The Achiever Newsletter
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Encouraging our clients to read books has always been an integral part of our business. As a result, we’d like to periodically share 10 books that we feel should be included in your business and/or personal library. These books are not listed in order of sales, popularity, or recommendation. The numbers are used only for reference purposes.
Over the years, several books and countless magazine and newspaper articles have been written about Southwest Airlines. Numerous MBA programs highlight the Southwest structure, its culture, its CEO, its low fares and other reasons as to why it is the bright spot in an otherwise dismally performing industry. Fortune magazine calls Southwest Airlines "the most successful airline in history." With a market value greater than the rest of the U.S. airline industry combined, Southwest Airlines is an amazing company with amazing management practices. No one, however, has completely captured the real explanation of why Southwest succeeds. In a previous review, I highly recommended NUTS! (Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success). This laugh-a-page, inspirational book captured all the delicious myth, disarming magic, original insights, and upbeat stories of a high-energy, caring, playful culture that's sometimes hard to believe. I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommended it to anyone and everyone striving to create and maintain a successful and productive culture. Now comes The Southwest Airlines Way ... an in-depth profile, based on eight years of field research on the airline industry. In this book, the author, Dr. Jody Gittell, has managed to identify and even quantify the powerful formula of Southwest's success. This effortless read is filled with actual examples of business processes at Southwest as compared to other airlines. You can easily see how basic practices based on internal values at Southwest, such as investing in leadership development and people, have made such a big difference. In fact, the findings reveal that Southwest's success is due to building high performance relationships with its people, customers, unions, vendors and suppliers, and the public in general. Full of frontline tales of Southwest's innovative management style, this compelling book unveils the secret ingredient, high performance relationships, that has enabled Southwest to sustain a steady 10% to 15% rate of growth throughout its 32 year history while also turning a profit when few others can manage to break even. This great read reveals 10 practices that Southwest Airlines uses to build high performance relationships, and how they can be implemented in any organization—with dramatic results. The good news is that Dr. Gittell clearly identifies and explains each of these practices in a highly readable way that is also backed with data. The hard part is that these are not quick fixes and that the evidence indicates that most, if not all, of the practices must be adapted/adopted if another organization is to duplicate the success of Southwest. This no-nonsense analysis takes a more serious look at the airline that continues to fascinate friend and foe alike. Learn why Southwest Airlines is valued higher than all other major U.S. Passenger air carriers combined. Learn how, in the wake of 9-11, Southwest could keep all of its employees working and continue its unblemished record of growth and profitability as other airlines laid off thousands, begged Congress for money, and filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Learn how American, Continental, United and other airlines have tried to imitate Southwest—and why they have failed. You may not find yourself laughing as often as you did while reading NUTS!, but you'll certainly walk away with a greater respect and much deeper insight into the unique culture that will undoubtedly continue to fascinate everyone for decades to come.
This book was destined for publication. It was simply a matter of when it would be written and by whom. In fact, I'm amazed that it wasn't published long before this. Wal-Mart is so much more than the smiling faces of the senior citizens who greet you with open arms at the front of the store, it's more than the bouncing Smiley Face continually reducing prices in every aisle, and it's certainly much more than a typical discount store chain headquartered in the small Arkansas town of Bentonville. Wal-Mart is the real thing. It's here to stay. It's a world-class company. There is much to learn from this corporate giant that recently moved into the #1 spot on the Fortune 500 ahead of GM, Exxon Oil, Ford Motor, and GE. Do you think Wal-Mart simply stumbled into that coveted position? Consider this:
The greatest strength in the Wal-Mart arsenal is the fact that their CULTURE is everything. It's hard to argue with the reality of Wal-Mart's continued performance. I think it's important to realize that the author of this book isn't a devoted Wal-Mart fan trying to recruit additional followers for the retail giant. Robert Slater was a reporter for Time Magazine for 21 years. He is the best-selling author of Jack Welch and the GE Way and has also written acclaimed books about IBM and Cisco. He probed deeply into the Wal-Mart organization from top to bottom, from Bentonville to China and beyond. This book offers a fresh and fascinating look at this unique company—as it was and as it has become—with an immediacy and insider's feel unrivaled since Sam Walton's own memoir, Made In America. Sam Walton set the bar high for his future leaders. He created a unique culture based on three basic beliefs:
Walton was also totally committed to what he characterized as his Ten Rules of Business ... each of which is explained in detail in the book. The author allocates three of 14 chapters to "The Founder and His Legacy." He wisely devotes the remainder of his book to explaining how the new management team devised and then implemented strategies for tremendous growth. There really have been three quite different periods of Wal-Mart's development from a Ben Franklin franchise (opened in Bentonville as the Walton 5 and 10 in March of 1951) to the global retailing giant it is today. The three periods include the Sam Walton Years until his death in 1992, the David Glass Years (1992-2000), and the Lee Scott Years (2000-Present). For years, many people asked about Wal-Mart the same question that others asked about Southwest Airlines: "What's going to happen after HE leaves?" With all due respect to both Sam Walton and Herb Kelleher, their respective organizations have done just fine. Perhaps that is the ultimate test of leadership: a heritage which endures after the leader is either gone or much less involved. In this exceptionally informative book, Slater explains how and why such a heritage guides and inspires the entire Wal-Mart organization.
