Get Better or Get Beaten Summary
5 min read ⌚
29 Leadership Secrets from GE’s Jack Welch
GE has prospered significantly under the leadership of Jack Welch.
You want to know how he succeeded in that?
Or even better, you want to know Jack’s secrets?
You’ve made an excellent choice of a book!
Who Should Read “Get Better or Get Beaten”? And Why?
This book comes in handy for people interested in Jack Welch’s work, as well as for the ones who haven’t got acquainted enough with him yet.
Also, for the ones looking for good managerial principles.
About Robert Slater
Robert Slater is an author and a journalist. In his career of more than 25 years, he has worked for UPI, TIME and Newsweek.
“Get Better or Get Beaten Summary”
Robert Slater is the recipe for all bosses who want to improve their work or for those who just want to read an amazing story.
How does quadrupling money sound to you? Appealing, right?
Do you want to learn how Jack Welch managed to make his profit four times bigger?
Let’s start!
So, while the other businessmen were afraid of changes, Welch was open for some new and better things. He didn’t accept anything less than being the best. That was his motivation.
One of the things that made him so successful was keeping up with the trends. He could see what people needed and was quickly adapting to the environment.
According to him, the employees don’t need their boss to stand over them and watch what they are doing or how they are doing it. He knew that they could do their job better without any pressure from the managers.
It’s the people that make the job difficult. Welch says that it’s about the quality, not the quantity. You don’t need complexity when you have simplicity. So for everything you do you need a clear plan and the right few people around you.
He thinks that you, as a leader, need to look after the people who are faithful to you and who are looking in the same direction as you are. There is no place in your company for those not aiming for the same things as you are, or for any mistake.
As a CEO, Welch saw that the problem with his company was the unequal development of all of its units and he found a way to fix it. Just like he did with every other trouble he encountered on his way to the top.
But wait, there’s more!
This man didn’t have a problem with kicking people out of his company if they were not needed. He wanted the best for his business so he couldn’t afford to have problems because of his employees.
When nobody anticipated changes, like for example buying RCA, Welch made them.
Just imagine.
In his belief, if everyone taught the other what he knew, everyone would gain from it. He didn’t believe in differences between the leaders and the employees and let everyone participate in making the company better.
The domestic development of his company was the most important. Nevertheless, he knew that every market is different and that one should act according to the needs of a specific market.
It only gets better!
For him, if you want to be great at what you do you must know how to react quickly, how to establish a good relationship with your workers and how to make them feel worthy.
Let your people contribute in any way possible to the company. They are the heart of it. Believe in them, give them the freedom to act independently, and just be there for them.
One of the techniques Welch used to motivate his people was to give them a prize whenever they achieved anything bigger than expected, or whenever he saw progress in their work.
Another thing that made his company so successful was the implementation of the Six Sigma program. The goal was to concentrate on the quality of their work. Their aim was no more than four defects per million. For some, this may sound impossible, but they accomplished it in five years.
Key Lessons from “Get Better or Get Beaten”
1. Your employees are the core of your company
2. Destroy every barrier between your workers
3. Don’t be afraid of changes
Your employees are the core of your company
No matter how good you are at what you do, you can’t achieve anything without your people. So treat them right! They deserve it.
Don’t keep the people who don’t fit in your company. But once you find the ones that do, make sure to do everything to make them stay. If you show them your trust and how valuable they are for the business, you will never be disappointed.
Destroy every barrier between your workers
We all know that in every company there is a hierarchy which is a normal thing. However, don’t let this hierarchy interrupt the relationships between the leaders and the workers. It doesn’t mean that if someone isn’t a manager he or she cannot give you great ideas.
Welch gives us a perfect example of how far you can go if you establish a firm connection between all of your employees.
Don’t be afraid of changes
Nobody wants to get out of their comfort zone. Anyway, once you decide to get out of it, you’ll see how great it makes you feel. So, if something feels right, do it! Don’t wait for something better. You don’t know if better will come.
Well come on, take the chance now. Take risks, that’s the only way to achieve something greater.
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“Get Better or Get Beaten” Quotes
The most important thing a leader has to do is to absolutely search and treasure and nourish the voice and dignity of every person. Click To Tweet The way to get faster, more productive, and more competitive is to unleash the energy and intelligence and raw, ornery self-confidence of the American worker. Click To Tweet We have found that by reaching for the impossible, we often actually do the impossible; and even when we don’t quite make it, we inevitably wind up doing much better than we would have done. Click To Tweet We want to make our quality so special, so valuable to our customers, so important to their success, that our products become their only real value choice. Click To Tweet Today, form isn’t allowed. Global battles don’t allow form. It’s all substance. Click To Tweet
Our Critical Review
Although it may be quite incisive, “Get Better or Get Beaten” should offer the readers a more detailed approach to Jack Welch.
