Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company

I should start by declaring a conflict of interest. I am currently a GE employee, and joined when Jeff Immelt was CEO and therefore technically my boss (although I was a long way down the food chain). However, since I joined through a company takeover and not a conscious choice in some ways, I felt I have a balanced view of Mr Immelt's tenure. <br /><br />OK, with that out the way what about the book? (For the rest of the review I will use JI instead Jeff Immelt)<br /><br />The book starts when he steps up as the CEO of one of US's largest company in 2001. In some ways I would have liked a bit of back story before this point of JI's life up to that point and his career, since it would of provided context for the next part of the story. The book itself is split into the major lessons that he felt he learned as GE's CEO over the 16 years he was in charge. In many ways it is an honest book, and unlike many books of this genre, he is not selling a life philosophy, but a reflective journey. <br /><br />In truth, it would be difficult to sell the book as the Immelt way, since being charge while taking one of the world’s most iconic brands to near financial failure, is rarely a mark of considered a business success story. This book therefore is cast as part lessons learnt, and part an attempt to set history straight as JI sees it. At the same time JI does not hold back in putting the knife between the ribs of one or two individuals he feels let him down, although there is actually relatively little bloodletting, and he tries to be honest of his failures, but you do feel his frustration creeping through in places where he feels he was not given enough credit for the work he did.<br /><br />The majority of the book sets out his personal business and leadership philosophy. For example, he is proud of the way he revamped the GE corporate education program that schooled managers from around the world being in the GE business philosophy. He is also at pains to explain how he massively increased diversity in the GE boardrooms, and for that he must be applauded. He also explains he made GE a more open culture, where people could have honest discussions about issues and opportunities. While that may well have been true at the top of the tree, I have to say I saw little evidence of it from my position with little upward flow of information. Also, the GE corporate training had a tendency to create managers with a mono-culture outlook, who struggled sometimes to comprehend anything non-GE was of value. I saw this at 1st hand, when the company I worked for was taken over and it was re-modelled in the GE way, and in the process, we totally lost direction, and at the same time lost the opportunity to question management decisions. <br /><br />In many ways taking over one of the world’s largest multi-global conglomerate, and following on from the so called manager of the century, Jack Welch. This was always going to be a poison chalice. To use a soccer analogy (Sorry US readers), it is a like following Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. While the company from the outside seemed inherently strong, its previous incumbent had in the process of massive expansion had taken on massive hidden liabilities which would take years to reveal themselves. <br /><br />This was because GE at the time was actually two companies. The industrial side, risk averse with long term goals and views, and GE capital (basically a unregulated bank) high risk, with very short term outlooks. GE had grown use over the years to taking the profits from the short-term bets and used it to fund the long-term projects on the industrial side. In many ways GE capital was seen as the jewel in the crown, a resource that allowed them to take on projects and developments, others could not by giving access to huge reserves of capital. In hindsight however, as the financial crisis showed in 2009, much of the solidity was built on sand. A bit like someone continually borrowing on their credit cards on the basis their wages were always going to rise. When the financial crisis hit, GE found itself in the same position as many other lenders, struggling to cover these short-term bets. One of JI's regrets is that he did not unwind GE capital sooner. However, he also complains that after the 2009 financial crisis, the US government had the temerity to treat GE like all the other failed financial companies, and felt because of GE's industrial heritage it should have been treated differently. Well, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, basically it’s a duck.<br /><br />He also briefly mentions the 3rd side to GE's coin NBC, one of US's major television networks. Why an industrial conglomerate felt it needed to won such a thing was never clearly explained, but JI seems to quite enjoyed having an entertainment arm (he enjoyed the Ge management style references slipped into 30 rock, a NBC production). Coming through a sales background, I think he quite liked the marketing element of GE and the show biz and glamour element. He also in this bit explains how he was personally responsible for the rise of a Mr Donald Trump giving him the apprentice gig, and I would like to fix his fall from grace is personal penance for that :) <br /><br />A large part of the book is about the unwinding of GE capital. This was forced on GE when the government put more oversight on finance, and GE suddenly found it could not act in a non-transparent way. Again, he complains about the onerous conditions placed on the business by this, perhaps missing the point that the financial crisis had very much been driven by the free for all of financial markets and a correction was very much overdue. I have to say, not being anything associated with finance, this part went over my head, apart from the utter complexity that cutting that Gordian knot entailed.<br /><br />For me the more interesting parts were GE digital and GE power<br /><br />GE Digital was one of JI personal initiatives to create systems to capture the huge amount of data generated by modern industrial systems, provide analytics on it and sell it back to the companies using the kit as a service. In many ways JI's instincts were totally correct and GE were ahead of the game. However, it never worked out, and as someone who was personally involved, I can point to a few reasons why. Firstly, GE under estimated the complexity and cost. While it sounds simple, trying to tie together disparate data streams together so that they can be analysed is no mean feat, with huge differences in the way data is formatted and generated. Also, GE assumed that they could do everything, the data silos, cloud infrastructure, analytics. They found eventually that setting such systems up takes huge investment, and they would have been better off partnering with say IBM and building on their infrastructure. Secondly, they decided to create a whole new division from scratch in San Ramon, California. in order to tap onto the Silicon Valley talent. However, by doing this, they created a barrier between the companies creating the industry products and those trying to generate the digital services. When it came to combining the two, you got a culture clash and lack of coordination between the two. It would have been better to have built up the digital services within the existing divisions rather than start afresh. Finally, the GE corporate culture of process and measured advance went very much against the ethos of this kind of development, which is more chaotic and flexible. Of course, JI is not directly to blame for any of this, but I do wonder whether his lack of technical project background meant that he failed to understand the cultural issues and risks involved. In the end GE digital, after having huge amounts of money poured into it, never really fulfilled its potential.