Jack

Straight from the Gut

By: Jack Welch, John A. Byrne

Narrated by: Mike Barnicle

Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

As CEO of General Electric for the past 20 years, Jack Welch has built its market cap by more than $450 billion and established himself as the most admired business leader in the world. His championing of initiatives like Six Sigma quality, globalization, and e-business have helped define the modern corporation. At the same time, he is a gutsy boss who has forged a unique philosophy and an operating system that relies on a "boundary-less" sharing of ideas, an intense focus on people, and an informal, give-and-take style that makes bureaucracy the enemy.

In anecdotal detail and with self-effacing humor, Jack Welch gives us the people who shaped his life (most notably his Irish mother) and the big hits and the big misses that characterized his career. Starting at GE in 1960 as an engineer earning $10,500, Jack learned the need for "getting out of the pile" when his first raise was the same as everyone else's. He stayed out of the corporate bureaucracy while running a $2 billion collection of GE businesses - in a sweater and blue jeans - out of a Hilton in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

After avoiding GE's Fairfield, Connecticut headquarters for years, Jack was eventually summoned by then-Chairman Reg Jones, who was planning his succession. There ensued one of the most painful parts of his career - Jack's dark-horse struggle, filled with political tension, to make it to the CEO's chair. A hug from Reg confirmed Jack was the new boss - and started the GE transformation. The riveting story of his last year - the elaborate process of selecting a successor and the attempt to buy Honeywell - is also told in compelling detail.

This is classic Jack Welch: down to earth, powerful, and filled with common sense.

©2001 by Jack Welch (P)2001 by Time Warner AudioBooks

Critic reviews

"As a self-portrait of one of America's most successful modern business leaders, Jack is remarkable for its candor." (Ther Economist)

Captivating, Educational and Informative

From the early days in Plastics to the Board Room, the book offers a glipse of the internal construct of one of the largest companies and how Jack Welch has made a positive impression. Jack's way of taking complex situations & issues and formulating a straightforward solution & process (leveraging the very talented and capable people Jack surrounded himself with) provides for an education on GE and how it has been so successful over the years. Like similar reviewer commented, Barnicle sounds just like Jack and captivates the listener throughout.

Interesting account- little practical advice

I found the stories interesting, but gleaned very little in the way of "how to" apply Jack's lessons learned to the business world.

Maybe he is being modest in recounting the tales of his rise to power at GE, but it almost seems like luck had as much to do with his success as his drive, ambition and smarts.

The narrator is excellent and sounds very much like Jack, including N.E. accent and charm.

I would have given more than 3/5 stars, but I was hoping for more practical information from the title.

Honest, Intriguing, and insightful!

Excellent! Spanning 20 years, this was more of a private history lesson on GE, Globalization, deal making, six sigma, and executive succession. A real inside look at how culture can make or break a company and an inside view of the world of movers and shakers. It was 14 hours worth of listening, that I finished in two days. A must read for all in corporate world.

Motivating - fun yet educational

Jack's stories and examples are truly motivating, the greater context of his drive and vision combined with his zero tolerance for under performers created success which shows us what we are capable of achieving in business... and anyone capable knows it'll never be easy!
I was surprised that the narration was by Jack himself, but as I listened, it made sense for this self confessed control freak to do it himself.
This book should be enjoyable and stimulating for any person with drive to achieve or a high pressure business role, it allows the mind to adapt portions of his experiences to your own circumstances. It provides an entertaining escape without losing touch with reality and is educational at the same time. - We can all learn something from this.

A must read for business management professionals

Where does Jack rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

the best book I have ever listened to that provides an interesting life story but also teaches best practices in management

marvouls book marking a great CEO

Exellent book, with lots of information about a great CEO growth, building further a great company

How Jack did it and how he thinks.

...is basically how he writes this book. It's very interesting since I was quite young in the 80s and don't remember some of the situations back then.

Jack Welch stresses the culture that he tried to breeds into GE. He explains how he was willing to make changes if it bettered the company later on in life.

Overall, great book, probably a one or two time listen though, but well worth the listen if you are interested in business culture and dealing with management.

Great entrepreneurial resource

I wanted know
a.how big companies operate
b.work and life style of CEOs
c.How an employee can grow from shop floor to helm
d.How to build a Company
e.Many more about entrepreneurial skills

This book had answers to all my questions. Great insight.

Excellent book

An excellent book to hear. One of the best I have read about advanced office politics. Inspirational, and very well written. A five star quality book. The only reservation I have is that Jack used the book to settle few accounts. Certainly not the best parts of the book!

learned a lot

I have learned lot of key ideas that can be used in business. overall a good book