Jack: Straight From the Gut

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
During his 21-year tenure as chairman and chief executive of General Electric, Jack Welch redefined business culture in America and across the globe. Today, Welch epigrams like "Fix, sell, or close" are part of our everyday vocabulary; Welch initiatives like Six Sigma have enabled many organizations to meet the demands of a highly competitive marketplace; and Welch disciples hold leadership positions throughout the Fortune 500. In Jack: Straight from the Gut, the first book ever written by GE's legendary CEO, you'll find out how a chemical engineer impatient with bureaucracy took a solidly prosperous company and remade it into an extremely profitable, aggressive, value-oriented business that serves as a model for executives from New York to New Delhi.

The first section of Welch's narrative deals with his childhood (the fierce passion and integrity of his mother, Grace — who refused to allow her son's stutter to stand in his way — resonate throughout the book), his formative experiences as he struggled to climb "out of the pile" while developing a new plastic called PPO for GE, and his ultimate accession — after two decades of hard work — to the post of chairman. As he recounts his rise through the ranks, Welch shares the principles that he believes were integral to his success. First and foremost is his commitment to creating a meritocracy in which the best people, those who truly distinguish themselves through the quality of their work, are rewarded: Nothing is as important as identifying, training, and holding on to talented people. Another core principle of Welch's is the need for speed and responsiveness; "I wanted the company," he writes, "to be more like a speedboat, fast and agile, able to turn on a dime." A third principle could be called "informality" or even "joy." As a manager, Welch loved the back-and-forth involved in a true exchange of ideas as well as the conviviality of a night out celebrating the latest victory with his team.

The second part of Jack: Straight from the Gut centers around Welch's resoundingly successful and sometimes painful struggle to modify GE's "hardware" (some business units were sold off or restructured while others, like NBC, were acquired) and its "social architecture" (the culture or values that drove the company). During this period, Welch revitalized Crotonville, GE's famous management training center, and introduced the revolutionary concept of "boundaryless" thinking into the organization. Welch tells us, "The boundaryless company I saw would remove all barriers among the functions: engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and the rest.... It would eliminate the less visible walls of race and gender. It would put the team ahead of the individual ego." The third and final section of the book discusses GE's four top initiatives over the past decade — globalization, the growth of services, Six Sigma, and digitalization — and also includes a pithy chapter entitled "What This CEO Thing Is All About," in which Welch distills the lessons of his amazing career. Throughout the latter part of the book, Welch also deals candidly with some of his most highly publicized problems, including the response to the layoffs of the '80s; his difficulties with the acquisition of Kidder, Peabody; and the Hudson River PCB problem.

Always enlightening and informative, Jack: Straight from the Gut offers us an invaluable look into the mind of the man whom Business Week calls "the most impressive CEO of his time." Although Welch doesn't portray himself as General Electric's savior (throughout the book, he generously acknowledges the contributions of his colleagues, thereby remaining true to his vision of team spirit), his book is essential reading for businesspeople and for anyone else who wants to understand the principles by which companies should be run. (Sunil Sharma)

A Review by Janet Lowe
The cover of Jack Welch's autobiography uncannily reflects what has recently come to pass at General Electric -- Jack has left the building. A relaxed, friendly, engaging Welch smiles directly into the camera -- the sweetest guy you'd ever meet now that he's retired. To see the toughest guy you would ever want to meet, the most competitive guy, the most ambitious guy, turn to the photos in the book's centerpiece. In one, a glowering Welch menacingly raises his fist to make a point. Each of these Welches is the real Welch -- they just represent who he was at different times and different places in his career. Now that Jack is no longer GE's chief executive officer, he can and does settle down for an honest, candid talk about his personal life and his remarkable 40-year career at General Electric.

Despite the numerous volumes that have been written about him before, Welch's hot-off-the-press biography is worth every penny. True, many of the details of his life, such as his relationship with his mother, his management principles, and the selection of his successor, have been covered at length. But Welch and his coauthor, John A. Byrne, have done a yeoman's job of giving more colorful details, exploring ideas in depth, and infusing the book with Welch's snap, wit, and energy.

The messages Welch hopes readers will get from the book are made clear by the words he uses over and over again -- passion, integrity, and his enormous respect for intellect. He becomes a little defensive when discussing GE's fight with the feds over polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination of the Hudson River. The chapter entitled "Go Home, Mr. Welch," about the failed Honeywell merger, makes especially compelling reading. Students of business tactics will learn nearly as much from this failure as they will from his many king-sized successes.

