This story is part of the Behind the Desk series, where CNBC Make It becomes personal with successful business executives to discover everything, from how they got to where they are, what gets them out of bed in the morning and their daily routines.
Jeff Immelt admits that his 16-year tenure as CEO of General Electric was, at best, “controversial” after he left the famous company in 2017 by drowning in debt with falling stock prices.
But instead of taking his more than $ 200 million in retirement payments and running out of money, Immelt wrote a book. “Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company”, available on Tuesday, details his mistakes in running GE.
“I want to reflect on that,” says Immelt, who now teaches at Stanford University School of Business. “I don’t want to hide.”
In 2001, Immelt, who has held executive positions at GE for 19 years, was chosen to succeed Jack Welch, one of the most famous CEOs in the history of the United States. Under Welch, GE’s market value skyrocketed from $ 14 billion to more than $ 410 billion.
Immelt’s race was not so fruitful.
He took charge on September 7, 2001, four days before 9/11. The impact of the terrorist attacks hit several GE businesses, causing stocks to plummet 20%, writes Immelt in “Hot Seat”. Seven years later, the 2008 financial crisis hit GE’s financial services division, GE Capital, which almost collapsed.
During Immelt’s tenure, GE’s shares fell about 30%, eliminating more than $ 150 billion in market value, which many analysts, investors and even fellow CEOs blame Immelt’s mistakes. A year after its departure, GE was withdrawn from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In December, GE agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $ 200 million for misleading investors and disclosure failures in its energy and insurance businesses from 2015 to 2017.
“I know there will be more criticism coming with the book as we revive it,” says Immelt. But “I really love the company. I really love people and I really feel that a different context needs to be created around GE.”
Here, Immelt talks to CNBC Make It about his biggest mistakes, how he deals with extreme stress and whether money and power really make you happier.
On whether he would do it all again with GE: ‘The good days are really good’
I think the answer is yes. The good days are very good and the things we had the opportunity to do and work on, like globalizing the company or launching products or developing people, are extremely rewarding.
And bad things really stink.
What I try to say to 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 enjoying the good days after going through some bad ones.
It was an honor to lead 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 is to announce that Immelt has been named president and president-elect of GE, succeeding Welch.
mark peterson | Corbis Historical | Getty Images
On dealing with extreme stress: ‘I would go home at 7 pm and go to bed’
Go to bed at night and don’t worry about the things you can’t control. Just do your best. People have to learn to measure themselves by progress, not perfection. Perfection is impossible today.
You also have to take care of yourself. You can’t drink a lot. You cannot do things that will impair your judgment.
During the financial crisis, when I was not at work, I went home and went to bed. Some nights at 2 am and others at 7 pm, I would come home at 7 pm and go to bed, because you never knew when I would sleep next.
About his biggest mistakes: I should have given a ‘more holistic view’ of the company
Right after 9/11, I should have considered it much more long-term and holistic [GE], and did it from the standpoint of caution.
The choice I made at that time was to let GE Capital continue to grow while fixing the industrial business mix. In the 2007 and 2008 season [and the financial crisis] came around, who didn’t look very smart. There was so much momentum around GE at the time that it would have been a Herculean task.
But what I tell young leaders is to watch your company for a long period of time. Don’t do this every day. I think the story could have been different if I had done that.
On finding support: ‘Everyone likes you when you’re on top’
My family and close friends have helped me for the past three and the past 20 years.
Everyone likes you when you’re on top, but you need some people who really like you when you’re on the bottom, because almost everyone ends up there someday.
Keeping close friendships and having an incredible wife and daughter helped me to overcome.
About money buying happiness: I was “so happy” as a plastics salesman at GE
When I was a [GE] plastics seller in 1982, I was very happy. I was happy when I ran the medical business [GE Medical Systems from 1996 to 2000].
I think people need to be achievement-oriented and have a vision for themselves and what they want done to be meaningful to them and to others. That to me is happiness, and the money kind of comes with that.
I didn’t get a chance to spend as much time with my daughter as I would like. But what pays off is that she had to do a lot of really cool things. I would be insincere if I didn’t say there are benefits [to money], but I always marveled at the simple things.
When I was CEO, I went to Walmart to shop to see how our lighting products were on the shelves. I would call [former Walmart CEO] Lee Scott or [current Walmart CEO] Doug McMillian and say, ‘Here’s what I saw today.’ I have never lost sight of the fact that this is what I like most about my work.