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Winning...
Winning
Jack Welch with Suzy Welch
HarperBusiness
How best to describe Winning? It is not an autobiography. It offers memoirs but only to the extent Welch draws upon his life and career to establish a context within which to pose a question, offer an example, make a key point, etc. Much of what Winning offers is, of course, relevant to business but its greater value, for me, is derived from the personal relationship which Welch immediately establishes and then sustains with his reader. Oh sure, he shares generously of what he learned during a 40-year association with G.E. Those reminiscences are both informative and entertaining. However, as Welch points out, he learned almost as much about business after he retired as CEO as he did when he worked there. Since then, "I have been asked literally thousands of questions. But most of them come down to this: What does it take to win?" His thoughtful and eloquent response to that question gives form and direction to this book. What comes through loud and clear are his obsession with achieving superior performance (especially his own), his delight in taking on formidable challenges, his passion for "winning," whatever the competition may be, and his appreciation of each new day as well as the new opportunities which it offers. Also obvious is that he possesses what Hemingway once described as a "built-in, shock-proof crap detector." I think Winning offers a wealth of sound, practical, at times unorthodox advice about leadership and management. For executives who aspire to be "winners," this is a must read. I also highly recommend the unabridged audio set (11 hours on 9 CDs) during which Welch reads from this book. The set includes a lively as well as informative interview of him by Jane Friedman, president and CEO of HarperCollins.
Concept Marketing Group, Inc.