Jack Welch Summary and Analysis

Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, began playing baseball and hockey in the fields near his home when he was seven or eight. Jack credited his mother with teaching him to be competitive through their games of gin rummy. Jack's mother was a strict disciplinarian as well. Jack played baseball all through school and was always the captain of the team, more because of his personality than his athletic ability. Jack took the things he learned in sports, such as how to listen to other people's views and build a good team, and applied them to business to help him succeed.

Jack Welch's story illuminates the theme of sports as a character builder. Jack took what he learned not only from playing sports but from competing with his mother in cards and molded the person he became. Jack took...