Quotes from Winning

“Common mission trap for companies: trying to be all things to all people at all times.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“You can look at the situation and feel victimized. Or you can look at it and be excited about conquering the challenges and opportunities it presents.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“No vision is worth the paper it's printed on unless it is communicated constantly and reinforced with rewards.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Effective people know when to stop assessing and make a tough call, even without total information. Little is worse than a manager who can’t cut bait.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“When launching something new, you have to go for it—“playing not to lose” can never be an option.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“The mission announces exactly where you are going, and the values describe the behaviors that will get you there.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“When you are a leader, your job is to have all the questions. You have to be incredibly comfortable looking like the dumbest person in the room. Every conversation you have about a decision, a proposal, or a piece of market information has to be filled with you saying, “What if?” and “Why not?” and “How come?”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Take every opportunity to inject self-confidence into those who have earned it. Use ample praise, the more specific the better.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Underneath, you would surely see that the best care passionately about their people—about their growth and success. And you would see that they themselves are comfortable in their own skins. They’re real, filled with candor and integrity, optimism and humanity.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“We've all been guilty at one point or another in our careers of boasting of perfect hindsight.

It's a terrible sin.

If you don't make sure your questions and concerns are acted upon, it doesn't count.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Differentiation favors people who are energetic and extroverted and undervalues people who are shy and introverted, even if they are talented.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“The third way is less common and certainly less of a layup—a culture of integrity, meaning a culture of honesty, transparency, fairness, and strict adherence to rules and regulations. In such cultures, there can be no head fakes or winks. People who break the rules do not leave the company for “personal reasons” or to “spend more time with their families.” They are hanged—publicly—and the reasons are made painfully clear to everyone.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“RULE 2. Leaders make sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“If a job doesn’t excite you on some level—just because of the stuff of it—don’t settle.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“When you own your choices, you own their consequences.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“IT’S SAID that you can only live life forward and understand it backward.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate, coach, and build self-confidence.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“In my experience, an effective mission statement basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business?”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“At the end of the day, effective mission statements balance the possible and the impossible. They give people a clear sense of the direction to profitability and the inspiration to feel they are part of something big and important.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“The boss would be present at the beginning of each session, laying out the rationale for the Work-Out. He or she would also commit to two things: to give an on-the-spot yes or no to 75 percent of the recommendations that came out of the session, and to resolve the remaining 25 percent within thirty days. The boss would then disappear until the end of the session, so as not to stifle open discussion, returning only at the end to make good on his or her promise.*”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“People development should be a daily event, integrated into every aspect of your regular goings-on.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“When you are an individual contributor, you try to have all the answers. That’s your job—to be an expert, the best at what you do, maybe even the smartest person in the room. When you are a leader, your job is to have all the questions. You have to be incredibly comfortable looking like the dumbest person in the room. Every conversation you have about a decision, a proposal, or a piece of market information has to be filled with you saying, “What if?” and “Why not?” and “How come?”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“It sounds awful, but a crisis rarely ends without blood on the floor. That’s not easy or pleasant. But sadly, it is often necessary so the company can move forward again.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Companies win when their managers make a clear and meaningful distinction between top- and bottom-performing businesses and people, when they cultivate the strong and cull the weak. Companies suffer when every business and person is treated equally and bets are sprinkled all around like rain on the ocean.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Lack of candor blocks smart ideas, fast action, and good people contributing all the stuff they’ve got. It’s a killer.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Every job you take is a gamble that could increase your options or shut them down.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“Working to fulfill someone else’s needs or dreams almost always catches up with you.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“That’s more easily said than done;”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

“learning is truly a value, growth for every employee is a real objective, mistakes aren’t always fatal, and there are lots of people around whom you can reach out to for coaching and mentoring.”
― Jack Welch, quote from Winning

About the author

Popular quotes

“Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.”
― Guru Nanak, quote from Sri Guru Granth Sahib

“Always ask for what you want, because the worst thing that can happen is embarrassment but the best thing that can happen is nudity.”
― Cassandra Clare, quote from Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale

“In the harsh veracity of the real world, he was rich, successful, and one of the most desired bachelors in New York—and I was, well, me. A world I hoped wouldn’t tear us apart by pointing out just how different our lives were.
“You’re probably eager to get home,” Jett whispered in my ear so the flight attendant serving coffee wouldn’t hear us, “but will you stay with me one more night? I’m not quite ready to let this go.”
― J.C. Reed, quote from Surrender Your Love

“The feel of his mouth on mine and the smell of his minty breath has me breathing heavy.” ~ Char”
― T.H. Snyder, quote from Touch Me

“I did get myself into this. Somehow, in some convoluted way, it’s what I’ve been looking for in my life. How else did I come to be here? We create our lives. I don’t fully understand why, but little by little I get that somehow I’ve wanted something like this to happen. I’ve been looking for adventure, and I’ve found it.”
― Aron Ralston, quote from Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.