Although it wasn't his goal to do so, Welch displays himself in this book as a uniquely American executive at the head of a thoroughly American company. His willingness to smash through all kinds of social, political, and economic barriers shows us that American ingenuity is alive and kicking -- in fact kicking hard. It also is clear (Welch says so himself) that he has been helped throughout his career by family, friends, teachers, bosses, and mentors who gave him chances to stretch and grow to his full potential. You might even say he enjoyed a lot of luck, unless you believe that most luck is nothing more than the convergence of brains, preparation and opportunity. If you want to know how this convergence works, read Jack: Straight from the Gut.

Janet Lowe is the author of 17 business books, including biographies of business leaders Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, and most recently Welch: An American Icon. She is currently writing a book about champion mutual fund manager Bill Miller.

ANNOTATION

In anecdotal detail and with self-effacing humor, Jack Welch gives us the people (most notably his Irish mother) who shaped his life and the big hits and the big misses that characterized his career.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

As CEO of General Electric for the past twenty years, he has built its market cap by more than $450 billion and established himself as the most admired business leader in the world. His championing of initiatives like Six Sigma quality, globalization, and e-business have helped define the modern corporation. At the same time, he's a gutsy boss who has forged a unique philosophy and an operating system that relies on a "boundaryless" sharing of ideas, an intense focus on people, and an informal, give-and-take style that makes bureaucracy the enemy. In anecdotal detail and with self-effacing humor, Jack Welch gives us the people (most notably his Irish mother) who shaped his life and the big hits and the big misses that characterized his career.

Starting at GE in 1960 as an engineer earning $10,500, Jack learned the need for "getting out of the pile" when his first raise was the same as everyone else's. He stayed out of the corporate bureaucracy while running a $2 billion collection of GE businesses-in a sweater and blue jeans-out of a Hilton in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. After avoiding GE's Fairfield, Connecticut, headquarters for years, Jack was eventually summoned by then Chairman Reg Jones, who was planning his succession. There ensued one of the most painful parts of his career-Jack's dark-horse struggle, filled with political tension, to make it to the CEO's chair. A hug from Reg confirmed Jack was the new boss-and started the GE transformation. Welch walks us through the "Neutron Jack" years, when GE's employment rolls fell by more than 100,000 as part of a strategy to "fix, sell, or close" each business...and how he used the purchase of RCA to provide a foundation for the company's future earnings. There were mistakes, too-and Jack confronts them openly. In "Too Full of Myself," he describes one of the biggest blunders: the purchase of Kidder Peabody, which ran counter to GE's culture. The riveting story of his last year-the elaborate process of selecting a successor and the attempt to buy Honeywell-is also told in compelling detail.

This book is laced with refreshing interludes, such as "A Short Reflection on Golf," that capture Jack's competitiveness and the importance of friendship in his life. Destined to become a business classic, Jack: Straight from the Gut is a deeply personal journey filled with passion and a sheer lust for life.

SYNOPSIS

How is it that Jack Welch, who sits atop a company which employs nearly 340,000 people worldwide, asserts such an overall positive influence? As he reveals firsthand for the first time, Welch does it through the sheer force of his personality, together with a passion for and a keen attention to details. He does it because he encourages near-brutal candor in the meetings he holds to guide the company through each work year. With one of the most successful and influential careers in business ever, Jack Welch reveals the strategies and philosophies that put him at the top.

FROM THE CRITICS

Wall Street Journal

...a book that almost everyone still interested in business...can't afford to ignore...a very good yarn...

Newsday

...will be of interest to anyone who really cares about business...

Bernadine Healy

An American treasure, Jack Welch teaches us how a leader with keen intellect, guts, and honor can impart courage to people around him, weather unexpected storms, inspire performance, and take an organization to greater and greater heights. His formula challenges all of us and any institution striving for excellence.

Warren Buffett

Jack is the Tiger Woods of management. All CEOs want to emulate him. They won't be able to, but they'll come closer if they listen carefully to what he has to say.

Thomas Middelhoff

Jack's vision and courage, his ability to prevail, his art of motivation and, of course, his success, make him the role model of entrepreneurs and managers worldwide. Read all 12 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Jack...took an industrial giant and turned it into an industrial colossus with a heart and a soul and a brain. (Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company)  — Michael Eisner

Bernadine Healy, M.D., President and CEO, American Red CrossAn American treasure... teaches us how a leader with keen intellect, guts, and honor can impart courage to people around him... — Bernadine Healy

Warren Buffett, Chairman, Berkshire HathawayAll CEOs want to emulate him... they'll come closer if they listen carefully to what he has to say. — Warren Buffett

Michael D. Eisner, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney CompanyJack... took an industrial giant and turned it into an industrial colossus with a heart and a soul and a brain. — Michael D. Eisner

Dr. Thomas Middelhoff, Chairman of the Board, Bertelsmann AGJack's vision and courage... and, of course, his success, make him the role model of entrepreneurs and managers worldwide. — Thomas Middelhoff