Authors: Jack Welch,Suzy Welch
Tags: #Non-fiction, #Biography, #Self Help, #Business
This question came from the reporter who moderated my Q & A session at a management conference for about three thousand people in London:
Do you plan to enter politics?
In a word—never.
It’s not that I don’t appreciate government. We’re all grateful to the public servants who have made national security and the eradication of terrorism their lifework. On top of that, government provides other services that are vital to a thriving society—schools, hospitals, and police, to name just three.
But government, for all the good it does, is filled with all the problems that business has, but nobody seems to have the latitude to fix them.
Basically, government is riddled with bureaucracy, waste, and inefficiency. In a company, you can clean those up, and you have to. In government, they’re forever.
Why? For one, because it’s difficult to move people up or out based on merit. Most government agencies have no differentiation to speak of. You can work for forty years, never excel or make a dent in results, and still get an annual raise. For another, you just cannot speak or act candidly in government without getting nailed. It is a world filled with compromise, patronage, and quid pro quo.
Yes, all these behaviors exist in business, but managers can rally against them on their own, or join a company that does so as a matter of course.
Finally, governments can afford to be bureaucratic because they don’t compete. During the last election season, the governor of Indiana created a big hoopla around the fact that he was going to withdraw the state from an outsourcing project that one of its departments had started in India. There was much cheering him on as a role model of patriotism. It had to make you laugh. It was easy for the governor to withdraw from India—in the public sector you don’t have to provide the highest value products or find the lowest cost solutions in order to create revenue. You can just keep raising taxes to pay for everything.
So, as important as government is, it’s just not for me. This book makes the point that it is always better to do something you love.
I’ve taken my own advice on this one.
I’ve received this question everywhere:
How’s your golf game?
Wow, do people love golf! Everywhere I go, perhaps because I stuck a chapter on golf in my last book, people ask about my handicap and whether it’s improved since I retired.
The answer is, I don’t play anymore.
And, believe it or not, I don’t miss it all that much.
My obsession with golf lasted almost sixty years, from my first days playing and caddying at age ten until my first back operation in 2002. I’ve had two more back operations since then, and thankfully, my back is better now. But I’m sure not inclined to test that proposition with a golf swing. If you’ve had back problems, you probably understand where I’m coming from.
But in the absence of golf, a whole world of new interests has opened up to me. You can’t believe how much time is available when you’re not on the golf course all the time! I’ve loved consulting with several companies and their CEOs. I’ve also found I’m crazy about modern art, and I’m getting to live out my lifelong devotion to the Red Sox by attending as many home games as I can. I’ve been able to travel around the world with my wife and four stepchildren and enjoy the sights beyond conference rooms and factories, and been able to meet the many interesting people whose questions grew into this book.
I have always loved new stuff. Looking forward, learning, and growing have always felt good to me. Golf was wonderful. It gave me great friends that I’ve enjoyed for decades and always will, and all the fun of competing.
But when you can’t play, you can’t play—and amazingly, the world doesn’t even end.
And finally, this question was posed by an audience member at a management conference in Frankfurt attended by about twenty-five hundred people:
Do you think you will go to heaven?
After a few seconds of stunned silence, my first answer to this one was, “Well, I sure hope that’s long-range planning!”
But after the audience stopped laughing—they were as surprised by the question as I was—the man who asked this question made it clear that he wanted to understand what I considered my legacy.
First off, I hate the word
legacy.
It just sounds so arrogant. Presidents and prime ministers have legacies. I ran a company and wrote a book or two.
But here we are at the end of this book, and the question did get asked, so I’ll attempt an answer.
If there is anything I would like to be remembered for it is that I helped people understand that leadership is helping other people grow and succeed. To repeat myself, leadership is not just about you. It’s about them.
I would also like to be remembered as a huge advocate of candor and meritocracy, and believing everyone deserves a chance. And I’d like to be remembered for trying to make the case that you can never let yourself be a victim.
