Jack Welch Quotes

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Jack Welch

Profession : Businessman

Birth : November 19, 1935

Don't manage - lead change before you have to.

Jack Welch

Strong managers who make tough decisions to cut jobs provide the only true job security in today's world. Weak managers are the problem. Weak managers destroy jobs.

Jack Welch

Public hangings are teaching moments. Every company has to do it. A teaching moment is worth a thousand CEO speeches. CEOs can talk and blab each day about culture, but the employees all know who the jerks are. They could name the jerks for you. It's just cultural. People just don't want to do it.

Jack Welch

The story about GE that hasn't been told is the value of an informal place. I think it's a big thought. I don't think people have ever figured out that being informal is a big deal.

Jack Welch

One of the jobs of a manager is to instill confidence, pump confidence into your people. And when you've got somebody who's raring to go and you can smell it and feel it, give 'em that shot.

Jack Welch

Be candid with everyone.

Jack Welch

The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important - and then get out of their way while they do it.

Jack Welch

Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act.

Jack Welch

If GE's strategy of investment in China is wrong, it represents a loss of a billion dollars, perhaps a couple of billion dollars. If it is right, it is the future of this company for the next century.

Jack Welch

The biggest cowards are managers who don't let people know where they stand.

Jack Welch

Out-innovating them is the way to beat China. And to do everything that we do in this country to support innovative policy, that drives innovation and new products and more jobs and creates jobs. You can't - you can't put a wall up around here. We tried that in the '30s. It didn't work.

Jack Welch

Give me a highly successful unionized industry.

Jack Welch

Short cycle business are being impacted by credit, and are being impacted by gasoline prices, food, distribution businesses, chemical business.

Jack Welch

A strategy is something like, an innovative new product; globalization, taking your products around the world; be the low-cost producer. A strategy is something you can touch; you can motivate people with; be number one and number two in every business. You can energize people around the message.

Jack Welch

The Internet is the Viagra of big business.

Jack Welch

If you don't have public hangings for bad culture in a company, if you don't take people out and let them say, they went home to spend more time with the family. It's crazy.

Jack Welch

Any jerk can have short-term earnings. You squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, and the company sinks five years later.

Jack Welch

We've only been wealthy in this country for 70 years. Who said we ought to have all this? Is it ordained?

Jack Welch

I don't feel under-taxed in any way at all.

Jack Welch

The productivity now at universities is terrible. Tenure is a terrible idea. It keeps them around forever and they don't have to work hard.

Jack Welch