They called him Neutron Jack. They called him the world’s toughest boss. And then Fortune called him "The Manager of the Century." In his twenty-year career at the helm of General Electric, Jack Welch defied conventional wisdom and turned an aging behemoth of a corporation into a lean, mean engine of growth and corporate innovation. In this remarkable autobiography--now updated with a special new afterword by the author--Jack Welch takes us on the rough-and-tumble ride that has been his remarkable life.

They called him Neutron Jack. They called him the world’s toughest boss. And then Fortune called him "The Manager of the Century." In his twenty-year career at the helm of General Electric, Jack Welch defied conventional wisdom and turned an aging behemoth of a corporation into a lean, mean engine of growth and corporate innovation. In this remarkable autobiography--now updated with a special new afterword by the author--Jack Welch takes us on the rough-and-tumble ride that has been his remarkable life.

From his working-class childhood to his early days in G.E. Plastics to his life at the top of the world’s most successful com pany, JACK is ultimately a story about people--from a man  who based his career on demanding only the best from others and from himself.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

PROLOGUE

SECTION I EARLY YEARS

Building Self-Confidence

Getting Out of the Pile

Blowing the Roof Off

Flying Below the Radar

Getting Closer to the Big Leagues

Swimming in a Bigger Pond

SECTION II BUILDING A PHILOSOPHY

Dealing with Reality and "Superficial Congeniality"

The Vision Thing

The Neutron Years

The RCA Deal

The People Factory

Remaking Crotonville to Remake GE

Boundaryless: Taking Ideas to the Bottom Line

Deep Dives

SECTION III UPS AND DOWNS

Too Full of Myself

GE Capital: The Growth Engine

Mixing NBC withLight Bulbs

When to Fight, When to Fold

SECTION IV GAME CHANGERS

Globalization

Growing Services

Six Sigma and Beyond

E-Business

SECTION V LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

"Go Home, Mr. Welch"

What This CEO Thing Is All About

A Short Reflection on Golf

"New Guy"

EPILOGUE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

AFTERWORD

APPENDIXES

INDEX