Now, it is no secret that I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my career. I’ve made some bad acquisitions, hired some wrong people, and moved too slowly on some opportunities. And that is just a fraction of the list.
As for my personal life, I have four great children and nine terrific grandchildren. My love and admiration for them cannot be expressed with words, and their happy, fulfilling lives today give me no end of pleasure. I had two marriages, however, that did not work out. Life goes on and usually for the better, but no one lives through two divorces and feels proud that they happened.
So, as for heaven, who knows? I’m sure not perfect, but if there are any points given out for caring about people with every fiber of your being and giving life all you’ve got every day, then I suppose I have a shot.
Given the choice, of course, I’d rather not find out anytime soon!
There’s so much more to do.
B
USINESS IS ABOUT PEOPLE
. In fact, life is only people—family, friends, colleagues, bosses, teachers, coaches, neighbors. At the end of the day, it is only people that matter.
People made this book. First, there were the thousands of men and women around the world who, as my dedication says, cared about business enough to raise their hands and ask the questions that fill these pages. I thank them for candidly sharing their stories, talking openly about the ever-changing challenges of work, and for helping me codify my thinking about how to get it right.
I am also deeply grateful to the people who took an hour or two (and often more) to talk with me about their experiences so that the ideas in this book could be filled with life: Bill Harrison and Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase; Steve Klimkowski of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare; George Tamke, a partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice; David Novak, who runs Yum! Brands; Bob Nardelli of The Home Depot; Robert Bagby of A.G. Edwards; Perry Ruddick, the retired vice-chairman of Smith Barney; Maxine McKew of the Australian Broadcasting Company; Kevin Sharer of Amgen; Jimmy Dunne of Sandler O’Neill & Partners; my old friend Paolo Fresco, former vice-chairman of GE and retired CEO of Fiat; Gerry Roche of Heidrick & Struggles; Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City public schools; Jim McNerney of 3M; Paolo Monferino of Case New Holland; Dara Khosrowshahi of Expedia; and Chris Navetta of U.S. Steel; and from GE, Bill Conaty, Gary Reiner, Susan Peters, Dennis Dammerman, Mark Little, John Krenicki, and Charlene Begley. Bob Nelson, my financial analyst at GE for many years, was a helpful reader along the way.
Several people don’t appear by name in this book, but their ideas were critical in shaping its content. Linda Gosden Robinson, president of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, shared her considerable experience with us for the chapter on crisis management. For the chapter on work-life balance, I am indebted to Professor Stew Friedman of the Wharton School, and Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, of the executive search firm Egon Zehnder. The chapter on mergers and acquisitions was helped by a long, insightful conversation with M & A expert David Fubini of McKinsey & Company. And my (tiny) newfound knowledge of philosophy is totally thanks to the insights of Nancy Bauer, a professor at Tufts University.
This book started with two pages of scribbled notes about what it could be. The finished product in your hands is thanks to a stellar group of people, most notably the 4Es-and-a-P people at HarperCollins: our wonderful editor, Leah Spiro, whose probing mind and passion for this book never ebbed; Jane Friedman, a fervent believer and unflagging advocate from the get-go; and Marion Maneker, whose deep wisdom guided us all the way. We are also grateful to the terrific team that marketed this book; Joe Tessitore, whose savvy, energy, and decisiveness brought this book home, as well as Brian Murray, Stephen Hanselman, Paul Olsewski, Keith Pfeffer, and Larry Hughes; the book’s designer, Leah Carlson-Stanisic; its copy editor, Anne Greenberg; and Knox Huston, its editorial assistant. Our agent, Helen Rees, was a dear friend and enthusiastic supporter, and Megan LaMothe did tenacious duty as our fact checker.
My assistant, Rosanne Badowski, read every draft of this book, challenged the content, picked apart phrases, and made every chapter better. Her caring and attention were remarkable, and I thank her for the endless hours she gave this project.