Here's another book that was begging to be written. It probably would have surfaced much earlier if not for the fear of many authors that publishing too soon would result in the omission of who knows how many future bewildering tactics by the forever transforming retail giant, K-mart. Actually, contrary to my early assumption, this book is less an indictment of K-mart than it is a combination of warnings and lessons to everyone else. There are so many negative examples in the news today of how NOT to succeed in business. However, many organizations fail to acknowledge or learn from these examples. This book was written for those of you who find yourselves wondering how a company with such bright prospects could end up filing for bankruptcy. How could a brand as widely recognized and firmly fixed in our cultural lexicon as K-mart be teetering on the brink of extinction? Depending on whom you talk to, K-mart's fall from grace can be attributed to any number of factors. In the first in-depth examination of K-mart, author Marcia Layton Turner reveals the real reason behind K-mart's troubles—bad management—and discusses how the large personalities and even larger dreams of K-mart's misguided leaders played a significant role in transforming this once profitable retail titan into a bankrupt behemoth. This is not a collection of the author's personal opinions as to why the once mighty K-mart is now frantically treading the tumultuous retail waters. Marcia Layton Turner interviewed many financial analysts, former employees, and industry observers to get the inside scoop on what happened at K-mart. She coupled her research findings with in-depth studies of SEC filings, news reports, and background data to paint a very clear picture of exactly how K-mart management's thinking emerged as well as what went on behind the scenes and why. Weaving corporate history with financial analysis and expert commentary, this engaging book identifies and examines the ten management mistakes, which ultimately brought K-mart to its knees. It spins an intriguing tale of the missteps of a retail giant that once had the industry in the palm of its hand and foolishly let it all slip away. Readers will achieve a better sense of where K-mart has been and what its potential is for a turnaround. This first in-depth examination of K-mart clearly identifies and discusses the ten miscalculations K-mart's CEOs have repeatedly made, including resisting investments in technology, brand mismanagement, and haphazard expansion, to name a few. This book is a well-written comparative analysis of why K-mart failed and Wal-Mart continues to thrive. The management lessons found in the book can be widely applied and should be shared with and discussed among any leadership team members interested in continued growth and success.
Here's another volume for those of you anxious to add to your library of "mini-books." Ken Blanchard, a veritable self-help book-writing machine, partners with co-author Marc Muchnick to create this 112-page parable that every leader will want to read and share with those he/she mentors. Contemplate the current state of technology, research and development. Today we seem to have a pill for just about everything. Wouldn't it be great to have a pill that could actually stimulate the natural powers of the mind and body to provide leadership? Well, that's exactly what happens in this entertaining new book. We read about the competition between two leaders with totally different management styles—a story that reveals the ingredients of truly effective leadership. One leader takes "the leadership pill" while the other leader chooses not to take the medication. Instead he provides the right ingredients for his team and earns their respect and trust with a blend of integrity, partnership, and affirmation. The hard-won result is a highly motivated team producing consistent top performance and genuine success. The message? Leadership takes time—it can't be learned overnight (or ingested via pill form). Leaders must show integrity, build "a culture of partnership" and affirm their employees' sense of self-worth by letting them know what they do is important. How many times have we heard this message ..."back to the basics," "walk-the-talk," "this isn't rocket-science," "stick to the fundamentals," etc.? Ultimately we must recognize that "leadership for a life-time" is much easier to digest than a pill for leaders looking for a quick fix. Although essentially basic in its message, it's quite obvious that many choose to ignore it. If in doubt, simply read the headlines of any recent newspaper or business magazine. The Leadership Pill shows business managers at any level how to apply the right techniques for getting both results and the commitment of their people, even when the pressure to perform is high.
