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Gerald Kroese (MSL quote), The Netherlands
<2007-02-13 00:00>
Jack Welch was General Electric Chairman & CEO from 1981 to 2001 and is seen as one of the greatest business leaders of the 20st Century. The book is split up in five sections, an epilogue and the issue I read included a revised afterword.
Section I - Early Years deals with Welch's youth, his education (PhD), his start at General Electric (GE) Plastics as engineer in October 1960, and his promotions within from engineer to general manager of GE Plastics in June 1968 ($26m in annual sales), VP of GE's chemical and metallurgical division in July 1971 ($400m), GE group executive in June 1973 ($2bn), and GE senior executive for the consumer products businesses in December 1977 ($4.2bn). The final chapter of this section discusses the race between 5 senior executives for the succession to Reg Jones (GE Chairman & CEO). And in December 1980 Welch got the nod from Reg Jones and on April 1, 1981, he officially took over. Although Welch's performance was good, it was still a surprise for many, including Welch himself: "Obviously, I wasn't a natural fit for the corporation. I had little respect or tolerance for protocol. I was an impatient manager, especially with people who didn't perform." General Electric at that time had annual sales of $25 billion, with profits of $1.5bn, and 404,000 employees.
Section II - Building a Philosophy discusses Welch's early, turbulent years as CEO. "I came to the job without many of the external CEO skills... But I did know what I wanted the company to "feel' like" He discusses the No.1 or No.2 vision ("fix, close, or sell"), the three circles (services, core, and high technology), the outright sales of businesses (the air-conditioning business, Utah International, and the appliance business, whereby the last sale did not go down well with GE employees), and the cutbacks in many parts of GE (headcount went down 118,000 between 1980 and 1985; 81,000 lost their jobs and 57,000 in sold businesses). Due to all this actions Welch was nicknamed "Neutron Jack" in mid-1982 by Newsweek: "The guy who removed the people but left the buildings standing." ("I hated it, and it hurt") Late 1985, GE made the strategic acquisition of RCA for $6.3bn cash, who was then the biggest non-oil deal in history. In this section he also discusses the strange, but successful, combination between Bob Wright ("a light bulb maker") and NBC, which led to success in cable TV, CNBC, MSNBC, and NBC itself. One black mark on Welch's reign has been the saga regarding the PCB contamination of the Hudson River, which has been going on for 25 years. That particular experience has changed Welch's perception of government and he makes clear that he (still) does not agree with the government's stance towards GE on this case.
Section IV - Game Changers discusses the four major initiatives GE pursued in the 1990s: 1. Globalization: Global sales went from $9bn in 1987 (19% of GE's overall sales) to $53bn (40%) in 2001, which Welch believes mainly grew out of Paolo Fresco's passion and appointment as senior VP in 1987. 2. Services: The successful service experiences from the medical business and the revised strategy of the nuclear business were shared and implemented into the other GE businesses. This has resulted in the growth from $8bn in 1995 to $19bn in 2001 and a possible $80bn by 201o. 3. Six Sigma: Through Welch's friend and ex-GE Vice Chairman Larry Bossidy (than CEO of AlliedSignal) Six Sigma was introduced in 1995. Six Sigma means less than 3.4 percent defects per million operations. "That's 99.99966 percent of perfection." 4. E-business: "The internet revolution nearly passed me by - until [second wife] Jane made me comfortable with it" (in 1999). Welch admits that he never fell for the old vs. new economy during the dot-com era. "... the only extra expense is for Internet development. The big company already has strong brands and the systems to fulfil orders." In 2000 GE had $7bn on-line sales and $14-15bn in 2001. "E-business and GE's installed base are made for each other."
In Section V Jack Welch looks back and forward. The first chapter discusses the insulting treatment of GE by the European Commission regarding the $44bn acquisition of Honeywell International in 2001, where he gets told to "Go home, Mr. Welch." The next chapter he discusses what it means to be a CEO: "Being CEO is the nuts!" In that chapter he discusses shortly about 30 ideas that worked for him. "There's no pat formula to this CEO things... Pick and choose among them, or just toss them all." There is also a short chapter on the game of golf, which is one of Welch's largest passions - and he is good at it with a handicap of about 3. There is quite a long chapter on the GE succession in 2001, which was eventually between 3 executives, and the planning that went into that succession. There is also a short epilogue and a slightly longer afterword (with comments on his post-retirement package from GE).
