Author Archives: Harry K. Jones

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Thinking for a Change

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Thinking for a ChangeThinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work
by John C. Maxwell

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.

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

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Change Your Thinking, Change Your LifeChange Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement
by Brian Tracy

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.

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

How Would You Move Mount Fuji?

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How Would You Move Mount Fuji?How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft’s Cult of the Puzzle – How the World’s Smartest Companies Select the Most Creative Thinkers
by William Poundstone

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:

  • Why are manhole covers round?
  • How do they make M&Ms?
  • What does all the ice in a hockey rink weigh?
  • How many piano tuners are there in the world?

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. 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. 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:

  • Prospective interviewees for High Tech, consulting or financial services companies. It won’t give you all the answers to memorize, but it will let you in on the puzzle genre and some of its “rules.”
  • Interviewers/HR – If you are looking to employ puzzle-type questions to hire creative employees, this will give you some insights into what questions to use and why. There are probably better books on the intricacies of interviewing, but this will give you the background needed to use puzzles in the interview process (if you decide that’s what you need.)
  • People interested in problem solving, puzzles and creativity. This covers a lot of ground in these areas and it gives you a few references for further reading.

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Hug Your Customers

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Hug Your CustomersHug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results
by Jack Mitchell

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:

  • A friendly greeting
  • Personal interest
  • A business that makes them feel special
  • A ‘no problem’ attitude
  • Forward thinking”

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!”

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

What Really Works

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What Really WorksWhat Really Works: The 4+2 Formula for Sustained Business Success
by William F. Joyce and Nitin Nohria

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 more than 50 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:

  • Strategy: Devise and Maintain a Clearly Stated, Focused Strategy
  • Execution: Develop and Maintain Flawless Operational Execution
  • Culture: Develop and Maintain a Performance-Oriented Culture
  • Structure: Build and Maintain a Fast, Flexible, Flat Organization

Secondary:

  • Talent: Hold on to Talented Employees and Find More
  • Leadership: Keep Leaders and Directors Committed to the Business
  • Innovation: Make Innovations That Are Industry Transforming
  • Mergers & Partnerships: Make Growth Happen with Mergers and Partnerships

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.”

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The Leadership Pill

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The Leadership PillThe Leadership Pill: The Missing Ingredient in Motivating People Today
by Ken Blanchard and Marc Muchnick

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.

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Kmart’s Ten Deadly Sins

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Kmart's Ten Deadly SinsKmart’s Ten Deadly Sins: How Incompetence Tainted an American Icon
by Marcia Layton Turner

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, Kmart. Actually, contrary to my early assumption, this book is less an indictment of Kmart 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 Kmart be teetering on the brink of extinction? Depending on whom you talk to, Kmart’s fall from grace can be attributed to any number of factors. In the first in-depth examination of Kmart, author Marcia Layton Turner reveals the real reason behind Kmart’s troubles—bad management—and discusses how the large personalities and even larger dreams of Kmart’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 Kmart 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 Kmart. 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 Kmart 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 Kmart 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 Kmart has been and what its potential is for a turnaround. This first in-depth examination of Kmart clearly identifies and discusses the ten miscalculations Kmart’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 Kmart 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.

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The Wal-Mart Decade

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The Wal-Mart DecadeThe Wal-Mart Decade: How a New Generation of Leaders Turned Sam Walton’s Legacy Into the World’s #1 Company
by Robert Slater

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:

  • Wal-Mart has revenues of $246 billion;
  • Wal-Mart has 1 million 300 thousand employees;
  • Wal-Mart has mastered logistics and the supply chain;
  • Wal-Mart shares its strategic vision with each and every employee;
  • Wal-Mart leaders never rest on their laurels;
  • Wal-Mart continually finds ways to reduce costs while improving the shopping experience for its customers;
  • Wal-Mart is the first company ever to head both the Fortune 500 list of American companies and that magazine’s list of Most Admired Companies; and
  • the Wal-Mart management team has devised and then implemented strategies for rapid but prudent growth.

The greatest strength in the Wal-Mart arsenal is the fact that its 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:

  • Respect for the individual;
  • Service to the customers; and
  • Striving for excellence.

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.

(This book review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The Southwest Airlines Way

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The Southwest Airlines WayThe Southwest Airlines Way
by Jody Hoffer Gittell

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 review was originally published in 2003 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 12.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

The Power of 2

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The Power of 2The Power of 2: Win Big with People in Your Work and in Life
by Anthony C. Scire

Here is another in a growing number of “mini-books,” 170 pages in this case, which seem to be taking over book store shelves from coast to coast. What’s interesting about this trend lies in the fact that some of the shorter books pack more power in the way of useful information than many of the 500-page monsters we so often see. This is obviously the case in Anthony C. Scire’s The Power of 2.

The subject matter of this particular book falls into another category for me. The content revolves around networking and human relationships which is critical in assisting anyone in their effort to excel in all areas of work and life. Therefore, wouldn’t it make sense to expose our younger generations to such valuable resources at a very early age? I’d like to see the concepts in this book shared with students as young as middle-school age. I’m certain it would impact their high school, college and early work life in a very positive way. Networking is one of the many areas we share with our audiences ranging in ages from 12 to 25, and this book, written in the tradition of Dale Carnegie’s classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People, cuts to the core of what it takes to win BIG with people. It is an easy-to-read, powerful approach to starting and building relationships and solving people problems.

Don’t misunderstand me. This is far from a children’s book. I’m simply convinced it contains a very important message for all ages. I’ve worked with a large number of front-line employees, middle-managers, CEOs, and board members who would benefit greatly from the proven methods and skills shared within these pages. The Golden Rule of networking is simply this: All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like, and trust. That’s it. That’s what it’s all about and Anthony C. Scire presents timeless principles for building productive, enduring relationships—key ingredients to success and happiness. Tony shares pertinent anecdotes and penetrating insights from his wealth of experiences. He teaches you how to meet more people, build finer relationships, and better nurture the ones you already have. The Power of 2 gives you the edge in getting results by sharing these wonderful gifts:

  • How to create verbal magic and become a people magnet.
  • The secrets of expanding your sphere of influence by using The Power of 2 business card technique.
  • How to build the sincere, long-lasting, loyal, productive friendships of peak performers.
  • How to turn more contacts into contracts.
  • Creative approaches to overcoming the relationships challenges of communicating electronically.
  • How to create an automatic can-do spirit to eliminate procrastination and stagnation.
  • The Ten Commandments of High-Touch Relationship Building.
  • How to receive gratitude in the form of referrals, new business, and greater cooperation.

Don’t expect a theory book or a “quick fix.” You won’t find it here. This is a philosophy which will transform every area of your work and life. You’ll learn why it’s essential to care about others and build relationships. It’s the best way to make a difference, reach worthwhile dreams and goals, and have truly rich life experiences. The Power of 2 is a thoroughly practical and even inspired resource especially suited to the paradoxically globalized yet socially isolated world of today. This one belongs on your bookshelf.

(This book review was originally published in 2002 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 11.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.