Finally, there aren’t enough words to thank my wife, Suzy, for the job she did on this book. Her relentless questioning pulled out of me every idea I ever had about business, and her ability to organize and rephrase my (in many cases) random observations made this book so much better than I ever dreamed it could be. I always tell people that Suzy is just about the smartest person I have ever met, and during the last year of writing this book, she has proved it and then some. For every chapter you read in this book, Suzy wrote and rewrote countless drafts, and yet she never took a break from being an amazing mother to her four great kids. Every day, she astonishes me.
For the last year, we have had the greatest time day and night, debating and discussing all the material that went into this book. The conversation never stopped! As I traveled the world, meeting people, answering questions, and asking plenty of my own, Suzy was by my side, listening, analyzing, and opening my mind to what I knew and what more I could know.
It was hard work—and pure joy. Suzy, you made it happen.
Jack Welch
Boston
February 2005
ABC
accountability
mission and
victimhood vs.
accounting fraud
mission-values disconnect and
prevention of
Sarbanes-Oxley Act and
acquisitions.
See
mergers and acquisitions
Africa
African American Forum (GE)
A.G. Edwards
Ahold
AIDS
AIG
Ailes, Roger
Airbus
Albertsons
AlliedSignal
Amazon
American Standard
Ames, Chuck
Amgen
AOL-Time Warner merger
Arthur Andersen
Artigas, Ric
Asian financial crisis
authenticity
career management and
in job choice
in job search
leadership and
autonomy
Bagby, Robert
Bank of America-Fleet Bank merger
Bank One
Bauer, Nancy
Begley, Charlene
Belichick, Bill
Ben & Jerry’s
best practices
as competitive advantage
continual improvement of
seeking out and improving
sharing of
three warhorses of
values and
work-life balance and
big aha, the
biotechnology
Blair, Jayson
Boeing
Bonsignore, Mike
bonuses
budgeting and
motivation and
See also
compensation
Borg Warner
bosses
boss’s top priority
confrontation and
enduring difficult
going over boss’s head
political capital and
self-assessment and
trade-offs and
work-life balance and
boss haters
Boston Red Sox
boundarylessness
See also
best practices
BP
Bronfman, Edgar
budgeting
candor and
implementation of
link to compensation
Negotiated Settlement approach
operating plan as alternative
Phony Smile approach
stretch goals for
Buffett, Warren
bureaucracy
organization chart and
See also
layers
business and society
AIDS and
corporate governance and
government contracts and
tsunami victims’ aid and
U.S. Steel Kosice and
volunteering and
business culture.
See
company culture
Campbell, Jim
candor
benefits of
in budgeting
implementation of
importance of
integrity and
leadership and
in people management
in performance reviews
rarity of
reasons for lack of
career lust
career management
evaluation system and
factors in
finding first job
finding right job
gender and
getting fired
getting on radar screen
getting promoted
hindrances to
job choice and
job fit, characteristics of
luck and
mentors and
mergers and
political capital and
setbacks and
stalls in
working for adversarial boss
work-life balance and
“car wrecks,”
Case, Steve
Case Corporation
Cathcart, Si
Cavuto, Neil
CBS
celebration, importance of
change
hiring and promoting to implement
importance of connecting to clear purpose
response to resisters
seizing adverse opportunities
change agents
charged relationships
Chase Manhattan-J.P. Morgan & Co. merger
Chemical Bank-Manufacturers
Hanover merger
China
competition and
future of
joint ventures with
resource allocation and
Churchill, Winston
Citigroup
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
CNBC
CNH Global N.V.