<br /><br />The second interesting part is about GE power. For a long time GE power was an important part of GE's industrial heritage, driving large power projects around the world. In 2014 it was announced that it would purchase the power business from Alstom, a French company. This was to be the jewel in JI's tenure, and his industrial legacy as he decided to step down from the CEO role. In the end it turned out to be anything such. JI largely blames one person for this, Steve Bolze, who he characterises as a person more interested in self publicity and promoting himself as the next GE CEO than an effective leader, and someone who failed to master the fundamentals and minutiae of the business. How much of this is true, it does feel like someone trying to justify their decisions by putting blame on someone else. The inconvenient truth was that a lot of people struggled to see the benefits of buying Alstom. I had pretty good knowledge of the company, since the part of GE I worked for was once owned by Alstom, and it was a traditional French state industry, slow, ponderous, depending on its status as a national champion rather than agility and innovation. It was also over-staffed, with the workforce protected from dismissal by French employee regulation. So, any idea of taking it over and making it lean would always be a tough order. Even today, GE is restricted to reducing the workforce in France by the nature of the buyout. Also, the nature of the Alstom business was very much dependent on coal-based power stations, an area which GE should of known was in serious decline. The idea was that they could use the Alstom service business as a leverage, but when that was taking off the table due competition concerns, GE should have pulled out then, whatever the cost. <br /><br /> In truth GE got played by the French government to pay too much to take a failing industry of their hands, and while Steve Bolze may of been part of that, the buck stopped at the top. It was always felt, I think with some justification, that JI wanted to go out on a high, and therefore forced it through without really doing the due diligence. <br /><br /> One other harsh words JI has is against activist investors. Individuals in charge of hedge funds, who use their share purchasing powers to get themselves on the boards of companies and then try to force share value by forcing company break ups etc. Ji brought one such individual on GE's board, and regretted it. I agree that such individuals rarely have the long-term interest of the company in their minds, but rather want to make a quick buck (or million). The rise of the activist investor has further eroded US industries ability to invest for the long term, which for a company like GE, where development of say a new jet engine can take 5 or more years is not conducive to maintaining a technological lead.<br /> <br /> So after reading this book how do I feel about Jeff, my ex-boss. Well in some ways as an individual I quite admire him. He is obviously someone who cared a lot about GE, was thoughtful and reflective about the role of a CEO and industry leader, and did a lot of good while he was there, in modernising the company. As he quite rightly states, being a successful CEO, is part talent and part luck, and it has to be said he did not have a lot of luck, weathering both 9/11 and the collapse of the banks. However, as a backgammon player knows "Ita in vita ut in lusu alae pessima jactura arte corrigenda est" (translation "As in life, so in a game of hazard, skill will make something of the worst of throws"). <br /> <br /> If I have issue with JI's tenure reading this book is that he comes out as a conflicted individual. A lifelong conservative republican (in the traditional sense), who was passionate about increasing diversity in GE's management. A proud American, who led the push to move production overseas, especially China. A reflective man with strong moral views, happy to deal with deal with foreign despots. Someone proud of GE's ecological record, who invested vast amounts in oil, gas and coal based power production and resisted attempts to get GE to clean up PCB pollution in the Hudson river. <br /> <br /> And maybe this was JI's biggest problem. The most iconic CEO's are the ones with a clear strategy and philosophy, and are focused in getting it done their way. They rarely second guess themselves and drag all in their wake to their clearly seen destination. I am not sure after reading this book, that JI ever had that clear purpose, or if he did whether he had the force of will and courage of convictions to meld the company to his image. Certainly GE never felt like Jeff's company, more Jack's company and that was a big shadow to have over anyone. CEO's have a tough job (but that is why they get paid the big bucks, or in JI case get two corporate aircraft), but their primary purpose is to set out a clear strategy and be ruthless in following it. I am not sure whether JI ever really achieved that.<br /> <br /> So what did I get out of this book. Well, I got a better understanding of GE and its working, and how we got to be where we are. I understand better the pressures and dilemmas of being a CEO of a large company. Certainly the pressure for quick results are more that ever, and the day of the 20 year stint for a CEO are rare (which again does not do much for long term investment and strategy). I also got to know Jeff a lot better. In the end as much I admire him, I am still not convinced that he was ever really a CEO of a company trying to remold itself to be relevant on the digital age. He was primarily a sales guy (as shown by his facination with branding and message), and probably never really had the technical knowledge to find the correct path for what he awnted to achieve. A great guy to learn from for your MBA, but perhaps not quite the right stuff to be an iconic CEO. However the most important part of the book is when Jeff, admits what I always expected. Luck is a much bigger factor in success than buisness schools, or buisness leaders are willing to accept. It is the one variable, that you cannot control, and maybe if he had more of it, we would be a bit kinder to his legacy than we are now. <br /> <br />