Yes, this is unmistakably Jack Welch's autobiography. It is blunt, fast and straight to the point. Although the book is about 450 pages long, it reads as a much shorter book and he could probably have filled another 450 pages. Jack Welch is considered as one of the great business leaders of the 20th century, together with the likes of Alfred P. Sloan. But the autobiographies of Sloan ("My Years with General Motors") and Welch hardly have any comparisons. Sloan's autobiography is much more detailed, while Welch's is more "helicopter view". I do have a few comments about this autobiography, there is not enough on the "real work" that took place, not enough on the "execution tools", and not enough on the financial numbers during his time at GE (within an appendix in future editions perhaps?). I recommend Larry Bossidy's book "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done" to people interested in the "real work" and execution tools used at GE during this period. Still, a good entertaining business autobiography. |
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Carlos Velez (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
I won't rehash much of what has been said already. Rather, I'll share some specific, random thoughts on this book.
1. I think we can divide the book into three general timeframes: Childhood & pre-GE, GE before becoming CEO, then the CEO years. Each one is interesting, but for different reasons. Jack is living proof that it's not where you come from that counts, but what you do with what you have and want (goals) that leads to success.
2. The notion of identifying and replacing the bottom 10% of your employees every year remains a radical concept, in my view. The anecdote towards the end of the book (where Jack is pulled aside by the manager of the clothing store) exemplifies how difficult this can really be. Even more difficult is the recognized need to develop processes and metrics to measure performance, then having the discipline as a organization to stick with the "rules". If you manage people, are you willing to let 10% go? If so, who? Do they know how their performance is being assessed?
3. Conversely, I've been asking myself "Am I an 'A' performer?" How am I being evaluated? Does the method of evaluation make sense, given our business? If not, how should I be evaluated? These are critical questions which are important for every manager and employee to consider. If I am a 'B" performer, how do I become an 'A'? If I am a 'C', should I leave and do something else?
4. This book finally answers the question "What does a CEO actually do?" Or, perhaps, "What should a CEO be doing?" In Jack's case, it's primarily resource management, both human and financial. He spent an extraordinary amount of time on human resources, e.g., developing systems to measure performance, assessing managerial performance, etc. His speech in the Appendix on the GE corporate "strategy" is priceless. Everyone who is a student of strategic thinking should read this brief, but important speech.
5. If I had to read only one chapter, excluding the speech in the Appendix, it would be the one explaining the concept of boundarylessness. This is a critical concept. Is your organization boundaryless? If not, how can you make it so? I know mine isn't...
Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely. While it is not intended to be an academic book on corporate strategy, it can be read in that light, and much can be gleaned from that perspective. |
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Kristine Balazs (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
Jack Straight fron the Gut by Jack welch is a must read for managers who want to keep their companies on the cutting edge and don't mind being ruthless in the process. Welch shares with readers the strategies he used to successfully lead General Electric to the dawn of the twenty-first century as a forward looking company on the grow, instead of a tired has been. The old Frank Sanatra song "I did it My Way" aptly describes how Welch feels he led. Leading from a locus of who he is rather than who others felt he should be, he became an authentic leader. Uncomfortable with bureaucracy, he reduced it. He set clear goals for his company: be one or two in the business conducted; if not, fix, sell or close it. Early in hos administration Welch eliminated nearly 20 percent of his workforce earning the title Neutron Jack. He didn't stop there.
After divesting the company of unworthy business he proceeded tp flatten the structure, and institute a continuous improvement program dividing staff into A, B, and C palyers. Promote A, grow B and say goodbye to C, oh and by the way, at least 10% of your organization is C. They have got to go! Don't stop there, repeat the process each year. "A" players after reading this book you will want to make sure your boss has a copy. Employees, if after reading this book you think you could be a "C" employee, you will want to hope that your boss never sees this rag. Welch included examples of his management rating tool and explains how he scored the A, B, and C managers.
