Hot Seat: Hard-won Lessons in Challenging Times
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-03-23 16:14:58
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Jeff Immelt
- ISBN：1529358736
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Summary
A memoir of successful leadership in times of crisis: the former CEO of General Electric， named one of the “World’s Best CEOs” three times by Barron’s， shares the hard-won lessons he learned from his experience leading GE immediately after 9/11， through the economic devastation of the 2008–09 financial crisis， and into an increasingly globalized world。
In September 2001， Jeff Immelt replaced the most famous CEO in history， Jack Welch， at the helm of General Electric。 Less than a week into his tenure， the 9/11 terrorist attacks shook the nation， and the company， to its core。 GE was connected to nearly every part of the tragedy—GE-financed planes powered by GE-manufactured engines had just destroyed real estate that was insured by GE-issued policies。 Facing an unprecedented situation， Immelt knew his response would set the tone for businesses everywhere that looked to GE—one of America’s biggest and most-heralded corporations—for direction。 No pressure。
Over the next sixteen years， Immelt would lead GE through many more dire moments， from the 2008–09 Global Financial Crisis to the 2011 meltdown of Fukushima’s nuclear reactors， which were designed by GE。 But Immelt’s biggest challenge was inherited: Welch had handed over a company that had great people， but was short on innovation。 Immelt set out to change GE’s focus by making it more global， more rooted in technology， and more diverse。 But the stock market rarely rewarded his efforts， and GE struggled。
In Hot Seat， Immelt offers a rigorous， candid interrogation of himself and his tenure， detailing for the first time his proudest moments and his biggest mistakes。 The most crucial component of leadership， he writes， is the willingness to make decisions。 But knowing what to do is a thousand times easier than knowing when to do it。 Perseverance， combined with clear communication， can ensure progress， if not perfection， he says。 That won’t protect any CEO from second-guessing， but Immelt explains how he’s pushed through even the most withering criticism: by staying focused on his team and the goals they tried to achieve。 As the business world continues to be rocked by stunning economic upheaval， Hot Seat is an urgently needed， and unusually raw， source of authoritative guidance for decisive leadership in uncertain times。
In September 2001， Jeff Immelt replaced the most famous CEO in history， Jack Welch， at the helm of General Electric。 Less than a week into his tenure， the 9/11 terrorist attacks shook the nation， and the company， to its core。 GE was connected to nearly every part of the tragedy—GE-financed planes powered by GE-manufactured engines had just destroyed real estate that was insured by GE-issued policies。 Facing an unprecedented situation， Immelt knew his response would set the tone for businesses everywhere that looked to GE—one of America’s biggest and most-heralded corporations—for direction。 No pressure。
Over the next sixteen years， Immelt would lead GE through many more dire moments， from the 2008–09 Global Financial Crisis to the 2011 meltdown of Fukushima’s nuclear reactors， which were designed by GE。 But Immelt’s biggest challenge was inherited: Welch had handed over a company that had great people， but was short on innovation。 Immelt set out to change GE’s focus by making it more global， more rooted in technology， and more diverse。 But the stock market rarely rewarded his efforts， and GE struggled。
In Hot Seat， Immelt offers a rigorous， candid interrogation of himself and his tenure， detailing for the first time his proudest moments and his biggest mistakes。 The most crucial component of leadership， he writes， is the willingness to make decisions。 But knowing what to do is a thousand times easier than knowing when to do it。 Perseverance， combined with clear communication， can ensure progress， if not perfection， he says。 That won’t protect any CEO from second-guessing， but Immelt explains how he’s pushed through even the most withering criticism: by staying focused on his team and the goals they tried to achieve。 As the business world continues to be rocked by stunning economic upheaval， Hot Seat is an urgently needed， and unusually raw， source of authoritative guidance for decisive leadership in uncertain times。
Reviews
Kevin Collett
，
4/5 – it was going to be 3/5 but the book has a really strong finish。I found this an interesting and well written book。 At times is does come across as slightly defensive but that’s to be expected given the media coverage of Jeff Immelt’s time as GE CEO。My main issue with the book is that， like most business books， it misses out on some key input from other people， especially his wife and family。 I appreciate that Jeff made an enormous amount of money during his time at GE， but the work commit 4/5 – it was going to be 3/5 but the book has a really strong finish。I found this an interesting and well written book。 At times is does come across as slightly defensive but that’s to be expected given the media coverage of Jeff Immelt’s time as GE CEO。My main issue with the book is that， like most business books， it misses out on some key input from other people， especially his wife and family。 