This is a honest book. <br />I loved the way how Jeff Immelt gives credit to his peers and employees whenever he’s mentioned one of them and also honest to give details about selection of successors and his personal feedback on each of them also honest about his failures.<br />Not sure if it would be this much easy to remember the names and the roles while reading without being employed by GE for a while, but I learnt a lot about the company, it’s dynamics and the power of the board on CEO selection process.<br />Other than all the story and the lessons learnt my take away quotes are:<br />-“If you wait till things are crystal clear, you’ll wait forever”<br />-“Luck really matters in business. It’s easy to talk about controlling your destiny when you have the benefit of a tailwind.”

I read this as a complement to the book Lights Out to get a sense for Jeff Immelt’s style. My takeaway: salesy, culture and narrative-driven. It plays well in a sound bite and in striking an inspirational high in a meeting, but it’s entirely different from delivering the results. I lost track of how many times he plays to hyperbole - “I’ll never forget” or “I’ll forever remember”<br /><br />Immelt was prescient on quite a few areas, but GE lacked the technical / project management chops to get it done. There’s a lesson here about how centralized management pontificating on ideas and making promises are disconnected from the realities of operating, and then end up needing to explain the shortcomings.<br /><br />The book shows that Jeff is well-intentioned, long on anecdotes and HR-culturey (i.e. qualitative) and big picture, hand-wavy pie in the sky, but short on the details and getting into the weeds

