Lessons about people’s capabilities and their contributions to business are valuable for all.
Jack Welch was Chairman and CEO of General Electric for twenty years, and this is a book about his time from joining to leaving the company that became his life. Apparently, Jack was seen as the ‘toughest boss in America’, and I suspect the book is trying to soften the historical edges a little. What comes across clearly is a commitment to a company and a desire to grow it. Many businesses could do better with firmer management and a realistic look at the way things are done. Jack Welch doesn’t seem to be the kind of CEO to run scared of change, no matter how painful that may be. Throughout the book, he stresses the importance of allowing good people to excel and that poor performers are probably better elsewhere. It seems a ruthless approach, but it appears to have worked for GE, and, I think, Jack would argue, it worked better for the people involved. Don’t expect a management handbook as ‘Straight From The Gut’ is too human (and full of golf stories) to be seen as a Director’s guide, but it is an extremely readable insight into big business. If you don’t like his approach, I believe there are interesting lessons about the capabilities of people and what they can bring to business for anybody, regardless of the size of the company or the position you hold within it.
The Doctor was back tonight and the new Doctor is just as good as the last. The first episode of this new series, New Earth, was great. Rose, invaded by Casandra, and shouting I’m a Chav was a very unexpected amusing moment: almost as amusing as the Doctor saving the earth with a satsuma in the Christmas episode. Saturday nights are settled until the summer then.