If you watch television, read the newspaper and/or magazines, frequent the Internet, or simply move in any kind of a business circle, you must have, at one time or another, pondered the following: Why do some organizations consistently outperform their competitors? What do managers at the best companies know—and do—to keep their organizations on top? When it comes to implementing management practices that can propel a company to lasting success ... WHAT REALLY WORKS? Well, what better way to find out than a massive five-year study in which over fifty consultants and business school professors at top universities around the country analyzed ten years of data on 160 companies and more than 200 management practices? They called it the Evergreen Project and their goal was to correlate superior corporate performance with the companies' adherence to 200 commonly used practices. Companies they identify as winners consistently followed successful practices in all four of the primary areas (strategy, execution, culture and structure) and any two secondary areas (talent, leadership, innovation, and mergers and partnerships). Primary:
Secondary:
The key to long-term success, they argue, is implementing effective programs in the six areas simultaneously. After analyzing the data, William Joyce and his colleagues concluded that a company following this "4+2" formula over the ten year period had a better than 90% chance of being a winner. Anecdotes from the successful companies will interest general business readers, but the contrast with the experience of companies that stumbled should be particularly instructive. The detailed profiles of "winner" and "loser" companies were especially interesting. Replete with incisive discussions of various companies' approaches for each of the four primary and four secondary areas of practice, the book also offers summaries of the study results in table format. For managers who wonder how anybody can keep six areas of practice fine-tuned at the same time, the authors agree it may be a challenge but point to their wealth of success stories to show it isn't impossible. "It is time for the first book identifying the fundamental practices that create business success–the ones that do indeed really matter."
Don't panic. The author isn't suggesting that you take his title literally. Hugging your customers, he says, has nothing to do with being touchy-feely around them and everything to do with offering them over-the-top service. His advice is hardly groundbreaking. For instance, what rookie employee has not heard the old adages such as "know your customer, think outside the box, have a ‘no problem' attitude"? While we've all heard this obvious, age-old advice repeatedly, how many of us can honestly say we've seen it practiced with any level of success where we shop, eat, travel, etc.? That's the point of this book. Everyone knows what should be done to create repeat customers ... very few people do it! Chances are pretty good that you've never heard of this author or his business establishment. Jack Mitchell is co-owner and CEO of Mitchells/Richards, two independent clothing stores in southern Connecticut and New York's Westchester County (two of Manhattan's most affluent suburbs). This upper-end clothing retailer dresses many Fortune 500 executives from Chase, GE, IBM, Merrill Lynch and Pepsi to name a few. Today, Mitchells/Richards sells $65 million in apparel annually. However, the store began as a modest family business, started by Jack's dad in 1958. Don't make the mistake of tuning out at this point because you don't work in the clothing business. What Jack learned from his father decades ago can be applied to any and all customer-centric businesses that appreciate the importance of knowing that having satisfied customers no longer insures success—you must have extremely satisfied customers who want to return time and time again and encourage others to do the same! Mitchell credits his family store's success to making the store a home, where customers feel welcome. Mitchell says his parents: "... understood that customers wanted five things more than they wanted a great location or enormous inventory:
For Mitchell, that means literally offering a customer the coat off your back, if that's the only one left in the store in the customer's size and preferred style and color. It means going to customers' homes to tie their bow ties for big events. It means serving coffee and bagels in the store and giving away hot dogs in the parking lot on summer Saturdays. Some might view this as fawning, but for Mitchell, it's the best way to keep customers coming back. You, of course, will have to determine what it takes to "HUG" a customer within your environment. This would make an excellent exercise for your staff. Once the crucial determination is crystallized, discuss expectations, training, and follow up to insure success. Mitchell writes: "When you have strong relationships, customers will do more of their buying from you. They'll refer other customers. They'll communicate with you better and tell you what they like and what they don't like, in turn making your business more efficient and effective." The author points out that hugging is difficult to quantify, and many companies ignore customer satisfaction and customer profiling altogether. While inventory is recorded on the balance sheet, Mitchell tells us that a company's greatest asset—repeat customers—doesn't appear on any financial statements. Further, while companies invest significant amounts in computer systems, they rarely develop computer systems that support a hugging culture. Mitchell writes: "What's amazing is that although personal relationships are absolutely crucial to any company's success, they are rarely tracked by any system. Hotels don't know who likes queen-sized beds and who wants extra pillows. Airlines don't know who prefers aisle seats and who prefers the window." Can something similar be said about you, your business and your customers? If so, take action to correct this situation. Mitchell is a big fan of profiling customers to provide more personal service. He likes his sales associates to know which customers like M&M's and what nicknames they prefer. Knowing personal information about each customer is nearly impossible without a database to support this information. However, it doesn't stop there. I know of many companies who boast a tremendous database and yet do nothing with it. Like any other customer service strategy, knowing it is not enough. You have to use it. In today's unbelievably competitive marketplace, there are few who "use it." So-o-o-o-o, define your "HUG," make it an expectation, train your staff to "HUG," practice it, and then, most importantly, "HUG!"
