WinningBy Jack Welch, Suzy Welch
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$27.95
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$18.45 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
List Price:
$27.95
Price:
$18.45 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
Product Description
Jack Welch knows how to win. During his forty-year career at General Electric, he led the company to year-after-year success around the globe, in multiple markets, against brutal competition. His honest, be-the-best style of management became the gold standard in business, with his relentless focus on people, teamwork, and profits.
Since Welch retired in 2001 as chairman and chief executive officer of GE, he has traveled the world, speaking to more than 250,000 people and answering their questions on dozens of wide-ranging topics.
Inspired by his audiences and their hunger for straightforward guidance, Welch has written both a philosophical and pragmatic book, which is destined to become the bible of business for generations to come. It clearly lays out the answers to the most difficult questions people face both on and off the job.
Welch's objective is to speak to people at every level of an organization, in companies large and small. His audience is everyone from line workers to MBAs, from project managers to senior executives. His goal is to help everyone who has a passion for success.
Welch begins Winning with an introductory section called "Underneath It All," which describes his business philosophy. He explores the importance of values, candor, differentiation, and voice and dignity for all.
The core of Winning is devoted to the real "stuff" of work. This main part of the book is split into three sections. The first looks inside the company, from leadership to picking winners to making change happen. The second section looks outside, at the competition, with chapters on strategy, mergers, and Six Sigma, to name just three. The next section of the book is about managing your career—from finding the right job to achieving work-life balance.
Welch's optimistic, no excuses, get-it-done mind-set is riveting. Packed with personal anecdotes and written in Jack's distinctive no b.s. voice, Winning offers deep insights, original thinking, and solutions to nuts-and-bolts problems that will change the way people think about work.
Jack Welch knows how to win. During his forty-year career at General Electric, he led the company to year-after-year success around the globe, in multiple markets, against brutal competition. His honest, be-the-best style of management became the gold standard in business, with his relentless focus on people, teamwork, and profits.
Since Welch retired in 2001 as chairman and chief executive officer of GE, he has traveled the world, speaking to more than 250,000 people and answering their questions on dozens of wide-ranging topics.
Inspired by his audiences and their hunger for straightforward guidance, Welch has written both a philosophical and pragmatic book, which is destined to become the bible of business for generations to come. It clearly lays out the answers to the most difficult questions people face both on and off the job.
Welch's objective is to speak to people at every level of an organization, in companies large and small. His audience is everyone from line workers to MBAs, from project managers to senior executives. His goal is to help everyone who has a passion for success.
Welch begins Winning with an introductory section called "Underneath It All," which describes his business philosophy. He explores the importance of values, candor, differentiation, and voice and dignity for all.
The core of Winning is devoted to the real "stuff" of work. This main part of the book is split into three sections. The first looks inside the company, from leadership to picking winners to making change happen. The second section looks outside, at the competition, with chapters on strategy, mergers, and Six Sigma, to name just three. The next section of the book is about managing your career—from finding the right job to achieving work-life balance.
Welch's optimistic, no excuses, get-it-done mind-set is riveting. Packed with personal anecdotes and written in Jack's distinctive no b.s. voice, Winning offers deep insights, original thinking, and solutions to nuts-and-bolts problems that will change the way people think about work.
Customer Reviews
High on the "Stories from Utopia" bookshelf This is a pleasant to read book that unfortunately has (almost) nothing to do with corporate reality. A better title for it would have been "Winning in Utopia". Admittedly, I don't have 40 years experience but I changed tack a couple of times yet never found a corporation where Jack's word come even close to describing how it works. Reasoning in "game theory" terms makes me think the vast majority of companies are very, very unlike what Jack describes. Jack himself inadvertently gives this away when recounting the story of the Q&A session with about 5000 HR professionals. In Utopia, the Chief HR sits right next the CEO, but when asked about their companies, only a few out of 5000 Real World Chief HR officers rise their hands acknowledging to having such a privileged position. I am most willing to admit that GE is an exception (that's probably part of why it's one of the most valuable companies in the world). In the Real World, "candor" gets you stabbed and killed. Because most aspiring leaders know that, nobody takes the risk. Perfoming solidly might earn you "chits" but you can easily squander a year of solid performance by candidly speaking out one truth that proves inconvenient to your boss. On the other hand, sucking up to your boss consistently earns you large amounts of chits with less risk. Bosses are human too, they can't help but be pleased when flattered. In big organizations from the real world, middle managers feel like small cogs, the interests of their immediate boss are much closer to them than those of the distant and fuzzy concept of "Acme, Corp.", the company they are working for and which pays their salaries. Moreover, bosses have bosses too, so promoting "energetic, energizing, edge, execute, passionate" people would involve needless risks. Much better to promote their chums, guys that "get it", made in their image, loyal as they themselves are loyal to their own bosses. When you think of it, this is a proven system, it was called "feudalism" and thrived for several centuries. In our modern world it's the system that makes the various mobs (Cosa Nostra, Camorra, N'drangheta, etc.) compete so successfully. Admittedly, it doesn't work so well when there's fierce competition, but then you can still call on the politicians to protect your industry, which is what happens most of the time ... So, read this book but for your own sake, make sure you are working for an Utopian company before trying to apply any of Jack's recommendations, or else you're a dead man and you won't be able to sue Jack for it ...