CNN
Coca-Cola
communication
about change
during crisis
with customers
about mission and values
strategy and
company culture
candor and
deviance from
differentiation and
good corporate governance and
integrity and
job fit and
learning culture
merger fit and
mission and
societal concerns and
values and
voice and dignity and
work-life balance and
compensation
budget operating plan and
differentiation and
job choice and
mission and
as motivation
severance packages and
See also
bonuses; rewards
competition
best practices and
as boss’s top priority
budget process and
candor and
change initiatives from
China threat and
conventional responses
differentiation and
European Union and
Five Slides assessment approach
job seekers and
mergers and acquisitions and
Six Sigma and
strategic position and
three warhorses of
unions and
Conaty, Bill
conqueror syndrome
continual improvement
Continuum Series
Cooke, Janet
corporate boards
corporate culture.
See
company culture
corporate scandals
mission-values disconnect and
cost reduction
candor and
as competition response
Six Sigma and
Cox, Vivienne
crisis management
changes wrought by
company survival and
emotional experience of
five assumptions of
full disclosure in
ineffective
media and
ownership of solution in
plan of action for
prevention of
underestimation of problem
Culligan International
cultural differences
differentiation and
mergers and acquisitions and
work-life balance
cultural fit,
See also
job fit; work-life balance
culture.
See
company culture
customer loyalty
DaimlerChrysler
Dammerman, Dennis
Dance, Dave
Dead Man Walking effect
deal heat
De Beers
Dell
de Molina, Alvaro
differentiation
controversy around
cultural values and
definition of
fairness of
firing and
importance of
leadership and
management of middle
management of top
underperformance and
dignity.
See
voice and dignity
Dimon, Jamie
Disney
Disney World
disrupters
diversity
Donegan, Dick
Dunne, Jimmy
DuPont
earn-out package
eBay
Ebersol, Dick
edge
EMI
employee brand phenomenon
energize
energy
and leadership
positive
Enron
entrepreneurship
change and
China and
New Europe and
See also
leadership
ethics.
See
fraud; integrity; values
EU (European Union)
evaluation system.
See
performance evaluation
execution,
See also
best practices
Expedia
exposure quota
face time
fairness
family.
See
work-life balance
Fast Company
(magazine)
FedEx
feedback.
See
performance evaluation
Fernández-Aráoz, Claudio
Fiat
Financial Times
firing
aftereffects of
candor and
of change resisters
Dead Man Walking effect
for economic reasons
emotional impacts of
for integrity violations
job comeback after
as manager’s job
mistakes of
mutually agreeable parting vs.
for nonperformance
performance evaluation system and
surprise elimination in
See also
layoffs
first job
Five Slides assessment
Fleet Bank-Bank of America merger
flexibility
budgetary
work arrangements
Ford, Henry
Fortune
(magazine)
4-E (and 1-P) framework
for new ventures
Fox News Channel
France
fraud
prevention of
Sarbanes-Oxley Act and
See also
corporate scandals
Fresco, Paolo
Friedman, Stew
FTD
Fubini, David
Gandhi, Mohandas
Gartner, Michael
Gary Drug
Gates, Bill
GE (General Electric)
audit staff of
best practices and
core values of
corporate board of
Crotonville training center of
diversity and
exposure quota and
globalization and
mission of
unions and
GE Aircraft Engines
GE Appliances
GE Capital
GE Consumer Products Group
GE Fanuc Automation
GE Medical
GE90 engine
GE Plastics
GE Power Systems
GE Transportation
Giuliani, Rudy
globalization
GM (General Motors)
golf
government,
See also
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Grossman, Larry
growth
budget process and
career and personal
mergers and acquisitions as
organic
strategic competition and
Grupo Bimbo
gut calls
Gutoff, Reuben
Harrison, Bill
Hasbro
Heidrick & Struggles
Henson, Dan
Hewett, Wayne
hiring
acid tests of
FAQs (frequently asked questions) about
4-E (and 1-P) framework for
gut calls in
interview process and
of leaders
mistakes in
See also
people management
Hitachi
Home Depot, The
honesty.
See
candor; integrity
Honeywell
HR (human resources)
qualities needed for
strategy and
work-life balance and
Hume, Brit