Managing a wide ranging product line supported by a multinational workforce equal to a large city scattered around the globe could be a challenge, Welch's goal was to make the group boundaryless and entrepurnerial. This titan of business is a living textbook of what to do right to succeed. Did he do everything right? No. He shares some of his spectacular failures, including blowing the roof off a GE building early in his career, and reveals what he learned from them.
This is not an erudite tome, the style is a bit more like being in Welch's living room listening to him ruminate over his life's work. Although heavy on the ego (Jack's), it is more than just an autobiography it is a leadership training manual. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
Jack Straight From The Gut is an autobiography that tells us about a successful business man named Jack Welch. He was the CEO of General Electric (GE) and made profitable business for that company until his retirement.
In the beginning of the book, he starts telling us about his childhood and his family and he shows a sympathetic personality in those chapters. However, after few chapters, when he becomes rich and popular, his emotions are replaced for rational thoughts in order to make important business decisions that made GE one of the most lucrative companies all over the world.
When he talks about his plans and about his life inside of the company, the tone of his writing is like he is in a living room talking to us in a informal way, especially when he uses some "bad words" to describe risky situations. He shows his
personality as a common person as we are and says the same words that we do when we have something difficult to solve. This makes the reader comfortable with the writer because we can identify some similarities between both.
The book is also fascinating because there is some mystery when we think about Jack's choices to negotiate and how much money he gets in his professional field. He doesn't tell us why he makes his choices, he just chooses them and they are right. Certainly, we also can see some mistakes but when we compare his mistakes to his victories, we can consider him a winner.
In addition, in each chapter there is a surprise because he deals with all types of business. From Tv shows to airlines companies , he always tries to take advantage of the best opportunities and invest in diversification.
Another interesting point is the way that Jack works with people and his creativity to work on things such as globalization, control quality and e-business. I think he tries to follow the steps of the development around him and when we
look at him we think about him as an impeccable man. On the other hand, his personal life doesn't seem so impeccable because he doesn't mention much information about his family, and sometimes the same perfect man makes his image to be considered cold because he talks about money and business and forget
the feelings that seemed so important to him in the beginning of the book.
In conclusion, this book focus on people who are interested in how the profitable deals are made and how a company can increase its finances based on good administration. Therefore, if you are looking for this kind of information this is the perfect book but if you want to know how to deal with your family and how to show your feelings to them, try another one. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
This is the biography of a man who went further than any other man alive in realizing the American Dream. You can read this and learn, not so much how he did it, but more like how it happened to him. I would urge you to not engage in pipe dreams, however, by imagining this book can help make what happened to Mr. Welch, happen to you. Your chances are worse than the lottery. For managers, there are useful pieces of anecdotal information on all aspects of running a business efficiently. There is a lot you can take away from this book. In my opinion, Jack Welch is an imminently better role model for kids and adults to hero-worship than all the rock stars and athletes put together. He did an incredible job with his life. All in all, this is an engagingly written book which will repeatedly "wow" you. The most important lesson Mr. Welch wanted the reader to come away with is the importance of integrity, character, and leadership. I liked that. It was, properly, not within the scope of his book to get into explaining the philosophy behind why those things are important. That's why you should follow-up by reading West Point by Norman Thomas Remick, a book that in simple language will make you understand and appreciate what Jack Welch is saying about integrity, character, and leadership, and understand why he has managed to always remain humble, even in having achieved "The American Dream". |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
Too many of the reviews here focussed on Jack himself and not the book nor his accomplishments.
The book gives some excellent insight on how a meritocracy (where people who perform above and beyond are rewarded for it) should and can work. It shows how a company can actually be interested in its A-player staff and how the company can actually take actions and make plans to enhance an individuals career and skills, rather than keeping them down so they can get a leg up themselves. I was flabbergasted when I read that Jack and his immediate team took responsibility for the career planning of the top 750 managers at GE - out to six years in some places.
This book left me wanting to run out and apply for a job at GE. If you've reached a stage in your career where you feel like your no longer 'learning' from those around or above you, you'll understand what I mean after reading this book.
The only negative part for me personally was where Jack obviously added content that would interest someone who wanted to see quantifiable information related to what he did during their mergers & acquisitions ramp-up. A good portion of a few chapters focussed entirely on: researching target, pricing, and closing the deal. |
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