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Hot Seat
A fascinating and candid memoir about successful leadership from the former CEO of General Electric, named one of the “World’s Best CEOs” three times by Barron’s, and the hard-won lessons he learned from his experience leading GE immediately after 9/11, through the devastating 2008–09 financial crisis, and into an increasingly globalized world.In September 2001, Jeff Immelt replaced the most famous CEO in history, Jack Welch, at the helm of General Electric. Less than a week into his tenure, the 9/11 terrorist attacks shook the nation, and the company, to its core. GE was connected to nearly every part of the tragedy—GE-financed planes powered by GE-manufactured engines had just destroyed real estate that was insured by GE-issued policies. Facing an unprecedented situation, Immelt knew his response would set the tone for businesses everywhere that looked to GE—one of America’s biggest and most-heralded corporations—for direction. No pressure. Over the next sixteen years, Immelt would lead GE through many more dire moments, from the 2008–09 Global Financial Crisis to the 2011 meltdown of Fukushima’s nuclear reactors, which were designed by GE. But Immelt’s biggest challenge was Welch had handed over a company that had great people, but was short on innovation. Immelt set out to change GE’s focus by making it more global, more rooted in technology, and more diverse. But the stock market rarely rewarded his efforts, and GE struggled. In Hot Seat, Immelt offers a rigorous and raw interrogation of himself and his tenure, detailing for the first time his proudest moments and his biggest mistakes. The most crucial component of leadership, he writes, is the willingness to make decisions. But knowing what to do is a thousand times easier than knowing when to do it. Perseverance, combined with clear communication, can ensure progress, if not perfection, he says. That won’t protect any CEO from second-guessing, but Immelt explains how he’s pushed through even the most withering by staying focused on his team and the goals they tried to achieve. As the business world continues to be rocked by stunning economic upheaval, Hot Seat “takes you into the office, head, and heart of the man who became CEO of GE on the eve of 9/11, and then led the iconic behemoth for sixteen fascinating, and often turbulent, years. A handbook on leadership—and life” (Stanley A. McChrystal, General, US Army [Retired], CEO and Founder, McChrystal Group).
334 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 23, 2021
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March 4, 2021
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.
OK, with that out the way what about the book? (For the rest of the review I will use JI instead Jeff Immelt)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
For me the more interesting parts were GE digital and GE power
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.
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.
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.
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.
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").
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.
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.
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.
OK, with that out the way what about the book? (For the rest of the review I will use JI instead Jeff Immelt)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 :)
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.
For me the more interesting parts were GE digital and GE power
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.
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.
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.
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.
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").
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.
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.
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.
October 22, 2022
This is a honest book.
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.
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.
Other than all the story and the lessons learnt my take away quotes are:
-“If you wait till things are crystal clear, you’ll wait forever”
-“Luck really matters in business. It’s easy to talk about controlling your destiny when you have the benefit of a tailwind.”
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.
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.
Other than all the story and the lessons learnt my take away quotes are:
-“If you wait till things are crystal clear, you’ll wait forever”
-“Luck really matters in business. It’s easy to talk about controlling your destiny when you have the benefit of a tailwind.”
Read
May 11, 2021I 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”
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.
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
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.
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
March 14, 2021
A hot new book that stunned, surprised & deeply educated me.
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.
What's great?
- The HARD, GUT Wrenching story of what it takes to INHERIT a job vacated by the world's (erstwhile) most respected & followed leader - Jack Welch. (As will be the story of successors of Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs).
- How horrible luck & circumstances can knock you out & what it takes to survive. Jeff's 1st day at work was Sept 10, 2001 :(
- Dealing with false expectations. "I became CEO of a Company where perception didn't equal reality".
- Dealing with horrific mindsets. Jack Welch didn't let Jeff buy a Company in Silicon Valley coz 'people are crazy out there'.
- The passion of a man to get the Company logo 'tattooed on his hip'!! (Would you do that?)
- AMAZING chapters on operations - how Big things get done on Big companies!
- A lot of self-introspection. This book takes the world record of the nos of times a writer admits he was wrong!
- Deep insights on dealing with nations, nationalities, politics & decision making at the highest levels.
- If nothing else, a book about PURE STAMINA!
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.
What's great?
- The HARD, GUT Wrenching story of what it takes to INHERIT a job vacated by the world's (erstwhile) most respected & followed leader - Jack Welch. (As will be the story of successors of Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs).
- How horrible luck & circumstances can knock you out & what it takes to survive. Jeff's 1st day at work was Sept 10, 2001 :(
- Dealing with false expectations. "I became CEO of a Company where perception didn't equal reality".
- Dealing with horrific mindsets. Jack Welch didn't let Jeff buy a Company in Silicon Valley coz 'people are crazy out there'.
- The passion of a man to get the Company logo 'tattooed on his hip'!! (Would you do that?)
- AMAZING chapters on operations - how Big things get done on Big companies!
- A lot of self-introspection. This book takes the world record of the nos of times a writer admits he was wrong!
- Deep insights on dealing with nations, nationalities, politics & decision making at the highest levels.
- If nothing else, a book about PURE STAMINA!
March 9, 2021
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.
July 25, 2021
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.
March 15, 2021
A hot new book that stunned, surprised & deeply educated me.
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.
What's great?
- 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).
- How horrible luck & circumstances can knock you out & what it takes to survive. Jeff's 1st day at work was Sept 10, 2001 :(
- Dealing with false expectations. "I became CEO of a Company where perception didn't equal reality".
- Dealing with horrific mindsets. Jack Welch didn't let Jeff buy a Company in Silicon Valley coz 'people are crazy out there'.
- The passion of a man to get the Company logo tattooed on his hip! (Would you do that?)
- AMAZING chapters on operations - how Big things get done on Big companies.
- A lot of self-introspection. This book takes the world record of the nos of times a writer admits he was wrong!
- Deep insights on dealing with nations, nationalities, politics & decision making at the highest levels.
- If nothing else, a book about PURE STAMINA!
READ THIS ONE.
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.
What's great?
- 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).
- How horrible luck & circumstances can knock you out & what it takes to survive. Jeff's 1st day at work was Sept 10, 2001 :(
- Dealing with false expectations. "I became CEO of a Company where perception didn't equal reality".
- Dealing with horrific mindsets. Jack Welch didn't let Jeff buy a Company in Silicon Valley coz 'people are crazy out there'.
- The passion of a man to get the Company logo tattooed on his hip! (Would you do that?)
- AMAZING chapters on operations - how Big things get done on Big companies.
- A lot of self-introspection. This book takes the world record of the nos of times a writer admits he was wrong!
- Deep insights on dealing with nations, nationalities, politics & decision making at the highest levels.
- If nothing else, a book about PURE STAMINA!
READ THIS ONE.
May 13, 2021
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Overall, one of the worst books ever written.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Overall, one of the worst books ever written.
March 1, 2021
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&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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
June 9, 2021
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.
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,
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,
February 28, 2021
Loved reading Jeff’s telling of events and organizational change I experienced during my time at GE. This book felt like both closure for that period of my professional career paired with pointed lessons on leadership, especially in complex organizations. Jeff’s legacy with GE will always be complex and I appreciate the reflection and thoughtfulness he put into writing this book.
