If you like to win, read this.

Are you like me? As a professional in a small business, I often wonder how advice or “lessons” from international business leaders can be relevant to where I live and what I do every day. Many business leadership articles and books are focused on big strategies and philosophies that just don’t seem that applicable – unless you are among the Wharton or Kellogg business elite.

I found quite the opposite in my latest read: WINNING by Jack Welch, retired chairman and CEO of General Electric. Regardless his forty-year career and renowned corporate success at GE, Welch addresses people at every level and companies both large and small. His call-it-like-it-is style is fresh, easy to follow and stuffed full of meaningful insights that will immediately make a difference in the way you think about your company and your personal career.

Welch gets down to business by addressing questions on a wide range of topics, compiled from thousands of speaking engagements globally - but all centered on “What does it take to win?” The three sections which were most significant and powerful to my own experience focused on internal culture; leadership and people management; and external competition.

Some of my favorite snippets include:

“Winning leaders invest where the payback is highest. They cut their losses everywhere else.”

“… every day is about growing people.”

“If you want people to live and breathe the vision, show them the money when they do …”

“There were times I talked about the company’s direction so many times in one day that I was completely sick of hearing it myself.”

“Strategy means making clear-cut choices about how to compete. You cannot be everything to everybody, no matter the size of your business or how deep its pockets.”

Whether you are a business manager, salesman or factory worker – Welch seems genuinely interested in your success through sharing details from his own. So if you’re ready for some no-nonsense, from-the-gut talk about how to carefully craft your business and become the leader you’ve always wanted to be, you won’t be disappointed with the Welch approach.