Follow the career of General Electric CEO Jack Welch from his beginnings as a stuttering, competitive kid from working-class Salem, Massachusetts, to his early days as a GE engineer, to his ascension to CEO and a 20-year reign at the top. In his own words, Welch stresses the importance of people, originality, creativity, and common sense while sharing his thoughts on what it takes to be a great leader.

Jack Welch gets the credit, as CEO, for the booming success of General Electric since 1981. How did he do it? This summary describes it in detail, his role as a leader, the way he stripped the company of its weighty bureaucracy, and, perhaps most important, how he found the ideas that spurred the company's growth. Engrossing reading for leaders and would-be leaders.