May 4, 2021
Reading this book will make you anticapitalist if you aren’t already, this guy is so annoying
November 24, 2022
My Flipboard served me an article in which Bill Gates recommended this book, among others. So as a big fan of him, I picked up the book.
Jeff Immelt tells a story of his time at GE. Following Jack Welch as the CEO of GE is a tough act to follow. World saw Welch as the best manager and leader of a generation and some. His approach, ideas and outlook towards work and people were legendary. Those were very big shoes to fill.
As if that was not enough, Immelt’s first day of work was 9/10/2001. His Day 2 as GE’s CEO, the world changed forever. I didn’t know this before but GE was affected by the the tragedy in a very direct way - the planes used were built with GE engines, GE Capital insured one of the other World Trade Center buildings, two of GEs employees were killed in the terrorist attack. Second day from hell for a new CEO! The book starts with those initial days of coming to terms with changed world and then adapting to it.
For a 100+ old company like GE, dealing mainly in industrial products, it is extremely challenging to excite markets and talent about what else they can do. Some of the innovative projects Immelt spearheaded included Genpact spin off, “imagination at work”, GE Digital and “Ecomagination”.
GE was one of the first companies to understand the power of data and worked towards harnessing it for themselves and their clients. Its digital platform Predix was a strong foray in this area. There was a concerted effort to make GE a cool organization of the 21st century and data, analytics and software work was the foot in the door for them. Immelt talks about his and the organization’s experience and exposure in this area.
Then came the Depression of 2008 and its impact on GE through GE Capital. Jack Welch’s criticism on Immelt when GE missed its guidance in early 2008 further aggravated him and strained their relationship. Immelt goes in to detail around what was going on in GE capital at the time.
Immelt takes the reader into his leadership and talent development philosophy and approach. His Friday evening dinners with various leaders along with his and their spouses, followed by a deep 4-5 hour one-one discussion with the leader on Saturday was a key element, that helped him get a lot of insights into the mammoth company. Also his drive towards diversity and inclusion gave GE some of their most effective, respected and valuable leaders.
His focus on more independence and decentralization of decision making opened new doors for GE. While he talked extensively about GEs successes in these areas, he does talk about his impatience and frustrations with the pace of decision making and implementing those decisions. After reading a chapter in the book I realized that of course GE CEO will be across the table from a lot of world leaders, understanding needs in their countries and what GE could do for them.
Immelt goes into details about their plan and work on divestment of GE Capital. The post 2008 regulations impacted GE Capital’s operations and its SIFI status drove a lot of their decisions. A lot of work went into that divestment with very smart and intelligent decisions in that process.
Managing a holding company takes a lot of coordination and effort. Immelt spearheaded very focused effort for simplifying processes, committees and the overall organization.
Immelt then goes into detail relative to his experience with Alstom acquisition, its complexity, the compliance challenges posed by EU’s regulations and a succession chaos thrown in to the mix. He outlines his version of the story and tries to clear the air and the rumors that swirled around GE’s lackluster performance soon after Alstom acquisition and integration.
And finally, Immelt takes us through the volatility of his succession process, the abruptness of it, negative press at the time and his feelings during that. He works on painting a balanced narrative on where he was wronged and what he could have done better. He shows vulnerability and self awareness that one can expect from a former CEO, who held the top job at one of the world’s most respected companies for over 15 years.
As I came to end of the book, I felt more educated and enriched by learning about his experiences, worldview, rights and wrongs, triumphs and frustrations, empathy and doggedness.
I recommend it to anyone interested in knowing about GE, what happened in GE after rockstar Jack Welch moved on and about Jeff Immelt.
Jeff Immelt tells a story of his time at GE. Following Jack Welch as the CEO of GE is a tough act to follow. World saw Welch as the best manager and leader of a generation and some. His approach, ideas and outlook towards work and people were legendary. Those were very big shoes to fill.
As if that was not enough, Immelt’s first day of work was 9/10/2001. His Day 2 as GE’s CEO, the world changed forever. I didn’t know this before but GE was affected by the the tragedy in a very direct way - the planes used were built with GE engines, GE Capital insured one of the other World Trade Center buildings, two of GEs employees were killed in the terrorist attack. Second day from hell for a new CEO! The book starts with those initial days of coming to terms with changed world and then adapting to it.
For a 100+ old company like GE, dealing mainly in industrial products, it is extremely challenging to excite markets and talent about what else they can do. Some of the innovative projects Immelt spearheaded included Genpact spin off, “imagination at work”, GE Digital and “Ecomagination”.
GE was one of the first companies to understand the power of data and worked towards harnessing it for themselves and their clients. Its digital platform Predix was a strong foray in this area. There was a concerted effort to make GE a cool organization of the 21st century and data, analytics and software work was the foot in the door for them. Immelt talks about his and the organization’s experience and exposure in this area.
Then came the Depression of 2008 and its impact on GE through GE Capital. Jack Welch’s criticism on Immelt when GE missed its guidance in early 2008 further aggravated him and strained their relationship. Immelt goes in to detail around what was going on in GE capital at the time.
Immelt takes the reader into his leadership and talent development philosophy and approach. His Friday evening dinners with various leaders along with his and their spouses, followed by a deep 4-5 hour one-one discussion with the leader on Saturday was a key element, that helped him get a lot of insights into the mammoth company. Also his drive towards diversity and inclusion gave GE some of their most effective, respected and valuable leaders.
His focus on more independence and decentralization of decision making opened new doors for GE. While he talked extensively about GEs successes in these areas, he does talk about his impatience and frustrations with the pace of decision making and implementing those decisions. After reading a chapter in the book I realized that of course GE CEO will be across the table from a lot of world leaders, understanding needs in their countries and what GE could do for them.
Immelt goes into details about their plan and work on divestment of GE Capital. The post 2008 regulations impacted GE Capital’s operations and its SIFI status drove a lot of their decisions. A lot of work went into that divestment with very smart and intelligent decisions in that process.
Managing a holding company takes a lot of coordination and effort. Immelt spearheaded very focused effort for simplifying processes, committees and the overall organization.
Immelt then goes into detail relative to his experience with Alstom acquisition, its complexity, the compliance challenges posed by EU’s regulations and a succession chaos thrown in to the mix. He outlines his version of the story and tries to clear the air and the rumors that swirled around GE’s lackluster performance soon after Alstom acquisition and integration.
And finally, Immelt takes us through the volatility of his succession process, the abruptness of it, negative press at the time and his feelings during that. He works on painting a balanced narrative on where he was wronged and what he could have done better. He shows vulnerability and self awareness that one can expect from a former CEO, who held the top job at one of the world’s most respected companies for over 15 years.
As I came to end of the book, I felt more educated and enriched by learning about his experiences, worldview, rights and wrongs, triumphs and frustrations, empathy and doggedness.
I recommend it to anyone interested in knowing about GE, what happened in GE after rockstar Jack Welch moved on and about Jeff Immelt.
March 17, 2021
4/5 – it was going to be 3/5 but the book has a really strong finish.
I found this an interesting and well written book. At times is does come across as slightly defensive but that’s to be expected given the media coverage of Jeff Immelt’s time as GE CEO.
My main issue with the book is that, like most business books, it misses out on some key input from other people, especially his wife and family. I appreciate that Jeff made an enormous amount of money during his time at GE, but the work commitments and stress seem unbelievable so it would be interesting to get a view of how this impacted him from someone who cared for him as a person rather than as a CEO.
