GE's businesses turned in a terrific first quarter. Our products and services are being well received in unusually robust global markets.

You got to be rigorous in your appraisal system. The biggest cowards are managers who don't let people know where they stand.

If you're not in Germany, you're not in Europe. And if you're not in Asia, you're nowhere.

Focus on a few key objectives ... I only have three things to do. I have to choose the right people, allocate the right number of dollars, and transmit ideas from one division to another with the speed of light. So I'm really in the business of being the gatekeeper and the transmitter of ideas.

We bring together the best ideas - turning the meetings of our top managers into intellectual orgies.

In every company, differentiation is never more important than it is in times of trouble, and that's the time when everyone tends to go to the well and equalize rather than differentiate.

This shows you are never too old to get surprised.