I appreciate that Jeff made an enormous amount of money during his time at GE， but the work commitments and stress seem unbelievable so it would be interesting to get a view of how this impacted him from someone who cared for him as a person rather than as a CEO。I’d also like to see a different format to biographical， business / leadership books:· Setting the scene – how things were organised at the company。 I’ve read the whole book and am none the wiser about how GE works with the management of the industry segments alongside the geographical management。· Chronological events – take periods of time and provide context for what happened in each part of the business during this period。 I think this would make it easier to understand all the competing workloads than looking at leadership / management themes which then cross and re-cross different time periods so it’s harder to understand how all the anecdotes tie together。· The review – with the benefit of hindsight， what would the person have done differently and how they think this could have changed the things that happened。In summary: I think Jeff did a reasonable job based on the number of world-changing events that happened during his tenure。 The things I did think after reading the book was:1） I’m not sure being GE CEO for 16 years is good for your physical or mental health。 Maybe 10 years would be a better period as it would get the balance right between knowing the business and not being exhausted by the business。2） Having the CEO succession process run for five years is insane， in my opinion。 I appreciate that they want to ensure that the candidates are properly tested but you’d think that their prior achievements would count so having the selection process last 12-24 months would give all candidates a fair chance to be exposed to other aspects of the business and Board of Directors。3） I appreciated Jeff’s candour about how he is a stress eater。 It is always good to read about ultra-successful people not being perfect。Other lessons from the book that resonated with me:· An important determinant of success can be found in how you answer:1） How fast can you learn？2） How much can you take？3） And what will you give to those around you？· Here is a good rule: the quality of an asset is inversely proportional to the amount of talent it takes to sell it。· Leaders must fight for their companies’ reputation。 Leaders can’t let lies and half-truths calcify， and they shouldn’t let their team’s narrative be irreversibly tarnished。· Questions to combat inefficiencies and bureaucracy:a） Who do you work for？ If the answer was more than one person， it is a bad sign。b） How are you measured？If workers didn’t understand the metrics they were expected to live up to then it’s very hard for them to succeed。People should have no more than three or four clear metrics they are working on to improve。c） Where do you live？If the person lived in London but was responsible for Africa， that was a warning sign。· ‘Six simple rules’ （https://www。bcg。com/en-gb/capabilitie。。。） for helping to minimise organisational complexity。· The “Blueprint Review” system for the operating segments- Clear goals in four areas:i。 Financialii。 Strategiciii。 Peopleiv。 Risk- Achievement against these goals determined variable compensation。- Focus on exceptions。- The Blueprint Review meeting was the only place significant business decisions were made which mitigated the risk of misunderstandings。 。。。more
Alok Kejriwal
，
A hot new book that stunned， surprised & deeply educated me。Unlike 99% of biz books that are abt winners/winning， this book is about 'losing/being a loser' （as claimed by Jeff）。 I think he is too hard on himself。What's great？- The HARD， GUT wrenching story of what it takes to INHERIT a job vacated by one of the world's most respected leaders - Jack Welch。 （As will be the story of successors of Warren Buffett， Steve Jobs）。- How horrible luck & circumstances can knock you out & what it takes to su A hot new book that stunned， surprised & deeply educated me。Unlike 99% of biz books that are abt winners/winning， this book is about 'losing/being a loser' （as claimed by Jeff）。 I think he is too hard on himself。What's great？- The HARD， GUT wrenching story of what it takes to INHERIT a job vacated by one of the world's most respected leaders - Jack Welch。 （As will be the story of successors of Warren Buffett， Steve Jobs）。- How horrible luck & circumstances can knock you out & what it takes to survive。 Jeff's 1st day at work was Sept 10， 2001 :（- Dealing with false expectations。 "I became CEO of a Company where perception didn't equal reality"。- Dealing with horrific mindsets。 Jack Welch didn't let Jeff buy a Company in Silicon Valley coz 'people are crazy out there'。- The passion of a man to get the Company logo tattooed on his hip！ （Would you do that？）- AMAZING chapters on operations - how Big things get done on Big companies。- A lot of self-introspection。 This book takes the world record of the nos of times a writer admits he was wrong！- Deep insights on dealing with nations， nationalities， politics & decision making at the highest levels。- If nothing else， a book about PURE STAMINA！READ THIS ONE。 。。。more
Umesh
，
Honest n candid memoir，with out much of mud slinging。Really respect the way entire details been shared。 Last couple of chapters are really the take aways， it also tells what one should not do n very simple n straight mammer。 Lot of hype n negativity about author gets clarified aa he gives his points of view along with the situation that was prevailing。 All in all a book worth reading n referring。
Thomas F
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