I’d also like to see a different format to biographical, business / leadership books:
· Setting the scene – how things were organised at the company. I’ve read the whole book and am none the wiser about how GE works with the management of the industry segments alongside the geographical management.
· Chronological events – take periods of time and provide context for what happened in each part of the business during this period. I think this would make it easier to understand all the competing workloads than looking at leadership / management themes which then cross and re-cross different time periods so it’s harder to understand how all the anecdotes tie together.
· The review – with the benefit of hindsight, what would the person have done differently and how they think this could have changed the things that happened.
In summary: I think Jeff did a reasonable job based on the number of world-changing events that happened during his tenure. The things I did think after reading the book was:
1) I’m not sure being GE CEO for 16 years is good for your physical or mental health. Maybe 10 years would be a better period as it would get the balance right between knowing the business and not being exhausted by the business.
2) Having the CEO succession process run for five years is insane, in my opinion. I appreciate that they want to ensure that the candidates are properly tested but you’d think that their prior achievements would count so having the selection process last 12-24 months would give all candidates a fair chance to be exposed to other aspects of the business and Board of Directors.
3) I appreciated Jeff’s candour about how he is a stress eater. It is always good to read about ultra-successful people not being perfect.
Other lessons from the book that resonated with me:
· An important determinant of success can be found in how you answer:
1) How fast can you learn?
2) How much can you take?
3) And what will you give to those around you?
· Here is a good rule: the quality of an asset is inversely proportional to the amount of talent it takes to sell it.
· Leaders must fight for their companies’ reputation. Leaders can’t let lies and half-truths calcify, and they shouldn’t let their team’s narrative be irreversibly tarnished.
· Questions to combat inefficiencies and bureaucracy:
a) Who do you work for?
If the answer was more than one person, it is a bad sign.
b) How are you measured?
If workers didn’t understand the metrics they were expected to live up to then it’s very hard for them to succeed.
People should have no more than three or four clear metrics they are working on to improve.
c) Where do you live?
If the person lived in London but was responsible for Africa, that was a warning sign.
· ‘Six simple rules’ (https://www.bcg.com/en-gb/capabilitie...) for helping to minimise organisational complexity.
· The “Blueprint Review” system for the operating segments
- Clear goals in four areas:
i. Financial
ii. Strategic
iii. People
iv. Risk
- Achievement against these goals determined variable compensation.
- Focus on exceptions.
- The Blueprint Review meeting was the only place significant business decisions were made which mitigated the risk of misunderstandings.
I found this an interesting and well written book. At times is does come across as slightly defensive but that’s to be expected given the media coverage of Jeff Immelt’s time as GE CEO.
My main issue with the book is that, like most business books, it misses out on some key input from other people, especially his wife and family. I appreciate that Jeff made an enormous amount of money during his time at GE, but the work commitments and stress seem unbelievable so it would be interesting to get a view of how this impacted him from someone who cared for him as a person rather than as a CEO.
I’d also like to see a different format to biographical, business / leadership books:
· Setting the scene – how things were organised at the company. I’ve read the whole book and am none the wiser about how GE works with the management of the industry segments alongside the geographical management.
· Chronological events – take periods of time and provide context for what happened in each part of the business during this period. I think this would make it easier to understand all the competing workloads than looking at leadership / management themes which then cross and re-cross different time periods so it’s harder to understand how all the anecdotes tie together.
· The review – with the benefit of hindsight, what would the person have done differently and how they think this could have changed the things that happened.
In summary: I think Jeff did a reasonable job based on the number of world-changing events that happened during his tenure. The things I did think after reading the book was:
1) I’m not sure being GE CEO for 16 years is good for your physical or mental health. Maybe 10 years would be a better period as it would get the balance right between knowing the business and not being exhausted by the business.
2) Having the CEO succession process run for five years is insane, in my opinion. I appreciate that they want to ensure that the candidates are properly tested but you’d think that their prior achievements would count so having the selection process last 12-24 months would give all candidates a fair chance to be exposed to other aspects of the business and Board of Directors.
3) I appreciated Jeff’s candour about how he is a stress eater. It is always good to read about ultra-successful people not being perfect.
Other lessons from the book that resonated with me:
· An important determinant of success can be found in how you answer:
1) How fast can you learn?
2) How much can you take?
3) And what will you give to those around you?
· Here is a good rule: the quality of an asset is inversely proportional to the amount of talent it takes to sell it.
· Leaders must fight for their companies’ reputation. Leaders can’t let lies and half-truths calcify, and they shouldn’t let their team’s narrative be irreversibly tarnished.
· Questions to combat inefficiencies and bureaucracy:
a) Who do you work for?
If the answer was more than one person, it is a bad sign.
b) How are you measured?
If workers didn’t understand the metrics they were expected to live up to then it’s very hard for them to succeed.
People should have no more than three or four clear metrics they are working on to improve.
c) Where do you live?
If the person lived in London but was responsible for Africa, that was a warning sign.
· ‘Six simple rules’ (https://www.bcg.com/en-gb/capabilitie...) for helping to minimise organisational complexity.
· The “Blueprint Review” system for the operating segments
- Clear goals in four areas:
i. Financial
ii. Strategic
iii. People
iv. Risk
- Achievement against these goals determined variable compensation.
- Focus on exceptions.
- The Blueprint Review meeting was the only place significant business decisions were made which mitigated the risk of misunderstandings.
April 3, 2021
I didn't expect to like this book, or even finish reading it. Like many people, I had a low opinion about Jeff Immelt based on his time as GE's CEO. I had read various articles that blamed him for GE's series of missteps during his tenure. I was curious about what he had to say for himself, and somewhat bemused by the idea that "what he learned" would be of any value.
My opinion of Immelt was completely changed by this book.
First, the book itself is very readable even if, like me, you have no interest in becoming a CEO. Rather than giving abstract advice on leadership, almost all of the book is a narrative of what happened at GE, and how he handled the situations, both threats and opportunities.
The book is neither a defense of his leadership, nor an attempt to shift the blame to others. He admits that he made some wrong decisions, but also correctly points out that he ran the company during very challenging times, most notably 9/11 (which occurred on his 2nd day as CEO) and the "too big to fail" financial meltdown. He also mentions a lot of instances where GE continues to benefit from his decisions, like the shift into medical devices and the globalization of the company's research centers. The things he did right are rarely mentioned by the press.
Immelt is an experienced salesman, and he sold me on his legacy. I now think it's fair to say that, without Immelt in charge, GE would have been in even worse shape, if not wiped out completely.
My opinion of Immelt was completely changed by this book.
First, the book itself is very readable even if, like me, you have no interest in becoming a CEO. Rather than giving abstract advice on leadership, almost all of the book is a narrative of what happened at GE, and how he handled the situations, both threats and opportunities.
The book is neither a defense of his leadership, nor an attempt to shift the blame to others. He admits that he made some wrong decisions, but also correctly points out that he ran the company during very challenging times, most notably 9/11 (which occurred on his 2nd day as CEO) and the "too big to fail" financial meltdown. He also mentions a lot of instances where GE continues to benefit from his decisions, like the shift into medical devices and the globalization of the company's research centers. The things he did right are rarely mentioned by the press.
