Jack Welch, former chairman and chief executive of General Electric, loves to be heard. After retiring from GE four years ago and publishing an autobiography, he has now written a book on his management philosophy, titled Winning, which he is promoting through frequent speeches and media interviews. But, unlike most prodigious talkers, Welch is hardly boring. He advocates candor and practices it, strenuously.
Last month Welch visited Wharton to speak to students about his book, co-authored with his wife Suzy. In a packed auditorium, he participated in a fireside chat with Knowledge@Wharton, followed by questions from the students. Here are a few samples of the 'Welchisms' heard during the session:
· Distinctions between leadership and managing are "academic hogwash."
· "Don't take a job because your mother wants you to. Don't be a victim. You own your decision."
· "In the end, winning companies are the only thing that sustains societies like ours. Governments create nothing."
Welch has long been both celebrated, mainly on Wall Street, and scorned, mainly by unions and employees whom he axed. He has been called the standard by which CEOs should be judged because of the way he jumpstarted GE and increased its market value during his 20-year tenure. Under Welch, GE became the world's most valuable company, with its market capitalization increasing by $400 billion. In the book Lasting Leadership, co-authored last year by Knowledge@Wharton and Nightly Business Report, Welch was named one of the Top 25 most influential business leaders of the past 25 years.
"Rank and Yank"
Asked about the challenges he faced in driving that kind of performance at GE, Welch noted that the early 1980s represented a stormy time for the company, in part because GE was buffeted by competition from Japanese companies.
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