Jack Welch (Jack Welch): biography, books

Jack Welch did not stand at the origins of General Electric - the company was more than a hundred years old when he took over the reins, but he managed to transform it and write books about it. To the surprise of many experts who argued that GE is too big for its shares to grow, and investing in it makes sense only for the sake of dividends, in two decades the management of Welch increased its cost by 40 times.

The boy-stutterer

Jack Welch was born on November 19, 1935 in Peabody, Massachusetts. His parents, father John Francis Welch and mother Grace, tried to instill in the son a sense of self-confidence that was useful to him throughout his career.

As a child, Jack stuttered a little, but this did not prevent him from excelling in school and sports. In 1957 he received a degree in chemical engineering and in 1960 defended his doctoral dissertation, after which he began working at General Electric as a junior engineer.

Always give more than they ask

Jack Welch, whose biography in GE began with the development of a new plastic for industrial use, polyphenylene oxide (PPO), worked with a small development team. Due to GE's extensive structure, he ultimately had to "sell" his project to senior researchers to get their help.

Welch has established a good relationship with Ruben Gutoff, the executive director of GE, always doing more than he was asked to do. When the manager needed a project analysis, Jack provided it along with an analysis of the costs of similar products from competing companies such as DuPont. It was part of his strategy to stand out from the crowd, exceeding expectations and offering a new and possibly valuable perspective to his superiors.

Failed dismissal

When the bureaucratic nature of a large corporation, like GE, began to irritate Welch, in particular the same allowances for all employees of the first year of work, he tried to retire. However, Gutoff persuaded him to stay, offering him a large increase in salary and promising managerial positions in the future. So Rudolph agreed to help Jack bypass some of the bureaucratic procedures that flooded GE. The particular attitude he received from the executive director strengthened his confidence in the policy of differentiation he subsequently adopted. Jack Welch, whose quotes are very popular, said in this regard: "Differentiation puts forward energetic and extraverted people and underestimates modest and introverts, even if they are talented."

Big Bang

In 1963, Jack Welch received another lesson in working with people. The chemical plant exploded and, although no one was hurt, the shaking young man had to drag himself onto the carpet to Charlie Reed, the head of the higher-level link for giving explanations. Instead of scolding the subordinate, Reed focused on what conclusions were drawn from the incident and asked him for advice on how to avoid explosions in the future. Welch left the office with renewed self-confidence and even more committed to GE.

When the vacancy of the head of the project for the realization of RRO products was opened, Jack began to pester Gutoff with requests to take this place, despite the lack of experience in this field. He obviously had some talent for the seller, because the appointment was received. Welch made it a tradition to celebrate the success of his team, organizing a party every time the amount of orders reached $ 5000. Successful sales of the team in 1968 led to the appointment of Jack as general manager of the entire plastics division, the youngest in GE.

Jack Welch: The History of the Manager

The plastic was not respected by General Electric, as the company tried to reach an unrealizable level after several years of capital-intensive research. Welch, young and opinionated, predicted that the GE plastics business will double and compete with DuPont, a giant in the production of chemical products. Jack and his team went on an unprecedented promotion. He envisioned billboards, radio promotion, and even a public demonstration of the goods in the parking lot when Major League player reliever Danny McLane threw balls at Welch, who held a sheet of industrial plastic as a protection.

Jack achieved his goal of doubling the business for three years and thereby strengthened the management style. He was frank and even a little callous when dealing with incompetence, quickly dismissing anyone who did not meet his requirements, but he was also very generous with those who matched them. It was expected that the employees approved by him had to work hard, but also paid them very well. Based on the results achieved in 1971, Jack Welch was promoted to the management of the entire chemical and metallurgical branch of the company.

Cadres decide everything

Jack Welch focused on hiring and retaining the best people, only on a larger scale. The way he recruits and fires the cadres has attracted unfriendly attention from the top management of GE. The company increasingly focused on the experience and the perverse system of personnel evaluation as criteria for promotion, but Welch, promoting and hiring people on their merits, challenged this system.

In 1973, in his report, he wrote that one of his long-term goals was to become the company's CEO. In the same year, Welch was promoted to the level of managing several units with a total value of $ 2 billion. Unable to penetrate deeply into each direction from x-rays to semiconductors, he began to appreciate even more the people who run the business. From 1973 to 1980, he used this concept - the staff above all, each time occupying increasingly responsible posts.

A dark horse

By 1977 it became clear that Welch's success at every post made him a dark horse in the race for the position of CEO of Reginald H. Jones. In the test, all the candidates were invited to the headquarters of the corporation and got into management of its large sections. Jack got consumer goods and services. Part of this portfolio included a business that Welch liked right away - a loan. Later, as CEO, Jack will make the credit unit the growth engine of General Electric.

Decisive error

Competing for the top appointment, Welch made one notable mistake. Strangely enough, later it helped him to succeed. He proved his ability to achieve results and make tough decisions with respect to loss-making business, but he was worried about his strong-willed sense of competition. When the cost of purchasing Cox Communication's cable and broadcast units began to grow with each negotiation, Welch canceled the deal.

He spent more than a year trying to convince the GE board of the need for such an acquisition and now had to admit that he made a mistake. For some council members, the fact that Welch made a mistake and acted quickly to correct it became an argument in his favor. In 1980, with the consent of the board, Reginald Jones informed him that he would be the new executive director.

Jack Welch is the winner

The way from the junior engineer to the general director took 20 years, a stunning rate of climbing the stairs in a corporation with 29 levels of management. One of the first things Jack Welch did - the winner as the company's manager, there were steps to abolish these levels to make way for people and ideas.

Throughout his career, such simple principles as "cadres decide everything" and the constant desire to anticipate and exceed expectations allowed Welch to get out of the crowd. There is no doubt that Jack had great confidence in himself, but only the efforts that he invested in people and the trust made him a great manager and helped him transform the company as CEO.

Personal life

The first wife of Welch Carolina gave him four children. In April 1987, the spouses in a friendly manner divorced after 28 years of marriage. The second wife, Jane Beasley, was a former associate and merger lawyer. The wedding took place in April 1989, and the divorce in 2003.

The third wife, Susie Wetlaufer, is co-author of Jack Welch's "Winnings". At one time she worked as an editor of the Harvard Business Review. Jane Beasley, at that time still a wife, learned about the novel and informed the management of the magazine. In the beginning of 2002, Vetlaufer was forced to resign, recognizing the connection with Jack during the preparation of his interview.

Books

• In 2003, the book Jack: Straight from the Gut.
• Book Winning was published in 2005 and won first place in the list of bestsellers "Wall Street Journal".
• In 2006, it was followed by "Winning: 74 of the most complex issues in modern business."

In 2009, Welch founded the Institute of Management of his name, in the development of the curriculum of which he personally participated.