Winning - Jack Welch [1]
And throw they have—questions about everything from coping with Chinese competition, to managing talented but difficult people, to finding the perfect job, to implementing Six Sigma, to hiring the right team, to leading in uncertain times, to surviving mergers and acquisitions, to devising a killer strategy.
What should I do, I’ve heard, if I deliver great results but I work for a jerk who doesn’t seem to care, or if I’m the only person in my company who thinks change is necessary, or if the budget process in my company is full of sandbagging, or I’m about to launch a great new product and headquarters doesn’t want to give me the autonomy and resources I need?*
What can I do, people have asked, if managers in my company don’t really tell it like it is, or I have to let go of an employee I really like but who just can’t hack it, or I have to help lead my organization through the crisis we’ve been trying to deal with for a year?
There have been questions about juggling the colliding demands of kids, career, and all that other stuff you want to do, like play golf, renovate your house, or raise money in a walkathon. There have been questions about landing the promotion of your dreams—without making any enemies. There have been questions about macroeconomic trends, emerging industries, and currency fluctuations.
There have been literally thousands of questions. But most of them come down to this:
What does it take to win?
And that is what this book is about—winning. Probably no other topic could have made me want to write again!
Because I think winning is great. Not good—great.
Winning in business is great because when companies win, people thrive and grow. There are more jobs and more opportunities everywhere and for everyone. People feel upbeat about the future; they have the resources to send their kids to college, get better health care, buy vacation homes, and secure a comfortable retirement. And winning affords them the opportunity to give back to society in hugely important ways beyond just paying more taxes—they can donate time and money to charities and mentor in inner-city schools, to name just two. Winning lifts everyone it touches—it just makes the world a better place.*
When companies are losing, on the other hand, everyone takes a hit. People feel scared. They have less financial security and limited time or money to do anything for anyone else. All they do is worry and upset their families, and in the meantime, if they’re out of work, they pay little, if any, taxes.
Let’s talk about taxes for a minute. In fact, let’s talk about government in general.
Obviously, government is a vital part of society. First and foremost, it does nothing less than protect us all from the insidious and persistent challenges to national security that are with us now and for the foreseeable future. But government provides much more: the justice system, education, police and fire protection, highways and ports, welfare and hospitals. The list could go on and on.
But even with the virtues of government, it is critical to remember that all of its services come from some form of tax revenue. Government makes no money of its own. And in that way, government is the support for the engine of the economy, it is not the engine itself.
Winning companies and the people who work for them are the engine of a healthy economy, and in providing the revenues for government, they are the foundation of a free and democratic society.
That’s why winning is great.
Now, it goes without saying that you have to win the right way—cleanly and by the rules. That’s a given. Companies and people that don’t compete fairly don’t deserve to win, and thanks to well-honed internal company processes and government regulatory agencies, the bad guys are usually found and kicked out of the game.
But companies and people in business that are honest—and that’s the vast, vast majority—must find the way to win.
This book offers a road map.
It is