"We are socialized from childhood to soften bad news or to make nice about awkward subjects. That is true in every culture and in every country and in every social class." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Not everyone can be a great ballplayer and not every great ballplayer can be a great doctor, computer programmer, carpenter, musician or poet. Each one of us is good at something and I just believe we are happiest and most fulfilled when we're doing that. It's true on the playground and it's true in business." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Goals cannot sound noble but vague. Targets cannot be so blurry they can't be hit. Your direction has to be so vivid that if you randomly woke one of your employees in the middle of the night and asked him 'Where are we going?' he could still answer in a half-sleep stupor" ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"If you want people to live and breathe the visions, “show them the money” when they do, be it with salary, bonus or significant recognition of some sort." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Vision is essential element of the leader's job. But no vision is worth the paper it's printed on unless it is communicated constantly and reinforced with rewards. Only then will it leap off the page -- and come to life." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"An upbeat manager who goes through the day with a positive outlook somehow ends up running a team or organization filled with....well upbeat people with positive outlooks. A pessimistic sourpuss somehow ends up with an unhappy tribe all his own. Unhappy tribes have tough time winning." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"You are not a leader to win a popularity contest -- you are a leader to lead. Don't run for office. You're already elected." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Nothing matters more in winning than getting the right people on the field. All the clever strategies and advanced technologies in the world are nowhere near as effective without great people to put them to work." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Over time, many of us develop an instinct for integrity. Just don't be afraid to use it." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Being able to execute is a special and distinct skill. It means a person knows how to put decisions into action and push them forward to completion, through resistance, chaos or unexpected obstacles. People who can execute know that winning is about results." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"A person cannot make hard decisions, hold unpopular position or stand tall for what he believes in unless he knows who he is and feel compatible with that." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"The best leaders in brutally competitive environment have a sixth sense for market changes as well as moves by existing competitors and new entrants." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"A good leader has the courage to put together a team of people who sometimes make him look like the dumbest person in the world." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"A winning company does not let good people walk out the door for lack of recognition, financial or otherwise." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Unfortunately, you learn how to fire on the job, under the most stressful of circumstances. Nothing really prepares you. When it's time to let someone go, do it right. No surprises, no humiliation." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Every person who leaves goes on to represent your company. They can bad-mouth or praise. For the next five, ten or twenty years, they can bad-mouth or praise. In the most extreme cases, people take their anger public, and a few become so-called whistleblowers." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"To make change happen, companies must actively hire and promote only true believers and get-on-with-it. But with anyone claiming to like change, how can you tell who is for real? Luckily, change agents usually make themselves known. They're typically brash, high-energy and more than a little bit paranoid about the future." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Information you try to shut down will eventually get out and as it travels, it will certainly morph, twist and darken. The only way to prevent that is to expose the problem yourself. If you don't, you can be sure someone will do it for you and you will look the worst for it." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Strategy means making clear-cut choices about how to compete. You cannot be everything to everybody, no matter what the size of your business or how deep its pockets." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Fight the conqueror syndrome. Think of a merger as a huge talent grab -- a people opportunity that would otherwise take you years of searching and countless fees to headhunters. Don't squander it. Make the tough calls and pick the very best --- whatever side they're on." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"A great job can make your life exciting and give it meaning. The wrong job can drive the life right out of you." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting money or feeling indifferent to it or anything in between. But if you're not honest with yourself about those feeling during the first years of your job journey, you'll end up doing a lot of second guessing later." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"You need to find 'your people' the earlier in your career the better. Even if a job seems ideal in every other way, without the presence of shared sensibilities, it's not ideal for you." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Over the course of our careers, we all take jobs to meet the needs or dreams of other people -- parents, spouses, teachers or classmates. That's not necessarily wrong, unless you don't realize you're doing it. Because working to fulfill someone else's needs or dreams almost always catches up with you." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"All careers, no matter how scripted they appear, are shaped by some element of pure chance. In the long run, luck plays a small role in your career than the factors that are within your control." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Career lust shows itself in tearing down the people around you, insulting or disparaging them in order to make your own candle burn brighter." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"To get ahead, you have to want to get ahead." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"Great bosses can be friends, teachers, coaches, allies and sources of inspiration all in one. They can shape and advance your career in ways you never experience -- and sometimes they can even change your life. In stark contrast, a bad boss can just about kill you. Not literally of course, but a bad boss can kill that part of your soul where positive energy, commitment, and hope come from. On a daily basis, a bad boss can leave you feeling angry, hurt and bitter -- even physically ill." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"In any business situation, seeing yourself as a victim is completely self-defeating. And when it comes to your career, it's an attitude that kills all your options - it can even be the start of a career death spiral." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"It is rare and lucky person who can have it all in life, all at the same time. Usually, that's not the case. Work-life balance is a swap - a deal you've made with yourself about what you keep and what you give up." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
"If you don't fulfill your own joy with your plan, all the balance in the world is just duty. One day, you'll wake up and find yourself in a special kind of hell where everyone is happy but you." ~~ Jack Welch (Book: Winning)
Hope you enjoyed reading this collection of quotes.