Immelt is an experienced salesman, and he sold me on his legacy. I now think it's fair to say that, without Immelt in charge, GE would have been in even worse shape, if not wiped out completely.
April 26, 2021
I’ve worked at GE a month shy of 13 years, meaning the first 10 years of my career I worked under Jeff Immelt. I always liked him and thought that he was a great leader from my vantage point at the bottom. I was excited to read this book when I heard it was being released and listened to Immelt speak on a podcast where he said that he wrote this for the GE employees. However, the book fell below my expectations. Perhaps because I just read Obama’s memoir from his years leading office but I wanted more from Immelt. It read to me like a lot of excuses and bad luck. It also made me feel like even more of an outsider at my own company. It’s hard to separate my feelings as a GE employee reading this book from a reader, but will focus on just my summary as a reader... I wish he’d gone deeper on some areas. I wish he came across more human and shared examples of how he connected with and maintained relationships with his wife and daughter, how he felt about Mike Pence becoming VP when he’d publicly spoken out about him, what he did when he realized he needed to lost weight. I’m so curious about the day to day life of a CEO that I feel by sharing these details he would have humanized and redeeemed himself more than this "my ideas were actually really good!!!!" Narrative. Also, I cannot believe he didn't acknowledge the 100s of 1000s of GE employees in the Acknowledgement section. That feels like a huge miss.
August 16, 2021
As someone who's read several other GE books (Lights Out, Straight from the Gut) I was intrigued to say the "disgraced" Immelt would have in his own memoir.
I enjoyed this read, it was fascinating to hear how Immelt experienced and handled challenges such as 9/11 and the recession of 08. I appreciate what appears to be his openness about what he did well and what mistakes he made. He certainly comes across as defensive at times, but frankly he should, hes the arguably the most criticized CEO of all time, and its very clear that many of these issues stem from the Jack Welch days.
I think anyone who reads lights out, should read this to get a contrasting opinion.
I enjoyed this read, it was fascinating to hear how Immelt experienced and handled challenges such as 9/11 and the recession of 08. I appreciate what appears to be his openness about what he did well and what mistakes he made. He certainly comes across as defensive at times, but frankly he should, hes the arguably the most criticized CEO of all time, and its very clear that many of these issues stem from the Jack Welch days.
I think anyone who reads lights out, should read this to get a contrasting opinion.
November 20, 2023
Inside look at GE and Immelt's experiences. He does a lot of whining and blaming for claiming he's not blaming. He mentions Jack Welch a great deal, pokes holes in hi s credibility. Seems fixated on him despite claiming he's moved on. Good lessons here but not really actionable business wisdom for most people; better for massive enterprises and CEO-level people. "Platitudes of Jeff Immelt" is what his chapter headings read like to me
May 29, 2021
Jeff Immelt’s memoir of 16 years at the helm of General Electric “Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company” reads like an extended lecture for his Stanford business school students.
What to do and what not to running a conglomerate, and GE was and still is an enormous conglomerate.
It is at times a painful read as Immelt recounts his first months running GE what it was like to scramble after the 9/11 attacks for a company that was essentially financing the entire US airline industry to support its production of jet turbines.
Then there was the fallout from the 2008 financial services debacle when GE suddenly found itself not only depending on government guarantees of its assets but also found its financial services wing, GE Capital, in the crosshairs of financial regulators.
In the end Immelt was turfed largely as a result of the decline value of GE shares.
Immelt tells us, for example, that he
- Didn’t invest in water purification because he perceived it was a universal right and therefore could never be profitable. Reading in between the lines it sounded like he was saying the company should only invest in stuff where people wouldn’t notice the company’s large profit margins.
- Was leary of owning Universal Studios theme parks because you had to go back and get new customers every year and because the low wage employees were ripe for unionization. It was as if GE only wanted to own products that locked in customers and didn’t believe in a fair wage for unskilled workers.
Immelt never tells why he wanted the job. Was it the millions in compensation? Was it because he wanted to be or be bigger than his legendary predecessor, Jack Welch? Was it because he knew the big moves Welch made would ultimately drag down the company?
While Immelt does not shy away from some serious score-settling, he goes pretty lightly on Welch.
I learned that after he helped handpick a successor Welch fired all the other candidates for the top job to prevent an Ides of March scenario. It seems a bit odd in a company that really needed endless supplies of executive leadership. (I later learned that the Ottoman emperors slaughtered their siblings once the royal successions were settled.)
Reading this book sure didn’t make me yearn for taking the job myself. In Immelt’s words volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity are all new challenges that leaders of today can expect.
Then there are activist shareholders with really deep pockets, different regulatory bodies in every political jurisdiction (and there are a lot of them where GE does business), a hair-trigger business press always on the hunt for the smell of scandal, and the millions of miles of air travel to coordinate, motivate, train, and promote subordinates.
He learned that GE made products that couldn’t fail; but fear of failure made creativity (and innovation) impossible under many scenarios. He asked himself if he was willing to experiment, fail, pivot, refocus, realign, and learn in the name of progress.
Like I say, it was a painful read. I run a much, much smaller business and the older I get the more painful the executive decisions become. I sweat over the livelihood of just a handful of people. Doing the same for 300,000 people boggles the mind.
I was most intrigued by the events triggering the sell off of $300 billion in the assets of GE Capital. For years GE had fed off the benefits of its rare triple-A credit rating in the bond markets. They could always borrow at rock-bottom interest rates and loan seemingly endless amounts to industry. It formed the majority of GE’s profits and surplus cash flow in those years.
For a while — under Jack Welch — investors loved it and repaid the company with a 30x P/E, or Price-to-Earnings ratio.
But massive disruptions to the economy could put GE Capital in the category of a “Too Big to Fail” company and Immelt’s top advisers realized the jig was up. Like so many of the banks, GE Capital did not keep enough equity to cover a sudden surge in bad loans. And the board hated having to hire thousands of employees just to feed the regulators with reports. So they sold off its airline fleet financing arm, and its leveraged borrowing division, and more.
Whoever bought these assets — and Canadians figure big in this part of the story — didn’t have the scrutiny GE Capital was now facing and we never find out if they cleaned up the company’s lending practices. It sounded to me that GE shed the risk, but we didn’t. That ought to keep bank regulators up at night.
We are also left pondering the age old business school question about the rationale of big conglomerates. Do they really add value to the businesses they occupy?
What is a conglomerate? It’s a collection of unaffiliated businesses incorporated under a single owner, or single group of shareholders. They get started by trying to control the upstream or downstream businesses upon which their core business depends.
Or, they figure since they do such a good job they try absorb other businesses around them that do the same or similar things.
Eventually they get into businesses that have nothing to do with their core business because they can.
It seems like Immelt was on a crusade to prove the GE umbrella justified its holdings, the difficulties to innovating and the difficulties in coordinating notwithstanding. While one arm of the conglomerate was innovating on energy, other parts of it were polluting the landscape or making it easier for the airlines and presumably the energy industry to ruin the planet.
If I were to guess Immelt’s view it would be that the strength of the conglomerate is in its ability to feed parts of it in weak cycles. No business is always profitable, and no management team always gets it right.
In a conglomerate, the businesses in the strong part of the cycle save those in a weak cycle. And those using advanced practices share with those using weak practices.
This is how we keep peoples’ jobs in bad times. By sharing the wealth.
