Welch's profound grasp on General Electric stems from knowing the company and those who work for it like no other. First off, there are the thousands of "students" he has encountered in his classes at the Croton-on-Hudson campus, which everyone at GE just calls Crotonville. Then there's the way he spends his time: more than half is devoted to "people" issues. But most important, he has created something unique at a big company: informality.
Welch’s control over GE stems from knowing the company and those who work for it, and most important, he has created informality or informal manner of communication, in a big company like GE
韦尔奇对通用电气的掌控是源于对公司以及对员工的了解,最重要的是,他在像通用电气那样的大公司创建了不拘泥于条条框框的沟通模式。
first off
used before saying the first of several things you want to say 首先,e.g.
1、First off I didn't agree with the comments in your E-mail. 首先,我不同意你在电邮中所作的评论。
2、Well, first off, I want to know what you've done with the money I gave you.嗯,首先我想知道你是怎么花掉我给你的钱的。