Clarifying Business This book can be largely digested by most people out there. You don't need an MBA to pick up on the points that Jack makes. His abrupt, simple-but-thoughtful and clear advice is refreshing and relevant. Very thought provoking and motivating.
Exceptional Business Advice This is exceptional business advice from a legendary executive. The content is straight forward and sensible, yet profound. Welch takes what can be hard-to-grasp concepts and translates them to layman's terms. It's sound advice for business professionals on all levels, from the manager running a department to the small business owner to the executive running a Fortune 500 company. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to all managers, whether they're looking to improve themselves, their team or their company, or looking to take the next step in their career. -James Moreno San Fernando (Los Angeles), CA
High on the "Stories from Utopia" bookshelf This is a pleasant to read book that unfortunately has (almost) nothing to do with corporate reality. A better title for it would have been "Winning in Utopia". Admittedly, I don't have 40 years experience but I changed tack a couple of times yet never found a corporation where Jack's word come even close to describing how it works. Reasoning in "game theory" terms makes me think the vast majority of companies are very, very unlike what Jack describes. Jack himself inadvertently gives this away when recounting the story of the Q&A session with about 5000 HR professionals. In Utopia, the Chief HR sits right next the CEO, but when asked about their companies, only a few out of 5000 Real World Chief HR officers rise their hands acknowledging to having such a privileged position. I am most willing to admit that GE is an exception (that's probably part of why it's one of the most valuable companies in the world). In the Real World, "candor" gets you stabbed and killed. Because most aspiring leaders know that, nobody takes the risk. Perfoming solidly might earn you "chits" but you can easily squander a year of solid performance by candidly speaking out one truth that proves inconvenient to your boss. On the other hand, sucking up to your boss consistently earns you large amounts of chits with less risk. Bosses are human too, they can't help but be pleased when flattered. In big organizations from the real world, middle managers feel like small cogs, the interests of their immediate boss are much closer to them than those of the distant and fuzzy concept of "Acme, Corp.", the company they are working for and which pays their salaries. Moreover, bosses have bosses too, so promoting "energetic, energizing, edge, execute, passionate" people would involve needless risks. Much better to promote their chums, guys that "get it", made in their image, loyal as they themselves are loyal to their own bosses. When you think of it, this is a proven system, it was called "feudalism" and thrived for several centuries. In our modern world it's the system that makes the various mobs (Cosa Nostra, Camorra, N'drangheta, etc.) compete so successfully. Admittedly, it doesn't work so well when there's fierce competition, but then you can still call on the politicians to protect your industry, which is what happens most of the time ... So, read this book but for your own sake, make sure you are working for an Utopian company before trying to apply any of Jack's recommendations, or else you're a dead man and you won't be able to sue Jack for it ...
Clarifying Business This book can be largely digested by most people out there. You don't need an MBA to pick up on the points that Jack makes. His abrupt, simple-but-thoughtful and clear advice is refreshing and relevant. Very thought provoking and motivating.
Exceptional Business Advice This is exceptional business advice from a legendary executive. The content is straight forward and sensible, yet profound. Welch takes what can be hard-to-grasp concepts and translates them to layman's terms. It's sound advice for business professionals on all levels, from the manager running a department to the small business owner to the executive running a Fortune 500 company. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to all managers, whether they're looking to improve themselves, their team or their company, or looking to take the next step in their career. -James Moreno San Fernando (Los Angeles), CA
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