One could argue that this is what debt or equity is for, to help protect us when we are not capable of sustaining ourselves. Maybe the overhead of the conglomerate isn’t worth it to support weak businesses.
Immelt uses a variety of justifications like we’re the people people rely on to get safely from Point A to Point B in an airplane. Or, we’re the descendants of Thomas Edison who revolutionized society with electric lights. Or we’re really good people just helping people. Or, we’re really kick-ass businessmen (and sometimes businesswomen).
History teaches us that the age of conglomerates is past. Private equity, vulture funds and the like now have the upper hand “unlocking value” by selling off assets not critical to the core business.
GE itself unloaded a pile of real estate and then bought back shares to gussy up its balance sheet to the shareholders. I don’t know this for sure, but my guess it leased back the real estate because it didn’t all of a sudden stop needing it. More hocus pocus for the stock markets.
In this environment jobs and loyalty to the company are no longer sacrosanct no matter what Immelt chooses to believe about himself.
Besides, the massive fortunes that were once made by the conglomerates can now be made by the information giants like amazon, google, facebook, and dozens of others.
What to do and what not to running a conglomerate, and GE was and still is an enormous conglomerate.
It is at times a painful read as Immelt recounts his first months running GE what it was like to scramble after the 9/11 attacks for a company that was essentially financing the entire US airline industry to support its production of jet turbines.
Then there was the fallout from the 2008 financial services debacle when GE suddenly found itself not only depending on government guarantees of its assets but also found its financial services wing, GE Capital, in the crosshairs of financial regulators.
In the end Immelt was turfed largely as a result of the decline value of GE shares.
Immelt tells us, for example, that he
- Didn’t invest in water purification because he perceived it was a universal right and therefore could never be profitable. Reading in between the lines it sounded like he was saying the company should only invest in stuff where people wouldn’t notice the company’s large profit margins.
- Was leary of owning Universal Studios theme parks because you had to go back and get new customers every year and because the low wage employees were ripe for unionization. It was as if GE only wanted to own products that locked in customers and didn’t believe in a fair wage for unskilled workers.
Immelt never tells why he wanted the job. Was it the millions in compensation? Was it because he wanted to be or be bigger than his legendary predecessor, Jack Welch? Was it because he knew the big moves Welch made would ultimately drag down the company?
While Immelt does not shy away from some serious score-settling, he goes pretty lightly on Welch.
I learned that after he helped handpick a successor Welch fired all the other candidates for the top job to prevent an Ides of March scenario. It seems a bit odd in a company that really needed endless supplies of executive leadership. (I later learned that the Ottoman emperors slaughtered their siblings once the royal successions were settled.)
Reading this book sure didn’t make me yearn for taking the job myself. In Immelt’s words volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity are all new challenges that leaders of today can expect.
Then there are activist shareholders with really deep pockets, different regulatory bodies in every political jurisdiction (and there are a lot of them where GE does business), a hair-trigger business press always on the hunt for the smell of scandal, and the millions of miles of air travel to coordinate, motivate, train, and promote subordinates.
He learned that GE made products that couldn’t fail; but fear of failure made creativity (and innovation) impossible under many scenarios. He asked himself if he was willing to experiment, fail, pivot, refocus, realign, and learn in the name of progress.
Like I say, it was a painful read. I run a much, much smaller business and the older I get the more painful the executive decisions become. I sweat over the livelihood of just a handful of people. Doing the same for 300,000 people boggles the mind.
I was most intrigued by the events triggering the sell off of $300 billion in the assets of GE Capital. For years GE had fed off the benefits of its rare triple-A credit rating in the bond markets. They could always borrow at rock-bottom interest rates and loan seemingly endless amounts to industry. It formed the majority of GE’s profits and surplus cash flow in those years.
For a while — under Jack Welch — investors loved it and repaid the company with a 30x P/E, or Price-to-Earnings ratio.
But massive disruptions to the economy could put GE Capital in the category of a “Too Big to Fail” company and Immelt’s top advisers realized the jig was up. Like so many of the banks, GE Capital did not keep enough equity to cover a sudden surge in bad loans. And the board hated having to hire thousands of employees just to feed the regulators with reports. So they sold off its airline fleet financing arm, and its leveraged borrowing division, and more.
Whoever bought these assets — and Canadians figure big in this part of the story — didn’t have the scrutiny GE Capital was now facing and we never find out if they cleaned up the company’s lending practices. It sounded to me that GE shed the risk, but we didn’t. That ought to keep bank regulators up at night.
We are also left pondering the age old business school question about the rationale of big conglomerates. Do they really add value to the businesses they occupy?
What is a conglomerate? It’s a collection of unaffiliated businesses incorporated under a single owner, or single group of shareholders. They get started by trying to control the upstream or downstream businesses upon which their core business depends.
Or, they figure since they do such a good job they try absorb other businesses around them that do the same or similar things.
Eventually they get into businesses that have nothing to do with their core business because they can.
It seems like Immelt was on a crusade to prove the GE umbrella justified its holdings, the difficulties to innovating and the difficulties in coordinating notwithstanding. While one arm of the conglomerate was innovating on energy, other parts of it were polluting the landscape or making it easier for the airlines and presumably the energy industry to ruin the planet.
If I were to guess Immelt’s view it would be that the strength of the conglomerate is in its ability to feed parts of it in weak cycles. No business is always profitable, and no management team always gets it right.
In a conglomerate, the businesses in the strong part of the cycle save those in a weak cycle. And those using advanced practices share with those using weak practices.
This is how we keep peoples’ jobs in bad times. By sharing the wealth.
One could argue that this is what debt or equity is for, to help protect us when we are not capable of sustaining ourselves. Maybe the overhead of the conglomerate isn’t worth it to support weak businesses.
Immelt uses a variety of justifications like we’re the people people rely on to get safely from Point A to Point B in an airplane. Or, we’re the descendants of Thomas Edison who revolutionized society with electric lights. Or we’re really good people just helping people. Or, we’re really kick-ass businessmen (and sometimes businesswomen).
History teaches us that the age of conglomerates is past. Private equity, vulture funds and the like now have the upper hand “unlocking value” by selling off assets not critical to the core business.
GE itself unloaded a pile of real estate and then bought back shares to gussy up its balance sheet to the shareholders. I don’t know this for sure, but my guess it leased back the real estate because it didn’t all of a sudden stop needing it. More hocus pocus for the stock markets.
In this environment jobs and loyalty to the company are no longer sacrosanct no matter what Immelt chooses to believe about himself.
Besides, the massive fortunes that were once made by the conglomerates can now be made by the information giants like amazon, google, facebook, and dozens of others.
November 3, 2023
I think there are some valuable leadership lessons in the book, which you can find once you put aside some of the GE specific cases/details.
We all know where GE is in 2023 (November), and clearly his time as CEO lead to some of the outcomes, but overall I think the current situation is a result of prior CEO actions as well.
Some things that stuck with me:
- substance over form, GE Capital was a financial institution. They were not classified as one, therefore they had less strict reporting requirements, which have them competitive advantage. This was one of the reasons for the high share/company growth before the financial crisis. Eventually when the law changed, GE could not cope with the requirements, so they had to sell it off, therefore one of their competitive advantage gone.