A hot new book that stunned, surprised &amp; deeply educated me.<br /><br />Unlike 99% of business books are about winners/winning, this book is about 'losing/being a loser' (as claimed by Jeff). I think he is too hard on himself. <br /><br />What's great?<br /><br />- The HARD, GUT Wrenching story of what it takes to INHERIT a job vacated by the world's (erstwhile) most respected &amp; followed leader - Jack Welch. (As will be the story of successors of Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs).<br /><br />- How horrible luck &amp; circumstances can knock you out &amp; what it takes to survive. Jeff's 1st day at work was Sept 10, 2001 :( <br /><br />- Dealing with false expectations. "I became CEO of a Company where perception didn't equal reality".<br /><br />- Dealing with horrific mindsets. Jack Welch didn't let Jeff buy a Company in Silicon Valley coz 'people are crazy out there'.<br /><br />- The passion of a man to get the Company logo 'tattooed on his hip'!! (Would you do that?)<br /><br />- AMAZING chapters on operations - how Big things get done on Big companies!<br /><br />- A lot of self-introspection. This book takes the world record of the nos of times a writer admits he was wrong!<br /><br />- Deep insights on dealing with nations, nationalities, politics &amp; decision making at the highest levels.<br /><br />- If nothing else, a book about PURE STAMINA!

If you would like to know the challenges of a CEO who has the weight of three hundred thousand people on his shoulders and asked to lead a conglomerete in the midst of great ecomnomic threats as well as opportunities, then this is the book to go. A transparent display of wins and losses of GE between 2000 to 2017 from the words of then CEO Jeff Immelt.

I have to say first I read this book only because Immelt was my CEO from 2007 until GE sold the water business to a company that provided the worst working experience of my career. To say I do not have much empathy for this author is an understatement! However, this is a well written book, even though I feel he's a little cavalier and playing like hes a good guy throughout. Its interesting getting his perspective post 9/11 and after the recession of 2008.

A hot new book that stunned, surprised &amp; deeply educated me.<br /><br />Unlike 99% of biz books that are abt winners/winning, this book is about 'losing/being a loser' (as claimed by Jeff). I think he is too hard on himself.<br /><br />What's great?<br /><br />- The HARD, GUT wrenching story of what it takes to INHERIT a job vacated by one of the world's most respected leaders - Jack Welch. (As will be the story of successors of Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs).<br /><br />- How horrible luck &amp; circumstances can knock you out &amp; what it takes to survive. Jeff's 1st day at work was Sept 10, 2001 :(<br /><br />- Dealing with false expectations. "I became CEO of a Company where perception didn't equal reality".<br /><br />- Dealing with horrific mindsets. Jack Welch didn't let Jeff buy a Company in Silicon Valley coz 'people are crazy out there'.<br /><br />- The passion of a man to get the Company logo tattooed on his hip! (Would you do that?)<br /><br />- AMAZING chapters on operations - how Big things get done on Big companies.<br /><br />- A lot of self-introspection. This book takes the world record of the nos of times a writer admits he was wrong!<br /><br />- Deep insights on dealing with nations, nationalities, politics &amp; decision making at the highest levels.<br /><br />- If nothing else, a book about PURE STAMINA!<br /><br />READ THIS ONE.

