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July 17, 2009
Breaking news: I will name my next three children after Jack Welch.
Query: In the United States in the year 2009, must you be Jack Welch just to tell the truth any more? And please note, everyone: it's not a Mommy, Woman, Man, or Gen-Y thing. It's about customers, quality, and not alienating the productive workers at your shop so irretrievably that they vote with their feet.
Tons of coverage--and oddly much of it negative--on this story. WAC? is so outdated, irrelevant, and old fashioned. For now see "No Such Thing as Work-Life Balance for Women, says Jack Welch" by Alpha Mummy at The Times of London.
We are indebted to Redford for the heads up on the Welch story. We've been working too hard lately to notice coverage of the WLB swan song. But this is great. I was getting tried of going to my meetings, anyway:
Hello everyone. My name is Rob, and I'm a recovering workaholic. Feels really good to be able to say that today. My life was unmanageable. My co-workers did an intervention--and they saved my life. You see, one year ago today was the end of my last work bender....
"Work-Life Balance Is A Dumb-Ass Issue" and related posts dating from 2006 can be found in the Running Firms archive at this blog.
Life ain't easy for a little girl on the playground known as "Jackwelch". But we are too inspired to change it now.
Posted by Rob Bodine at July 17, 2009 11:59 PM
Comments
If CEOs like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Andy Grove, Jeff Bezos, etc., said something like that, I would give it more than the zero credence I give to Jack's opinions. Those CEOs built thriving, innovative companies from scratch, that enriched not only shareholders and employees, but also improved the lives of customers. "Neutron" Jack, on the other hand, left a trail of destruction behind him. What is his claim to fame? Laying off or divesting 112,000 employees over a five year period, and turning one of America's manufacturing powerhouses into a giant sub-prime lender. The house that Jack built is now trading at $10, those jobs are gone forever, but Jack still has his Park Avenue co-op. And look at his proteges, whom he trained: Immelt at GE, and Nardelli at Home Depot & Chrysler. Between the two of them, they managed to drive three companies into the ground. Now "Neutron", who is on his third wife, has decided to branch out into giving destructive relationship/career "advice" too. His "advice": career women should not procreate! Give me a break!
Posted by: A.S. at July 19, 2009 11:12 PM
He's way happy, way rich, loves people, and doesn't care what anyone thinks.
How about you and yours?
Posted by: Rob Bodine at July 17, 2009 01:44 PM
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grind- stone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog days; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas.
Posted by: A.S. at July 17, 2009 12:10 PM
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