- he mentions so many good initiatives in the book and so many industrial related projects, but in the end they did not pay off. It seems to me, the vision was there, but execution not. If those would have paid off, maybe once GE Capital was sold, the company could have had a better start. Also, there seems to have too many of them. I realized this is 16 years time span, but if they would have been more focused, some might have performed better
- I am still struggling to understand how global company with local decision making can actually perform at its best. I am currently in a company with the same set up and it is a question I am trying to answer every day. In their case, the GE Power examples speaks to this. This is an example of when it did not work out, but how or when does the local management get the insights/knowledge from group? Where is that fine line between letting them do what they see fit and acting as a group/corporation?
- he mentions that out of 185 people in the leadership team when he started, at the end of his time, ONLY 3 remain. Of course, we can consider aging people/retiring and attrition, but basically no talent was retained. I think this is something he could have controlled, especially that a lot of these people went on having leader roles in other big companies
- the share sale he did when the market was still high, sure looks a lot like insider trading, though he (of course), says it did not
We all know where GE is in 2023 (November), and clearly his time as CEO lead to some of the outcomes, but overall I think the current situation is a result of prior CEO actions as well.
Some things that stuck with me:
- substance over form, GE Capital was a financial institution. They were not classified as one, therefore they had less strict reporting requirements, which have them competitive advantage. This was one of the reasons for the high share/company growth before the financial crisis. Eventually when the law changed, GE could not cope with the requirements, so they had to sell it off, therefore one of their competitive advantage gone.
- he mentions so many good initiatives in the book and so many industrial related projects, but in the end they did not pay off. It seems to me, the vision was there, but execution not. If those would have paid off, maybe once GE Capital was sold, the company could have had a better start. Also, there seems to have too many of them. I realized this is 16 years time span, but if they would have been more focused, some might have performed better
- I am still struggling to understand how global company with local decision making can actually perform at its best. I am currently in a company with the same set up and it is a question I am trying to answer every day. In their case, the GE Power examples speaks to this. This is an example of when it did not work out, but how or when does the local management get the insights/knowledge from group? Where is that fine line between letting them do what they see fit and acting as a group/corporation?
- he mentions that out of 185 people in the leadership team when he started, at the end of his time, ONLY 3 remain. Of course, we can consider aging people/retiring and attrition, but basically no talent was retained. I think this is something he could have controlled, especially that a lot of these people went on having leader roles in other big companies
- the share sale he did when the market was still high, sure looks a lot like insider trading, though he (of course), says it did not
June 2, 2021
This book would have been more aptly titled My View From the Throne. I suppose that it is inevitable that a book about Jeff Immelt written in part by Jeff Immelt himself would be largely self-aggrandizing, but this book is over the top. It seems as though about 95% of the decisions made by Jeff were the correct ones and resulted in large profits, and the ones that tanked did so largely to extenuating circumstances out of GE's control. He seems especially proud of moving divisions of GE to foreign countries to take advantage of lower wages and increase GE profits and Jeff's stock option bonuses, and of his affirmative action activities at the upper management levels. Of course, he defends the investments in foreign countries by claiming that it promotes better relations with the countries and results in increased GE sales. But if you build facilities in foreign countries and give them local control, aren't you acting more like an investor or holding company, rather than a corporation?
The book repeatedly emphasizes the advantage of a large conglomerate like GE in transferring technology horizontally, and there may be something to this, but the incredible bureaucracy of an organization like GE stifles creativity and promotes incredible inefficiencies. I worked for GE indirectly as a contractor for a number of years, and I saw first hand how difficult it was to accomplish simple tasks because of all the red tape and approvals the bureaucracy required. The cartoon strip Dilbert is a good model for what it was like working at GE. Even Jeff states that there were 13 layers between himself and the actual productive employees at the lowest level when he became CEO. My guess is that breaking up GE into individual companies representing the different divisions would be a more successful approach overall, that the benefits would outweigh the negatives.
Jeff seems to think that every decision he made was a life or death matter for GE, and only acknowledges the people one or two levels below him as providing him support. In reality, there are millions of decisions being made every day by tens of thousands of GE employees that are as much or more significant than Jeff's. I doubt if Jeff ever met an actual productive worker in the 16 years he was CEO because it would probably terrify him. This book reinforces that attitude in that it deals only with uppermost level interactions, as though only these matter. The king rarely knows what his subjects are thinking.
GE's divisions make some great products. I'm sure Jeff Immelt made some good decisions as CEO, and probably more bad ones then he admits to in this book. Characteristically, one of the few bad decisions he admits to is not firing a division CEO of a division that underperformed, so even in this situation the blame gets transferred to someone else. If Jeff did such a great job for 16 years, why did the price of a share of GE stock drop from $60 in August 2000 to around $10 today? Apparently Wall Street analysts have a different perspective of GE's performance during Jeff's tenor than he has. If you want Jeff's take on what happened when he was CEO of GE, read this book. But be aware that there may be other viewpoints of this period of time.
The book repeatedly emphasizes the advantage of a large conglomerate like GE in transferring technology horizontally, and there may be something to this, but the incredible bureaucracy of an organization like GE stifles creativity and promotes incredible inefficiencies. I worked for GE indirectly as a contractor for a number of years, and I saw first hand how difficult it was to accomplish simple tasks because of all the red tape and approvals the bureaucracy required. The cartoon strip Dilbert is a good model for what it was like working at GE. Even Jeff states that there were 13 layers between himself and the actual productive employees at the lowest level when he became CEO. My guess is that breaking up GE into individual companies representing the different divisions would be a more successful approach overall, that the benefits would outweigh the negatives.
Jeff seems to think that every decision he made was a life or death matter for GE, and only acknowledges the people one or two levels below him as providing him support. In reality, there are millions of decisions being made every day by tens of thousands of GE employees that are as much or more significant than Jeff's. I doubt if Jeff ever met an actual productive worker in the 16 years he was CEO because it would probably terrify him. This book reinforces that attitude in that it deals only with uppermost level interactions, as though only these matter. The king rarely knows what his subjects are thinking.
GE's divisions make some great products. I'm sure Jeff Immelt made some good decisions as CEO, and probably more bad ones then he admits to in this book. Characteristically, one of the few bad decisions he admits to is not firing a division CEO of a division that underperformed, so even in this situation the blame gets transferred to someone else. If Jeff did such a great job for 16 years, why did the price of a share of GE stock drop from $60 in August 2000 to around $10 today? Apparently Wall Street analysts have a different perspective of GE's performance during Jeff's tenor than he has. If you want Jeff's take on what happened when he was CEO of GE, read this book. But be aware that there may be other viewpoints of this period of time.
March 22, 2021
I am a long-time follower of the story of General Electric. I was impressed by Jack Welch, and I read Welch's book "Jack: Straight from the Gut" when it came out many years ago. So when Immelt, GE's CEO after Welch, wrote the book "Hot Seat", I knew I had to read it.
Immelt was CEO of GE from 2001 to 2017, a very trying period for the company in which the stock plummeted precipitously. Many people believe that Immelt caused GE's implosion , and this narrative was repeated in the business press. In the book, though, I have to say that Immelt does a good job defending his legacy and putting what happened at GE in context. Though what happened at GE was not at all pretty, Immelt was a good leader. He took what was a very complex company which he inherited, and did what he could to shape GE for the future.
