This story is part of the “Behind the Desk” series, where CNBC Make It becomes personal with successful business executives to find out everything from how they got to where they are to what makes them rise from bed in the morning until the daily routine.
Jeff Immelt admits that 16 years of working as CEO at General Electric was at best “controversial” after he left the well-known company in 2017 drowning in debt with a value of the stock falling.
But instead of earning more than $ 200 million in retirement and falling, Immelt wrote a book. “Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company,” available Tuesday, details his mistakes in leading GE.
“I want to reflect on that,” says Immelt, who now teaches at Stanford University’s School of Business. – I don’t want to hide.
In 2001, Immelt, who had previously held executive positions at GE for 19 years, was elected to succeed Jack Welch, one of the most famous CEOs in US history. Under Welch, GE’s market value rose from $ 14 billion to over $ 410 billion.
Immelt’s escape was not so fruitful.
He took the helm on September 7, 2001, four days before September 11. The impact of the terrorist attacks affected several of GE’s businesses, causing the shares to fall by 20%, writes Immelt in “Hot Seat”. Seven years later, the 2008 financial crisis hit GE’s financial services division, GE Capital, which nearly collapsed.
During Immelt’s tenure, GE’s shares fell about 30 percent, eliminating more than $ 150 billion in market value, which many analysts, investors and even fellow CEOs blame Immelt’s mistakes. In the year after his departure, GE gave up the Dow Jones industrial average. In December, GE agreed to pay $ 200 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors and disclosures in its energy and insurance business from 2015 to 2017.
“I know there will be more criticism of the book as we relive it,” says Immelt. But “I really like the company. I really like people and I really feel that a different context needs to be painted around GE ”.
Here, Immelt talks to CNBC Make It about his biggest mistakes, how he handles extreme stress, and whether money and power make you happier.
If he did everything again with GE: “Good days are very good”
I think the answer is yes. The good days are very good and the things we had the chance to do and work on, such as the globalization of the company or the launch of products or the development of people, is extremely satisfying.
And bad things really stink.
What I’m trying to tell entrepreneurs or MBA students [who I work with] is that without a few bad days, you never appreciate the good days. I have a unique perspective on appreciating the good days that have gone through some bad ones.
It was an honor to drive and I will always feel that way.
General Electric executives Jack Welch and Jeffrey Immelt attend a news conference in New York City. The conference will announce that Immelt has been appointed president and president-elect of GE, replacing Welch.
peterson brand | Corbis Historical | Getty Images
About the extreme stress: “I would go home at 7 pm and go to bed”
Go to bed at night and don’t worry about things you can’t control. Just do everything you can. People need to learn how to qualify for progress, not perfection. Perfection is impossible today.
You also have to take care of yourself. You can’t drink too much. You can’t do things that will affect your judgment.
During the financial crisis, when I was not at work, I went home and went to bed. Some nights were at 2 in the morning and other nights were at 7 pm I would go home at 7 pm and go to bed because you never knew when you would sleep the next.
On his biggest mistakes: I should have taken a “more holistic look” at the company
Very early after September 11, I should have taken a much longer and more holistic look [GE], and he did so out of prudence.
The choice I made at that time was to allow GE Capital to continue to grow as we repair the industrial set of businesses. Until 2007 and 2008 [and the financial crisis] appeared, that didn’t look too smart. At that time there was so much momentum around GE that it would have been a Herculean task.
But what I’m telling young leaders is to take a look at your company for a very long time. He doesn’t do it every day. I think history could have been different if I had done that.
When you find support: “Everyone likes you when you’re on top”
My family and close friends have helped me get through the last three years and the last 20 years.
Everyone likes you when you’re on top, but you need a few people who really like you when you’re down, because almost everyone gets there someday.
The fact that I kept close friends and maintained an amazing wife and daughter helped me get through.
As for the happiness of buying money: I was “so happy” as a GE plastics seller
When I was a [GE] plastic seller in 1982, I was so happy. I was happy running the medical business [GE Medical Systems from 1996 to 2000].
I believe that people need to be achievement-oriented and have a vision for themselves and what they want to do, which is both meaningful to themselves and to others. That’s happiness for me, and the money comes with it.
I haven’t had a chance to spend as much time with my daughter as I would like. But what makes up for it is that he ended up doing a lot of very neat things. I would be dishonest not to say that there are benefits [to money], but I always wondered at simple things.
When I was CEO, I went to Walmart and did some shopping to see what our lighting products on the shelves looked like. I would call [former Walmart CEO] Lee Scott or [current Walmart CEO] Doug McMillian says, “Here’s what I saw today.” I’ve never lost sight of the fact that I like it the most in my job.