Jack Was Pretty Damn Good

In the midst of a bear market, a possible recession, war in Europe, a pending historic decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, what do we get from a New York Times business writer? A book disparaging Jack Welch…a CEO who retired in 2001 and who died in 2020. Ironically, the business media loved Jack when he was alive, and they were right. 

Few people received more criticism from Jack than I did. That is why I feel uniquely qualified to defend him. 

Jack invested in leadership. He was a good coach…demanding and fair. GE produced a lot of good leaders. But the requirements for business leadership in the 2000s (and today) are vastly different than the 1990s and the needs of each company was unique. For example, outsourcing – a common practice for decades – is viewed unfavorably in a world of intense competition for jobs, protectionism, and broken supply chains. 

Importantly, each leader was responsible for his or her own success, and many GE alums flourished: Margaret Keane at Synchrony, Scott Donnelly at Textron, Dave Calhoun at Boeing, Greg Lucier at Life Technologies, Dave Cote at Honeywell, Omar Ishrak at Medtronic, Frank Blake at The Home Depot, David Zaslav at Warner Bros. Discovery, Mark Begor at Equifax, Tom Gentile at Spirit AeroSystems, George Oliver at Johnson Controls, Joe Hogan at Align, Lorenzo Simonelli at Baker Hughes, Raphael Santana at Wabtec, Pramod Bhasin at Genpact, Kevin Sharer at Amgen, and Marijn Dekkers at Bayer AG…to name a few. Those who did best combined GE process skills with a passion for technology.

Twenty GE leaders who worked with me in the 1990s ran or run publicly traded healthcare companies. Dozens of CFOs, CIOs, senior HR leaders, general counsels, and senior communicators come from GE and are proud of their heritage. A few weeks ago, I met with the CEO of a world-renowned conglomerate to discuss GE’s Crotonville learning center. Why was that CEO interested? Because Crotonville was admired as superb. 

Over the years, recruiters approached hundreds of GE executives. And every private equity investor has benefitted from our alumni skills. GE people made their mark on the world, including at GE where they produced innovative products and led markets. During Jack’s tenure and beyond, GE built leading businesses in aircraft engines, power generation, transportation, appliances, oil & gas, medical equipment, engineered materials, news and entertainment, mid-market finance and others.

Jack insisted that GE people respect the rules. GE was the most highly regulated company in the world. Our processes were reviewed by the SEC, FDA, FAA, FTC, NTSB, the Fed, and many others. GE was widely admired for its compliance program and leadership and was repeatedly named among the world’s most ethical companies. We did business in 180 countries. Our controllership processes went through eight layers of review including a rigorous external audit process. For decades, GE has encouraged employees to raise concerns, including directly with the board of directors…thousands did so each year. 

Jack believed in performance and productivity and rewarded both. These are good things, not just at GE but for all of society. Under Jack, GE never lost a day to labor unrest. We were a welcome investor around the world. When previously closed markets -- such as India and Hungary -- opened their doors to foreign investment, Jack was the first leader to take a chance. People liked working at the company at every level. 

We live in a “haters” world. Jack was not perfect, and some criticisms are fair. He and I didn’t always agree. But I have seen hundreds of CEOs up close in my career. Jack was pretty damn good.