Does former General Electric CEO Jack Welch fall in the same category as other chief executives who are lauded as great leaders, only to later have their accolades shown as more hype than reality? I always have been reluctant to believe the praises heaped on Welch. He has acknowledged that at the time he served as CEO, it was a good time to be in charge of a company. The stock market was good, people were confident in their jobs, there was no recession and money was being spent.
Welch grew GE to a global company, acquired key companies and built the financial services division. He turned GE from a $13 billion to a $500 billion company during his tenure through, among other strategies, embracing and implementing Six Sigma within the company. He has a reputation for being plain-spoken and a straight-shooter. But is this good PR from his bookseller? No.