Yes, Immelt made mistakes, and he owns up to those mistakes in the book in a very forthright manner. He tells us that his relationship with former CEO Jack Welch crumbled, after he replaced him. But I think we need to give credit where credit is due....Immelt also did a lot of things right, including the divestment of GE Capital.
For those who say that Immelt did nothing but run the company into the ground, I would encourage them to read this book, as I doubt any other CEO could have done much better, given the circumstances. This is evidenced by the fact that Immelt's successor, Flannery, was only in the job for a year, before being shown the door. I enjoyed the book and believe it is worth the read.
Immelt was CEO of GE from 2001 to 2017, a very trying period for the company in which the stock plummeted precipitously. Many people believe that Immelt caused GE's implosion , and this narrative was repeated in the business press. In the book, though, I have to say that Immelt does a good job defending his legacy and putting what happened at GE in context. Though what happened at GE was not at all pretty, Immelt was a good leader. He took what was a very complex company which he inherited, and did what he could to shape GE for the future.
Yes, Immelt made mistakes, and he owns up to those mistakes in the book in a very forthright manner. He tells us that his relationship with former CEO Jack Welch crumbled, after he replaced him. But I think we need to give credit where credit is due....Immelt also did a lot of things right, including the divestment of GE Capital.
For those who say that Immelt did nothing but run the company into the ground, I would encourage them to read this book, as I doubt any other CEO could have done much better, given the circumstances. This is evidenced by the fact that Immelt's successor, Flannery, was only in the job for a year, before being shown the door. I enjoyed the book and believe it is worth the read.
January 19, 2022
He doesnt even know his own errors - - amazing how focused he was on analysts, share price, etc. I guess thats what wall street does to the finest business leaders.
Clearly, he was an extremely hard working, dedicated GE leader - quite an amazing journey to read about. I like the book because it reminds us how difficult it is to run a business; the people issues, regulatory, environmental issues, sometimes trump 'business issues'.
Notes:
As a non financial guy - he had to rely on auditors and consultants to tell him how GE Cap or some other businesses were (could well be that thats how these large corp bureaucracies work); WB often says, that non financial guys then make capital allocation decision as heads of companies. V odd.
The leadership mess at GE Power - sure; but who created those leaders? Him. Clearly he was focused on other things then.
He got on as CEO at 50x PE; so it was bound to be a rough ride... but all he had to do, as he admits, was press the reset button on pension assumptions and the like.
Very good book.
But very silent on the real mess at GE Capital, Long Term care insurance and GE Power problems.
A very solid reminder that entropy is a natural state - it takes a lot of effort to keep things going.
Clearly, he was an extremely hard working, dedicated GE leader - quite an amazing journey to read about. I like the book because it reminds us how difficult it is to run a business; the people issues, regulatory, environmental issues, sometimes trump 'business issues'.
Notes:
As a non financial guy - he had to rely on auditors and consultants to tell him how GE Cap or some other businesses were (could well be that thats how these large corp bureaucracies work); WB often says, that non financial guys then make capital allocation decision as heads of companies. V odd.
The leadership mess at GE Power - sure; but who created those leaders? Him. Clearly he was focused on other things then.
He got on as CEO at 50x PE; so it was bound to be a rough ride... but all he had to do, as he admits, was press the reset button on pension assumptions and the like.
Very good book.
But very silent on the real mess at GE Capital, Long Term care insurance and GE Power problems.
A very solid reminder that entropy is a natural state - it takes a lot of effort to keep things going.
April 1, 2021
Remarkable Storytelling
In the prologue to this audiobook, Jeff Immelt in his own voice tells about why he wrote HOT SEAT and it was not only his perspective but he interviewed 70 others for the contents of this book. What was it like to lead General Electric –one of the world’s largest corporations? It’s his honest perspective on his lessons learned and full of business insights—a valuable listening experience.
Toward the end of HOT SEAT, for the first time Immelt gives his version of the GE Power / Almston Energy deal (Chapter 10) with interesting details.
The pages of this book combine detailed and excellent storytelling from writer Amy Wallace with distilled business principles for every leader. HOT SEAT is a standout business book and recommended. I enjoyed listening to this audiobook cover to cover.
W. Terry Whalin is an editor and the author of more than 60 books including his latest 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed
In the prologue to this audiobook, Jeff Immelt in his own voice tells about why he wrote HOT SEAT and it was not only his perspective but he interviewed 70 others for the contents of this book. What was it like to lead General Electric –one of the world’s largest corporations? It’s his honest perspective on his lessons learned and full of business insights—a valuable listening experience.
Toward the end of HOT SEAT, for the first time Immelt gives his version of the GE Power / Almston Energy deal (Chapter 10) with interesting details.
The pages of this book combine detailed and excellent storytelling from writer Amy Wallace with distilled business principles for every leader. HOT SEAT is a standout business book and recommended. I enjoyed listening to this audiobook cover to cover.
W. Terry Whalin is an editor and the author of more than 60 books including his latest 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed
August 4, 2022
This was a bit of a rollercoaster. I enjoyed the first 60% of the book. I thought it was an interesting look at how things at GE transpired through many tough times, and think there were a lot of lessons to learn that Jeff expressed well in the book. After that, he gets in to some details about the actual businesses that dragged a bit and didn't match the flow of the rest of the book. It picks up once again when he begins talking about his succession plan and the people involved.
I think there is a lot of good things to learn from this book about business and treating people right, but he does try to walk a fine line of explaining his failures while trying to not sound like he was trying to blame anyone else or make you feel sorry for him. He does a mostly good job of that, but occasionally it felt like saying "I've never been one to blame anyone, but here is why it is their fault." Maybe that's just a result of having to write about one's own public failures.
I think there is a lot of good things to learn from this book about business and treating people right, but he does try to walk a fine line of explaining his failures while trying to not sound like he was trying to blame anyone else or make you feel sorry for him. He does a mostly good job of that, but occasionally it felt like saying "I've never been one to blame anyone, but here is why it is their fault." Maybe that's just a result of having to write about one's own public failures.
May 10, 2021
The book is a honest reflection by the Ex-CEO of GE on his failures and shortcomings and a self assessment of the situation at hand. He should probably be known as the most unfortunate CEO ever. He took over from the legendary Jack Welch (termed as the greatest CEO of the previous century) on 10th Sep 2001, one day before the 9/11 attacks. From then on till about 2017 when he finally stepped down, he was at the helm of affairs of the company originally founded by Thomas Edison through its most difficult years.
If 2001 struck a blow to the airline business on which GE was very dependant through its engine business, 2008 was a death blow to its financial arm – GE Capital. There was no recouping from that.
The book is structured chronologically in the order of the events that happened, starting in 2001 on that fateful day that Jeff took over the CEO till his end of term. Though he would be termed as an unsuccessful CEO by history, his legacy has enough nuggets on what it is to be a CEO of a large public company (GE was the most valuable company in the world in 2011).
In his words, “leadership is an intense journey into yourself. If you can go to bed feeling beaten up and rise the next morning ready to keep listening and learning, then I believe you can lead.” Being a good manager wasn’t a popularity contest. It demanded bravery and the willingness to be accountable. He always believed that an important detriment of success could be found in how one answered these three questions –
1. How fast can you learn?
2. How much can you take/
3. And what will you give to those around you?
Knowing what to do is often easier than knowing when to do it. Leaders cant afford to be indecisive. There is nothing more frustrating to a team than when its leader things out loud but cites caution as a reason not to act. Making imperfect decisions in the pursuit of progress always beats the alternative: letting fear of blame stop you cold.
