February/08: Cross The Art of War with The Devil Wears Prada, and you might have something like this raucous, revealing, and irreverent portrait of business mega legend Jack Welch. Welch's speechwriter of 20 years, Bill Lane, takes readers “backstage” and introduces the real, uncensored Jack and shows that Welch’s ability to lead came directly from his ability to win hearts and minds with his words.
Whether he faced angry congressmen, critical shareholders, or hostile union members, Welch knew how to win hearts and minds. Jack's ability to lead came from his ability to communicate and his intolerance of others who could not communicate clearly. As in politics, communication equaled the ability to lead. From his controversial firing of the bottom 10 percent of managers to his staggering increase of GE's capitalization to $400 billion, JACKED UP: The Inside Story of How Welch Talked GE into Becoming the World’s Greatest Companygives readers get an up-close, fly-on-the-wall view of Welch's riskiest moves: his falling out with his top lieutenant, Gary Wendt, the Long Bow Key analyst presentation that ignited GE's explosive stock growth, his “circle the wagons” reaction to Larry Bossidy's surprise departure to run Honeywell, and other landmark events
What's the funniest chapter? The chapter called Why Gary Wendt. .
What is Jack really like? He’s a live wire: intense, funny, profane, brutally frank.
What advice can readers glean? How to give a great presentation. You are guaranteed to clean up your act by reading this book!
Who is in this book? Jane Welch, Larry Bossidy, Don Imus, Warren Buffett, Herb Kelleher, Dennis Dammerman, Joyce Hergenhan, Bob Wright, Jim McNerney, Bob Nardelli, Jeff Immelt, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and Maria Bartiromo.
Will I learn anything new about GE? Yes. Bill Lane gives us an insider’s view on Larry Bossidy and Gary Wendt’s departures from GE, the horse race that led to Jeff Immelt’s becoming CEO, and other highlights of the Welch year
What is Bill Lane like? He is a Hummer-driving, ex-Green Beret, golf-crazy, Long Island bred wordsmith who lives in Easton, CT with his wife Beth.What is the main point and why does it matter? Jack was a great leader because he was a great communicator. This is the transferable lesson in JACKED UP.
JACKED UP describes Welch's most outstanding speeches, outspoken opinions, outrageous philosophies, and outside-the-box principles that teach and inspire, shock and provoke, all at the same time. Like Jack himself, it's bold, brilliant-and a real kick-in-the-pants for the business world.