The quality Welch seems to value most in people is self-confidence, and he works hard to inspire it in others. His challenge is finding a way to share this heady sense of belonging with an organization shaken by years of upheaval. How to make 300.000 people feel good about themselves? Getting rid of losers was a start, says Welch: “We cut and ran from the ones that didn’t have a chance of becoming No. 1. In televisions we were tied for No. 4, and we were almost a whipping boy. Wham! The Japanese are lowering prices! Whomp! There goes the quarter! We haven’t got a business like that today. They’re all producing either cash or earnings, and everybody who’s still here has a role.”

* John Francis „Jack“ Welch Jr. was CEO of General Electric – the second largest company in the USA – from April 1981 through September 2001. He is said to be one of the most successful managers of the USA, but also one of the most disputed.