As most of the other CEOs, Jeff was an early riser up at 5AM everyday hitting the gym, was an avid reader (reading fifty to sixty annual reports a year), had the stamina to travel across the world in a day and had regular dinners with a group of CEOs. He also briefly touches upon system thinking – to untangle all the different interdependent parts of the company. Another trying part of being a CEO is that you have to absorb a lot of bad news every day.
One gem of a idea that resonated with me – “There was this soft-spoken GE lighting CEO wh, when I told her she needed to speak up more in meetings, turned it back on me: “you could really help me by calling me more.” Reticent leaders need this.
In the end of the book he talks briefly about the GE after he left – it is in a deep mes and frequent CEO changes is not helping and talks about four kinds of people –
1. Always switched on and focused in meetings, equally good at making relevant points and listening to others
2. Talks too much, leaving little space for opposing views
3. Prefers to hang back but has a lot of valuable insights
4. Simply silent and smoldering. They don’t want to dirty their hands by debating.
The third one needs to be encouraged.
Overall, a very insightful book with a lot of leadership nuggets and an easy read.
If 2001 struck a blow to the airline business on which GE was very dependant through its engine business, 2008 was a death blow to its financial arm – GE Capital. There was no recouping from that.
The book is structured chronologically in the order of the events that happened, starting in 2001 on that fateful day that Jeff took over the CEO till his end of term. Though he would be termed as an unsuccessful CEO by history, his legacy has enough nuggets on what it is to be a CEO of a large public company (GE was the most valuable company in the world in 2011).
In his words, “leadership is an intense journey into yourself. If you can go to bed feeling beaten up and rise the next morning ready to keep listening and learning, then I believe you can lead.” Being a good manager wasn’t a popularity contest. It demanded bravery and the willingness to be accountable. He always believed that an important detriment of success could be found in how one answered these three questions –
1. How fast can you learn?
2. How much can you take/
3. And what will you give to those around you?
Knowing what to do is often easier than knowing when to do it. Leaders cant afford to be indecisive. There is nothing more frustrating to a team than when its leader things out loud but cites caution as a reason not to act. Making imperfect decisions in the pursuit of progress always beats the alternative: letting fear of blame stop you cold.
As most of the other CEOs, Jeff was an early riser up at 5AM everyday hitting the gym, was an avid reader (reading fifty to sixty annual reports a year), had the stamina to travel across the world in a day and had regular dinners with a group of CEOs. He also briefly touches upon system thinking – to untangle all the different interdependent parts of the company. Another trying part of being a CEO is that you have to absorb a lot of bad news every day.
One gem of a idea that resonated with me – “There was this soft-spoken GE lighting CEO wh, when I told her she needed to speak up more in meetings, turned it back on me: “you could really help me by calling me more.” Reticent leaders need this.
In the end of the book he talks briefly about the GE after he left – it is in a deep mes and frequent CEO changes is not helping and talks about four kinds of people –
1. Always switched on and focused in meetings, equally good at making relevant points and listening to others
2. Talks too much, leaving little space for opposing views
3. Prefers to hang back but has a lot of valuable insights
4. Simply silent and smoldering. They don’t want to dirty their hands by debating.
The third one needs to be encouraged.
Overall, a very insightful book with a lot of leadership nuggets and an easy read.
August 23, 2021
3 key learnings:
- GE Capital went from the Darling of Wall Street to the Ugly Duckling after the 2009 Financial crisis and subsequent SIFI status. This limited the Company’s ability to use leverage and reduced their earnings potential
- One of a CEO’s main job is to inspire confidence and credibility for all stakeholders (customers, shareholders, employees). In this book, Immelt cites many examples where he lost credibility (e.g., multiple earning target misses). One has to believe this was a critical reason for his eventual downfall. As CEO, it is sometimes better to act aggressively but communicate conservatively
- A total lack of transparency in succession planning can promote excess politicking which takes the focus away from running the business and encourages leaders to become more self-serving
- GE Capital went from the Darling of Wall Street to the Ugly Duckling after the 2009 Financial crisis and subsequent SIFI status. This limited the Company’s ability to use leverage and reduced their earnings potential
- One of a CEO’s main job is to inspire confidence and credibility for all stakeholders (customers, shareholders, employees). In this book, Immelt cites many examples where he lost credibility (e.g., multiple earning target misses). One has to believe this was a critical reason for his eventual downfall. As CEO, it is sometimes better to act aggressively but communicate conservatively
- A total lack of transparency in succession planning can promote excess politicking which takes the focus away from running the business and encourages leaders to become more self-serving
January 15, 2022
This book covers the stagnation and fall of GE. Most interesting on the deals (selling parts of GE capital and buying Alstom and Baker Hughes) that have come to define the Immelt era. His views on Jack Welch and his legacy are also important. Would have liked to see much more on how the culture really deteriorated to allow so many problems over a 20 year period though.
It’s also quite annoying to have entire chapters focus on things like leadership training, open communication, digital transformation and board governance, only to provide concrete examples of how these things failed in later chapters. This leaves one with an image of a somewhat hapless leader who usually meant well, but couldn’t steer the ship when it mattered the most.
It would be better to read “Lights Out” first as this one can be a bit light on context.
It’s also quite annoying to have entire chapters focus on things like leadership training, open communication, digital transformation and board governance, only to provide concrete examples of how these things failed in later chapters. This leaves one with an image of a somewhat hapless leader who usually meant well, but couldn’t steer the ship when it mattered the most.
It would be better to read “Lights Out” first as this one can be a bit light on context.
July 10, 2021
Being a GE employee for 12 years I was anxious to read this book and get Immelt’s take on his time as the CEO. Certainly an interesting read, but also quite dense with some daily minutiae that felt a bit like a slog. At times his language felt almost immature for a former CEO and his tone was oftentimes defensive. He’s certainly a smart guy who led GE during a very tumultuous time so he deserves some credit. but I was hoping for a little more of an instructional, motivational book - some lessons that I could glean - especially now that he’s a guest lecturer at Stanford. While I got some insight into his time and decisions, there weren’t many lessons to take away. So…a decent book…although I’d probably just recommend his interview on the Bloomberg Masters in Business podcast.
March 30, 2022
Good book for GE and Ex GEs and May not be a opt choice for others as it involves lot of things happened during Jeff Immelt Era.
Though Jeff sounded very Genuine and honest in his tone, but being went through the phase, I felt there were lot of things were mis represented and Mis quoted. Personal Agenda and acoomplishmenst are given front seat over employee, investor and company growth. It also gives view of what leadership thought about an idea and how bottom line managers or leaders executed it example being simplification.
So overall it is more of memoir for me and gives a glimps of what actually happens in board room and how it is projected at employee/ investor level !!
Though Jeff sounded very Genuine and honest in his tone, but being went through the phase, I felt there were lot of things were mis represented and Mis quoted. Personal Agenda and acoomplishmenst are given front seat over employee, investor and company growth. It also gives view of what leadership thought about an idea and how bottom line managers or leaders executed it example being simplification.
So overall it is more of memoir for me and gives a glimps of what actually happens in board room and how it is projected at employee/ investor level !!
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