Winning by Jack Welch
Winning by Jack Welch The book Winning by Jack Welch was written in 2004. It is a straight forward book that goes into all aspects of running a business and becoming a successful leader. The author was the CEO of General Electric for over 20 years. Welch retired in 2001 and spends his time traveling around the world giving speeches, answering questions and giving advice about how to be able to run a successful business. After a couple of years of touring and giving advice he decided to put it down on paper and wrote the book Winning. Welch takes a look at every level of a business, whether it is a large or small company, the philosophy and practices should be the same. The book is divided into four sections. The first section is called Underneath It All and it takes a look at missions, values, using candor, differentiation and voice and dignity. The second section is called Your Company and has sections about leadership, hiring, people management, parting ways, change and crisis management. The third section is titled Your Competition and deals with strategy, budgeting, organic growth, mergers, acquisitions, and six sigma. The fourth section is about Your Career. It discusses areas such as finding the right job, getting promoted, hard spots and having a work-life balance. UNDERNEATH IT ALL takes a look at what goes on behind the scenes is getting a business up and going. The one thing that stood out to me in this first section and is mentioned time and time again throughout the book is candor. Welch has talked about using candor for over twenty years and is amazed that it is not used as much as it should be. Welch actually calls the lack of candor “the biggest dirty little secret in business” (p. 25) Welch believes that people should not be afraid to say things like they are. Say what you feel, etc. He believes that a company will run much better with candor going on. Welch has a theory about candor that he calls the Candor Effect.