Summary: Jack: Straight From the Gut John Byrne

This work offers a summary of the book “JACK: STRAIGHT FROM THE GUT: The Autobiography” by Jack Welch and John Byrne.

Jack Welch joined General Electric in 1960. From 1981 to 2001, he served as chairman of the company and CEO. He takes the reader through his enormously successful career, identifying his successes, his philosophy for leading a company and how to deal with the roadblocks.

Welch was always openly ambitious: after only four years in the company he lobbied to take on a $10 million budget. At 32, he was the company's youngest general manager: in that role, he became known for encouraging debate and not tolerating protocol. When he became CEO, he began to build a philosophy that the company had previously been lacking: every aspect of the business that wasn't fulfilling its potential must be fixed, sold or closed. Welch sees this time as him “throwing hand grenades”, trying to blow up traditions that were holding the company back. He also put into place a radical HR system that put employees into A, B, or C: “A” was potential leadership, “B” was people who got the job done, and “C” were procrastinators.

Jack Welch introduced a huge amount of innovation into GE structure and strategy. Jack: Straight from the Gut is an utterly engrossing insight into a man with vision, passion and practical knowhow.