For a number of reasons, today's hiring managers from Wall Street to the Silicon Valley are totally restructuring their approach to interviewing job prospects. Few will admit it has anything to do with the fact that our litigious society makes it very difficult to ask almost any personal question of today's job applicant. The majority of those interviewing today don't even bother checking references because they know anyone they call will provide little or no information on the employee in question for fear of legal retribution. Again, few will admit these facts for obvious reasons. However, for these and other motives including a hypercompetitive global marketplace, a hot new trend in hiring is emerging. "Puzzle interviews" using tough and tricky questions to gauge job candidates' intelligence, imagination, and problem-solving ability, are becoming the norm in many companies. This book is a study of corporate hiring, an assessment of IQ testing's value, a history of interviewing and a puzzle book. The author, William Poundstone, is a science writer who explains the thinking behind this kind of interviewing. In a straightforward manner, the author describes the roots of logic questions in interviews, drawing on the history of IQ testing in hiring interviews, psychological studies and interviews with Microsoft ex-interviewers and interviewees. He certainly makes a strong case for eliminating standard questions like "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" and replacing them with logic puzzles. For years, Microsoft's interview process has included a notoriously grueling sequence of brain-busting questions that separate the most creative thinkers from the merely brilliant. Anyone who's interviewed for a job at Microsoft is intimately familiar with questions like the one in this book's title (How would you move Mount Fuji?). They've probably also pondered such problems as:
Questions like these, which test problem-solving abilities, not specific competencies, are commonplace during job interviews at Microsoft and the many other firms who have adapted this unique approach. Basically, this book is separated into two parts: The first discusses the history of puzzles and their intellectual and academic standing. This section starts off by narrating the origin of puzzle-solving as a criterion for selecting people; then, it talks about how and why many companies use them in interviews. Mr. Poundstone talks about the general approaches to solving puzzles, and then closes on a note for employers on how to design puzzles that are useful. The second part of the book is strict puzzle solving. The book has plenty of puzzles scattered through it and two chapters devoted solely to listing puzzles. The author goes on to discuss the puzzles he has listed and suggests thought processes about how to solve them. This exposition is more interesting than it sounds. Mr. Poundstone not only explains his answers thoroughly, but also uncovers many layers of thinking that show the complexity and beauty of the art of solving puzzles. Almost half of the book is devoted to an "answer" section, where Poundstone gives possible solutions to the brainteasers. Although it lacks a specific focus, this is a fun, revealing take on an unusual subject. This book will give interviewers insights into what kind of questions to ask, and why. You should probably read this book if you fall into one of the categories below:
Here's another book focusing on the obvious. We've heard it all before. In fact, as stated on the inside flap of this very book, we've been hearing this message from this particular author for 30 years. My guess is we'll be hearing it from him for as long as he can speak. And speak he does. Brian Tracy is one of the top professional speakers in the world; he has given more than 2,000 presentations and addresses as many as 450,000 people each year. He's published 32 books and more than 300 audio and video learning programs. And now, believe it or not, he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Governorship of California! He continues to spread his message because he believes it; he has lived it successfully for decades, and has helped thousands of others learn how to set goals, expand their thinking, and reach their full potential. His message is simple but tremendously powerful. What you think has a profound effect on what you do and how you do it! Your life experiences determine the way you think. But your thoughts aren't set in stone. Just like you can learn to ride a bike or play chess, you can also learn to control your thinking, and in turn, control your life. Henry Ford may have said it best decades ago when he told his staff: "Whether you think you can or think you can't ... you're absolutely right!" Tracy continues to hammer home this simple philosophy: Change Your Thinking — Change Your Life. He offers a framework, based on 12 powerful principles, that will help anyone get on the road to a better, more fulfilling professional and personal life. Tracy offers a proven plan for transforming your life by changing the way you think about yourself and your potential. Each chapter offers inspirational stories and principles that get you thinking, backed up with action exercises that help you train yourself to think and act like the successful person you truly are. Every principle helps you change your thinking in a positive way. Every exercise brings about a positive change in the way you see yourself, the world, and your future. Soon, you'll begin to see unlimited possibilities in your future. These principles will show individuals how to delve into their inner resources so that they can not only identify realistic goals but develop a plan on how to achieve these goals. Use the powerful ‘mental software' program in this book to tap your vast inner resources and bring the life you've been dreaming about into reality. It looks as though Brian Tracy has done it again with his latest effort. Maybe the current leadership of California should adopt this philosophy before the upcoming recall election.
