Winning

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.

• Introduction
  "Every Day, There Is a New Question"
• Underneath It All
1. Mission and Values
   So Much Hot Air About Something So Real
2. Candor
   The Biggest Dirty Little Secret in Business
3. Differentiation
   Cruel and Darwinian? Try Fair and Effective
4. Voice and Dignity
   Every Brain in the Game
• Your Company
5. Leadership
   It's Not Just About You
6. Hiring
   What Winners Are Made Of
7. People Management
   You've Got the Right Players, Now What?
8. Parting Ways
   Letting Go Is Hard to Do
9. Change
   Mountains Do Move
10. Crisis Management
    From Oh-God-No to Yes-We're-Fine
• Your Competition
11. Strategy
    It's All in the Sauce
12. Budgeting
    Reinventing the Ritual
13. Organic Growth
    So You Want to Start Something New
14. Mergers and Acquisitions
    Deal Heat and Other Deadly Sins
15. Six Sigma
    Better Than a Trip to the Dentist
• Your Career
16. The Right Job
    Find It and You'll Never Really Work Again
17. Getting Promoted
    Sorry, No Shortcuts
18. Hard Spots
    That Damn Boss
19. Work-Life Balance
    Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Having It All (But Were Afraid to Hear)
• Tying Up Loose Ends
20. Here, There, and Everywhere
    The Questions That Almost Got Away

A positive surprise, as it is not as self-congratulatory as his first book, even if the tendencies are still there (but what do you expect?).

But it is in no way a masterpiece, nor will you find any holy grail of management in here. What you'll find is a successful CEO that explains what he believes is the reasons he ultimately succeeded (that is, survived until retirement) as well as some of the mistakes he did and he wants you to avoid making.

You don't have to like him or his legacy or agree with him fully (it covers a lot of ground, so you'll probably agree with on some points regardless) to find it interesting reading. Enjoy.