I wanted to read this book because I wanted to peer inside the mind of a CEO who was responsible for one of the greatest episodes of value destruction in corporate history.<br />Whilst the book, even for the genre, is very poorly written, it does leave the reader an interesting character study. Immelt didn’t write this as part of a soul-searching exercise, a mea culpa, or even a behind the scenes look at why his tenure was such a colossal disaster. He wrote it with the assumption that he did a good job, and that people are interested in the lessons he has to offer. <br />When he isn’t bragging about doing business with “strongmen” such as Sisi, Erdogan, or Putin, he offers little nuggets such as “leader persevere in crises.” He hands out his banal profundities with the same stamina he dedicated to hitting his numbers as CEO, making it very difficult to resist simply flipping to the next page after a quick skim of the current one.<br />Readers wondering if there is some self criticism in this long self indulgent ramble, will find that his criticism is reserved only for the media, unscrupulous investors, and at the government. In one chapter (titled “Leaders compete around the world”), he proudly recounts how he lectured an interviewer from 60 minutes for not rooting for GE the way the Chinese root for China South Rail and the way the Japanese root for Toshiba.<br />Perhaps the height of self delusion comes when during the financial crisis, GE is on the brink of insolvency due to its reliance on short term commercial paper, he asks for a government bailout, and then attempts to convince the reader that his usage of the bailout program was a favour he did to the government because it legitimised the program for others. <br />He casually glosses over the times he had to make hard decisions but avoided them. For example, he explains that he knew that he needed to reduce the company’s reliance on financial services, but there was never a perfect time to do it. He knew he should cut the dividend when it became unsustainable, but he let the board force the decision on him because his ego couldn’t bear it. <br />A persistent question I had reading this book was not “why did he write it?” (That part is clear: he loves the sound of his own voice and doesn’t have anyone around telling him to stop talking) but “who did he write it for?” One can’t help but wonder who the intended audience is for nuggets such as (from the chapter “Leaders manage complexity”)“Amazon ... exists to use software to disrupt traditional industries (particularly retail)” or “there is a word in Chinese - guanxi - that refers to the system of social networks and influential relationships.” <br />A reader familiar with GE’s history may expect Immelt to display some contrition over his acquisition of Alstom’s power assets, considering they led to a $23b write-off. They would be wrong; there again his criticism is reserved for an underling who convinced him to do the deal based on faulty diligence. “It seemed he merely wanted to cover his ass by sharing how certain numbers were going up or down.” One can’t help but wonder if it wasn’t Immelt’s job to hire this disappointing manager or to provide oversight over his decisions. <br /><br />Overall, one of the worst books ever written.<br />

Jeff Immelt is a case study in failure. This book is a sorry excuse for those failures. When I was in Wharton Business School Jack Welch and Immelt were lionized. After a horrible run, such as effectively eliminating GE Capital, its big money maker, when he should have simply controlled it, GE is now worth a mere fraction of its market cap when Immelt took over. I am sure Thomas Edison, one of GE's founders, is rolling in his grave. GE was a major company in both 1900 and 2000. It may not be much longer. Immelt didn't go for organic growth, but M&amp;A, and did an absolutely horrible job. He destroyed one of America's most successful companies by bad choices. Some reviewers have cited Immelt's humility, but with his record of failure, there is little to be proud of.<br /><br />According to Mike Isaac's book about Uber, Super Pumped, Immelt even had a terrible board interview in trying to get hired by Uber in 2017 and withdrew to save face. <br /><br />Immelt should enjoy the money he made and think about going back to Harvard B School to learn the lessons he obviously didn't his first time through. Instead of this book, Immelt should have written a graphic novel, it would have been more in keeping with his skill set, or more accurately, his total lack of judgment.<br /><br />

Certainly one of the toughest jobs in Industry, it was fascinating to read Jeff Immelt's account of his time at the helm of GE. We attended High School together in the same class of '74 and I knew Jeff fairly well. He was a highly decorated athlete and all around good guy. Saw hm again right before he was named CEO at our class reunion. It's doubtful i would read this book if not for that. Being CEO of GE would be overwhelming for most mortals, having to deal with the fall out from both 911 and then the financial crisis had to be extremely stressful all the while trying to keep the company moving forward. It's a huge ship and hard to fathom all the moving parts.<br /><br /> Jeff seems honest in his telling of the events and considerations he wrestled with to inform his decisions. It's clear he was sincere and dedicated to GE in every way. Expectations were high as he succeeded Jack Welch , it was a job no one could live up to. You realize just how much luck plays into all the best laid plans. The book is insightful, aims to teach key traits of leadership and is full of details that anyone interested in business leadership would appreciate,