John C. Maxwell is back again to add to his more than 30 previous titles with his encouraging tone and down-to-earth writing style. As usual he offers a very simple premise: "To do well in life, we must first think well." This certainly is not a new premise. In fact, it's been around for years, and we've heard it paraphrased by dozens of authors of note. However, as usual, Maxwell simplifies, clarifies, and guides his readers on the journey of mastering "good thinking" to achieve their personal and professional potential. Through his extensive research over the years he has found that "successful people think differently than unsuccessful people." The author details the impact and practical value of 11 kinds of thinking: Big-Picture Thinking / Focused Thinking / Creative Thinking / Realistic Thinking / Strategic Thinking / Possibility Thinking / Reflective Thinking / Popular Thinking / Shared Thinking / Unselfish Thinking / and Bottom-Line Thinking. Maxwell suggests that his readers scrutinize each chapter dedicated to the various types of thinking. He then provides you the opportunity to evaluate yourself at the end of each chapter by answering the thinking question. He finally provides action steps to implement the kind of successful thinking described in each chapter. Useful tips characterize the author's surprisingly concrete lessons. The step-by-step format is bolstered by relevant inspirational quotes, personal insights and high-profile anecdotal evidence about the likes of Priscilla Presley, George Lucas and George Washington Carver. Maxwell presents countless examples, but what makes them so relevant is that they're all based on real companies and individuals. Ending each chapter, emphasizing the discipline needed to think your way to the top, are exercises designed to evaluate and increase your personal progress in each area. Thinking for a Change is written for the general business market for which the author offers useful thinking methods to incorporate into your days, weeks, months and years to improve your effectiveness.
Here's a great concept for teaching anyone—students, potential CEOs in their first year of a business track, or anyone further along in their business careers—the value of bench-marking the careers of some of this generation's top leaders! The author selected seven outstanding corporate leaders:
Author Jeffrey Krames then isolates and examines the specific skills and styles that contributed to each CEOs well-documented achievements. In short, he explains what made them great. Listing the CEOs and their respective defining strategies is easy to do. He then devotes a full chapter to each CEO and offers his rigorous analysis of each leader and the defining strategy within the context of their respective organizations. This is indeed added value for the reader. The reader learns not only the WHAT but also the HOW and WHY. In addition to interviews and his own expert analyses, the author also includes contributions from leading business theorists, including Peter Drucker and Philip Kotler, to provide different perspectives on each given business issue. Here's another interesting feature. Interactive case studies and exercises are added to actively engage the reader's mind. For example, a brief scenario "puts the reader in the seat of each CEO." A series of business situations are also offered which enable his readers "to test their business acumen against that of each of the seven subject CEOs." Assessing Your CEO Quotient self-tests will help the reader apply these traits and strategies to his/her own career. Here are the respective defining strategies of each CEO:
All seven of these exceptional leaders have much in common: an evangelical leadership gene; an understanding of the critical role of culture; a passion to create next-generation products, processes, or solutions; a determination to implement the best ideas, regardless of their origin; and a commitment to increase and thereby advance the leadership body of knowledge. This is a book you'll definitely want to add to your corporate library. |
Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. He can be reached at 800-886-2MAX or by visiting http://www.AchieveMax.com.
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