Get Better or Get Beaten!: 31 Leadership Secrets from Ge's Jack Welch [Hardcover]

Robert Slater (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1994

GE's John F. Welch knows a thing or two about change, about management, about getting things done. In 1981, when Welch took over as CEO, GE was only 10th in market value among American public companies. By 1993, GE sales had surged to $60.6 billion and the company was sharing the market lead with the likes of Exxon and AT&T. How did Jack Welch do it? The answer: Welch implemented a tough but flexible agenda that contained some of the very best business ideas corporate America had ever seen. What if you could take some of those ideas and apply them to your own corporation, your own management style? What if you knew the secret to Jack Welch's success? Get Better or Get Beaten! examines 31 of those secrets in a fast-paced, easy-to-digest format that reads like a "manager's little instruction book." Here are the personal beliefs, bywords, principles, and techniques that helped Jack Welch become the most respected CEO in America.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Slater's second book on General Electric's chief executive officer Jack Welch in a little over a year appears to be based on his reseach for the previous work, The New GE: How Jack Welch Revived an American Institution ( LJ 10/1/92). Slater's intent is to create a "manager's little instruction book" from 31 of Welch's "secrets." These "secrets," e.g., aphorisms such as "managing less is managing better" and "go for the quantum leap," are marginally interesting insights into Welch. Often, direct quotes from Welch are used to explain what he means, but the "secrets" are not fully developed. If one wants to understand Welch better, Noel Tichy's Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will ( LJ 1/93) is probably a better book. Recommended only for comprehensive collections.
- Michael D. Kathman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Collegeville, Minn.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Over a dozen new chapters­­on everything from Workout to Six Sigma to

e-Business

How to Think, Talk, and Lead Like Jack Welch, History's Most Celebrated­­and Successful­­CEO

"If leadership is an art, then surely Welch has proved himself a master painter."
­­BusinessWeek

"Wall Street and Main Street have been spoiled by Mr. Welch and his extraordinary performance."
­­The Wall Street Journal

"Perhaps the most admired CEO of his generation."
­­Fortune

Since it first hit business bestseller lists, Get Better or Get Beaten has shown over 100,000 executives how to understand the secrets­­and emulate the successes­­of GE's legendary CEO Jack Welch. Now completely revised and updated with rules for managers in today's transformed economy, this fast-paced classic provides proven leadership imperatives for every situation, regardless of industry.

From Secret #1 ("Harness the power of change") to Secret #29 ("Use e-Business to put the final nail in bureaucracy"), Get Better or Get Beaten is today's most straightforward, easy-to-follow blueprint for real-world success. Read it, learn from it, and use it to follow in the footsteps of corporate history's most honored CEO­­GE's Jack Welch.

"Slater distills Welch's business philosophy­­an amalgam of Zen-like axioms, bromides, and tough-minded pragmatism­­in a way that will reward managers at all levels who seek to create a learning environment and transform learning into action."
­­Publisher's Weekly, on the national bestseller Jack Welch and the GE Way

Jack Welch built GE into the most successful American corporation of the late 20th century. He accomplished this by focusing on quality, insisting on innovation, and forging a series of innovative business strategies that transformed GE from an overly bureaucratic, slow moving, and self-satisfied dinosaur into a lean, agile competitor.

Like Jack Welch himself, Get Better or Get Beaten, 2nd Edition, continues to carve its own path and call its own shots. Updated to reflect the realities of today's 24/7/365 global e-conomy, this classic management manifesto gets in your face and tells you what you need to know. For virtually every business situation, it answers one overriding question­­"What would Welch do?"­­with clarity, purpose, and a singular focus on achieving bottom-line results.

Small enough to fit in your coat pocket, yet bursting with Welch's leadership secrets on every page, it paints a compelling picture of how to teach employees­­and yourself­­to accept nothing but the best. Look inside to discover:

• Strategies Welch used to pull off the largest acquisition in GE's history­­the stunning $48-billion purchase of Honeywell
• How Welch is using e-communication to energize and revitalize every corner of GE­­from the mailroom to the boardroom
• The inside story on Six Sigma­­Welch's sweeping quality initiative that is the foundation of GE's success

