Must Read Summaries - Winning - Jack Welch and Suzy Welch

What does it take to win? This is the sole question everyone in business should be focused on each day. When your business wins, there are many great flow-on effects and benefits people have the opportunity to grow, more jobs are created, more taxes are paid, shareholders get a return on their investment and the list goes on and on. Winning companies are literally the engine of a healthy economy, and the pinnacle of the free enterprise system. Pure and simple companies and people have to find a way to win day-in and day-out. There are no easy formulas that can be used, or any exotic or mysterious shortcuts involved. Winning can be brutally hard to achieve but when everything comes together and you win, great things happen.

Business is a game, and winning that game is a total blast!

Jack Welch

JACK WELCH was CEO and chairman of General Electric Company from 1981 to 2001. During his tenure, the companys market capitalization increased by $400 billion, making GE the worlds most valuable corporation. Since leaving General Electric, Mr. Welch has founded his own business advisory firm and he now consults with a small group of Fortune 500 CEOs and speaks to businesspeople and students. He is also the author of Jack: Straight From The Gut.

SUZY WELCH is a former editor of the Harvard Business Review and the author of numerous articles in the business press on leadership, creativity, change and organizational behavior.

A personal business philosophy

These four principles should underpin everything you do in business.

1. Mission, Values - Your corporate mission and values must reinforce each other.
   
2. Candor - You have to tell the truth and live with the consequences.
   
3. Differentiation - Let your best people rise to the top. Run a meritocracy.
   
4. Voice, Dignity - Get the best ideas you can, regardless of who suggests them.
   

How to look at your company

These principles cover how you should run your company.

1. Leadership - Help others realize their full potential as human beings.
   
2. Hiring - Getting the right people on board is a key to success.
   
3. People - Help your people work together, grow and stay motivated.
   
4. Firing - Always work to make the process tolerable for all involved.
   
5. Be a change agent Find ways to use a constant state of change to advantage.
   
6. Managing a crisis - Dont forget to run your business, even during a crisis.
   

How to look at your competition

These principles encapsulate how you should view the world outside your organization.

1. Strategy - Focus more on implementing and less on theorizing.
   
2. Budgeting - Turn the budgeting process into a partnership for growth.
   
3. Organic growth - Starting something new from inside something old is great.
   
4. Mergers - Avoid the usual pitfalls to make mergers work.
   
5. Quality - You need some program which will enhance quality over time.
   

How to build your career

These principles cover how to manage the arc and quality of your professional life.

1. The right job - If you find the right job, it wont even feel like youre working.
   
2. Getting promoted - Do all you can to be in the right place at the right time.
   
3. Managing bosses - Face the issue head-on and either accept it, fix it or leave.
   
4. Balance -4 Know what you really want and then stick to what you decide.
   

Your career

If you find the right job, it wont even feel like youre working. Instead, you wont be able to get to work and make your contribution. Choose something you love to do, alongside people you like, and give it your all.

How do you tell when youre in the right job?

• Youll like the people you work alongside a lot. Youll genuinely respect how they think.
  
• Your work will give you an opportunity to grow as a person and within your chosen profession.
  
• Your job will give you experience and credentials that are worthwhile in an industry which has a bright future.
  
• Youll feel comfortable with your choice, and confident youre doing things for the right reasons.
  
• Youll love the work it will feel like youre doing something meaningful and fun.

Its virtually impossible to plan your career in advance to any great degree of precision. Some of the companies you end up working for may be in industries that didnt even exist when you started out on your career path. And there will be times when you take a trade-off job which isnt exactly what youre looking for but which will provide you with something that will be helpful in the future.

The whole point is dont give up. You really can find a job that just feels right for you. Stay attuned to the signals you get from your positions and build your career. The right opportunity will materialize sooner than you might think if you just keep looking with an open mind and the right attitude.

Taking into account the fact luck will always play a part in getting promoted, do all you can to be in the right place at the right time with the appropriate list of achievements to your name. Dont try and look for shortcuts because there arent any in this area.

To position yourself so you have the greatest chance of successfully getting promoted into the position you want:

• Deliver sensational performance well beyond your managers expectations. Take the initiative to expand your job description to include some bold activities that will generate a positive surprise for your boss.
  
• Toe the party line and dont force your boss to expend any political capital defending you within the organization. Make it easy for your boss to champion you to his or her boss.
  
• Manage your relationships with your subordinates intelligently and make the people you work with look good. Theres no need to dim someone elses candle to make yours burn brighter, so be smart in this area. Make lots and lots of friends and supporters as you try to move up.
  
• Get on the radar screen by becoming an early champion of your organizations major projects, initiatives and ideas. Doing this can increase your visibility appreciably.
  
• Search out and ask for input from multiple mentors and take advantage of the real-world advice these people will provide you. Reciprocate by mentoring others as well.
  
• Stay positive and be known for having a can-do attitude within your organization. Bring your sense of humor to work with you and be fun to hang out with. Dont take yourself too seriously or fall into the trap of acting pompously.