Table of Contents
Prologue 1
Chapter 1 Leaders Show Up 7
Threading the Needle 9
Stoking GE's Growth Engine 12
Waking to a Nightmare 14
Facing Disaster 17
Absorbing Fear 19
Putting Customers First 22
Chapter 2 Leaders Learn Every Day 27
"Don't Complain-Fix It!" 30
Be Willing to Stand Apart 32
Choose Purpose Over Money 34
See Through Your Customer's Eyes 36
Learn to Take the Heat 41
Get a Thicker Skin 44
Valuing Growth 46
Launching the LightSpeed 48
Who's Next in Line? 50
Your Peers Promote You 54
Chapter 3 Leaders Invest in Growth 57
A Time For Change 61
Technology First 63
Protect the Builders 67
Fulfilling the Dreamliner Dream 71
Don't Fall in Love with an Idea 76
Pivot to Grow 77
Seize Opportunity 81
Don't Be Afraid to Act 87
Chapter 4 Leaders Are Systems Thinkers 93
Communicating with the World 96
Green Is Green 99
The Digital Future 107
Competing for Talent 112
Bringing the Team Along 113
Not Finishing the job 116
Chapter 5 Leaders Persevere in a Crisis 119
Bundle at Your Peril 121
Beware a Cold Snap 123
Darkness Visible 126
Rolling Paper 132
"Let's Get the Money" 133
Fishing for an Anchor 136
The Killer Chart 138
Stepping into Liquid 141
Cutting the Dividend 143
Chapter 6 Leaders Make Big Companies Small 149
Facing Reality 151
Retaining the Best 153
It Starts with You 154
The Soul of GE 160
Reimagining Crotonville 161
Leadership Explorations 163
Valuing Everyone 166
Chapter 7 Leaders Compete Around the World 173
Becoming the jobs Czar 179
There's Always a Crisis Somewhere 182
Investing in Local Capability 185
Persisting Through Volatility 187
Cementing Relationships 190
Hiring Local Teams 194
China Matters Most 196
A Little Bit of We 204
Chapter 8 Leaders Manage Complexity 207
Creating Incremental Value 209
Pattern Recognition 211
An Aspiration to Lead 213
Private Equity: A Modern Conglomerate? 216
Developing Trustworthy Leaders 220
A Bias for Innovation 222
Constantly Simplifying 224
Operational Transparency 229
Peer Learning & Peer Pressure 230
Chapter 9 Leaders Solve Problems 233
Managing Risk 234
Welcome to the Hotel California 238
Shooting for the Moon 239
Keeping the Lid on Tight 243
Secretive No More 250
Leveling with Our People 251
Activists Abound 254
Sell, Sell, Sell! 256
Mission Accomplished 258
Chapter 10 Leaders Are Transparent 261
A Simple Deal (in a Market We Knew) 263
A Position of Strength 265
A Leader Stops Leading 268
Integrating Alstom 269
Overt Transparency 271
Close the Deal, Lose the Leader? 276
The Business Suffered 278
Chapter 11 Leaders Are Accountable 285
Grooming the Candidates 287
The Home Stretch 291
Valuing the Company 292
Every job Looks Easy (Until You're the One Doing It) 300
Activist Investors Weren't the Answer for GE 301
A Short Tenure 303
Chapter 12 Leaders Are Optimists 309
Owning Some Mistakes 312
The Case for Listening (Most of the Time) 315
Life After GE 316
Change for the Better 318
Acknowledgments 321
Index 325