Jack Welch is a no-nonsense leader and has acknowledged that, when preparing for a speech, he has frequently peeked into Get Better or Get Beaten. Hard-hitting and honest, it is today's most entertaining and enlightening book on climbing to the top of today's corporate ladder­­and doing what it takes to stay there.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Irwin Professional Pub (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786302356
• ISBN-13: 978-0786302352
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,818,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Slater was born in New York City on October 1, 1943, and grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1962 and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, where he majored in political science. He received a masters of science degree in international relations from the London School of Economics in 1967. He worked for UPI and Time Magazine for many years, in both the United States and the Middle East.
Slater has written 16 books about major business personalities before his new book on Donald Trump:
' The Titans of Takeover (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1987).
' Portraits in Silicon (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987).
' This ... .Is CBS: A Chronicle of 60 Years (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988).
' The New GE: How Jack Welch Revived an American Institution (Homewood, IL: Business One Irwin, 1993).
' Get Better or Get Beaten! 31 Leadership Secrets from GE's Jack Welch (Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin Professional Publishing, 1994). This book made the business best-seller list in Japan.
' SOROS: The Life, Times, and Trading Secrets of the World's Greatest Investor (Chicago, IL: Irwin Professional Publishing, 1996). This book profiles superinvestor George Soros, and it appeared on the Business Week best-seller list.
' Invest First, Investigate Later: And 23 Other Trading Secrets of George Soros, the Legendary Investor (Chicago, IL: Irwin Professional Publishing, 1996).
' John Bogle and the Vanguard Experiment: One Man's Quest to Transform the Mutual Fund Industry (Chicago, IL: Irwin Professional Publishing, 1996). This book profiles the most important business figure in the mutual fund field.
' Ovitz: The Inside Story of Hollywood's Most Controversial Power Broker (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1997). This book made the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times business best-seller lists.
' Jack Welch and the GE Way: Management Insights and Leadership Secrets of the Legendary CEO (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1998). This is an updated look at the business secrets of General Electric's chairman and chief executive officer. It made the Business Week and The Wall Street Journal best-seller lists.
' Saving Big Blue: Leadership Lessons & Turnaround Tactics of IBM's Lou Gerstner (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1999).
' The GE Way Fieldbook: Jack Welch's Battle Plan for Corporate Revolution (New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1999).
' The Eye of the Storm: How John Chambers Steered Cisco Systems Through the Technology Collapse (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2003).
' Magic Cancer Bullet: How a Tiny Orange Capsule May Rewrite Medical History (New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2003), co-authored with Novartis CEO, Dan Vasella.
' The Wal-Mart Decade: How a New Generation of Leaders Turned Sam Walton's Legacy into the World's #1 Company (New York, NY: Portfolio, 2003). A paperback version was published in June 2004.
' Microsoft Rebooted: How Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer Re-Invented Their Company (New York, NY: Portfolio, 2004
' No Such Thing as Over-Exposure: Inside the Life and Celebrity of Donald Trump (New Jersey, Pearson, Prentice Hall, February 2005)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fine Book. But others exist., July 31, 2000

By 

Seano "seanob" (Quincy, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Get Better or Get Beaten!: 31 Leadership Secrets from Ge's Jack Welch (Paperback)

There are a series of great books available on Amazon.com that much better explore the world of Jack Welch and GE. After attending a workshop I picked up three from Amazon and two at the library. This was the weakest of the three. First, this is a poorly constructed paperback version. It is just plain cheap. Feels cheap and looks cheap. Thats it for the layout and format.

Second, many of the paragraphs seem to be cut and pasted from one chapter to another. I felt that I was re-reading essentially the same ten paragraphs scattered throughout the book. Very frustrating because it indicates either laziness by the author or redundancy to be pedantic.

Next, many books claim to have a special insight since the author was given rare access to the GE training center known as the "pit." This book claims that as well and quotes Welch at a number of public meetings...in an attempt to reinforce the concepts.

As Welch soon retires, I wonder if these same books will hold the interest they now capture. You are better served by more narrative, substantial texts on Welch and his management style. As always, Amazon readers can rate reviews and many loyalists vote against critics. I have a great admiration for Welch, and what he managed to accomplish. This book does neither him, nor his accomplishments real justice.

Reading this "guide for leaders" I wondered if Welch would look at it and laugh at its simplicity.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Choice and Welch Can Help You Make It, April 11, 2001

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Get Better Or Get Beaten (Hardcover)

Jack Welch would be the first to point out that none of the 29 Leadership Secrets to which the subtitle refers is really a secret. In fact, most of the material in this book has been recycled or updated from previous publications, notably from Slater's excellent Jack Welch and the GE Way and The GE Way Fieldbook, both of which I also highly recommend. Slater is an excellent judge of material and writes very well. After more than 25 years as a successful journalist, he has developed a keen sense of what key business issues are, and, how Welch's comments on those issues can be most effectively shared with the reader. Two factors set this book apart from most other business books which also share "secrets." First and obviously, Welch's well-deserved reputation as a great leader. Also, the business context in which Slater anchors each of the 29 key points. With brevity and precision, Slater addresses questions such as these:

* How to "harness the power of change"?

* What does "Face Reality!" mean? Also, what does it require?

* What is the best process for evaluating your organization with a "fresh eye"?

* What are the major perils as well as benefits of Six Sigma initiatives?

* What are some of the most effective e-business strategies?

* How can e-business "put the final nail in bureaucracy"?

Thanks to Slater, as I read the book I felt as if Welch himself were making a series of assertions directly to me. In response to each I am inclined to ask, "Exactly what does he mean by that?" An explanation then follows, based on the wealth of information about Welch which Slater and others have accumulated over the years. Slater also includes a series of lists of "Welch Rules" and then, in an Appendix, a list of "GE Values"...the same list which (reproduced on a laminated card) is carried by each GE employee.

Welch himself has been and continues to be an avid student of business. Time and again, he has gratefully acknowledged what he has learned, not only from other great business leaders but also from his associates at GE...especially from younger GE executives who share his contempt for what Jim O'Toole has characterized (in Leading Change) as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom."

If you share my great admiration of Jack Welch and also wish you could spend some time with him one-on-one, here's probably your best opportunity to do so. For me, the experience was as much a pleasure as it was a privilege.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!, November 24, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Mauritius) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Get Better or Get Beaten!: 31 Leadership Secrets from Ge's Jack Welch (Paperback)

When I first got this book and started reading it in the late evening, I found it so interesting and insightful that I read it completely until the early hours of morning the next day.

Jack Welch is no ordinary leader and GE is no ordinary company. To find out how and why they are so successful and far ahead of their competitors, you should read this book.

While Jack Welch is not perfect (he is human after all), this book is great, in the sense that it explains the basic principles behind GE's extraordinary success.