Good Company: Caring as Fiercely as You Compete - Book Review

Good Company: Caring as Fiercely as You Compete – Book Review

1.7 min read

Greg L. Thomas

Good Company, written by authors Hal Rosenbluth & Diane McFerrin Peters, is an easy to read primer on discovering the basics of a successful modern business. Rosenbluth & Peters begin by dogmatically proclaiming that “companies not only can positively influence lives, they have an obligation to do so.” Both Rosenbluth and Peters have been closely associated with Rosenbluth International. This organization has been a world leader in travel management. Anyone familiar with the digital economy knows that travel management has recently undergone a revolution in how it conducts business and generates revenue.

The authors define the type of company we would all like to work for! A company built on friendship and where everyone genuinely cares about each other. Does this sound too good to be true? Apparently not, as this book demonstrates how fifteen of the worlds best companies have confronted the most severe management challenges and prevailed. In contrast to the prevalent management technique of operating “lean and mean”, Good Company demonstrates the opposite approach.  Rosenbluth and Peters offer solutions on how an organization can discard outdated practices and create an environment of innovation, teamwork, continuous learning and joy at work. Chapter six of the book is entitled, “We’re Not Born into Leadership: We Convert”. It is here the authors define a valuable principle by stating that “Companies can’t bestow leadership upon people; true leadership is earned with right attitude, skills, and behavior.”

The cultural foundation of the book’s corporate examples is most refreshing. It is that the pathway to competitive success is paved by investing first and foremost in your people. The authors show how any size organization can gain a competitive edge by accepting greater responsibility for society at large and the welfare of their employees. Organizations specifically mentioned include Land’s End, Hallmark Cards, Mary Kay Inc., Southwest Airlines and over a dozen others.

Good Company – Caring as Fiercely as You Compete

Addison-Wesley, 1998 (205 pages in hardbound)

Authors Hal Rosenbluth & Diane McFerrin Peters

ISBN 0-201-33982-X

weLEAD rating highly recommended

Buy This Book at a Discounted Price Here!

 

  • Quote of the Day

    “Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”

    — Peter Drucker