It's All About Who You Hire, How They Lead...and Other Essential Advice from a Self-Made Leader - Hardcover

Mandel, Morton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118379888 ISBN 13: 9781118379882

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2012

Synopsis

American business leader, entrepreneur, and noted philanthropist Morton Mandel shares lessons he gleaned from co-founding and leading, along with his brothers Jack and Joe, Premier Industrial Corporation, a major industrial parts and electronic components manufacturer and distributor. Now for readers everywhere who are interested in studying leadership development, It’s All About Who describes Mandel’s approach to finding, recruiting and cultivating “A” players.

In his book, Mandel shares his fine-tuned set of practices to develop leaders that have proven to deliver dramatically better results. Containing sixteen core sections, “It’s All About Who” covers key strategic topics from “Building a Rich, Deep, and Ethical Culture” to “Killing Yourself for Your Customer” to “Using Business Ideas in the Social Sector.”

What makes Mandel unique is his selflessness in pursuing a life of purpose. Mandel has lived in two worlds: the world of profit and the world of social impact. Even as chairman and CEO of a New York Stock Exchange company for more than three decades, he spent as much as a third of his time in the social sector.

Mandel has personally founded more than a dozen non-profit organizations. His deep-seated passion is evident in the mission of his Foundation:  “To invest in people with the values, ability and passion to change the world.” 

About this title

Review

Guest Review by Marshall Goldsmith

Marshall Goldsmith

In the late 1980s, we discovered Max DePree. At the time, Max was little known outside his industry, office furniture, or his company, Herman Miller Inc. But with the publication of Leadership Is an Art, Max emerged as an iconic business leader and one who had much to teach us about extraordinary leadership.

Which brings me to Mort Mandel and It's All About Who You Hire, How They Lead ... and Other Essential Advice from a Self-Made Leader. Like Max, Mort has spent most of his very productive life outside the spotlight. But he has finally sat down long enough to write a brilliant book filled with the advice that helped make him a leading philanthropist, business leader, social entrepreneur and self-made billionaire.

For 34 of 36 years as chief executive of Premier Industrial Corp., Mort reported record profits, selling what many would consider fairly humdrum products--nuts and bolts, circuit breakers, chemicals, and fire-fighting equipment. He also rolled up his sleeves in numerous non-profit organizations where he learned as much about management and leadership as he did in his own company.

His highly compelling book is not a memoir but rather an exploration of the fundamental principles that shaped his career and beliefs.

Above all, Mort believes that effective leadership is the essential ingredient you need to change the world. Find, recruit and cultivate "A" players for leadership roles--and it will lead to better strategy and execution and superior client satisfaction. In simple, clear language, he explains how it is done and tosses in a few tricks he has used to put the human capital odds in his favor.

In Mort's world, execution matters. And to achieve flawless execution, it is necessary for every leader to be devoted to the messy details of work. After years of hearing about employee empowerment, some may find his advice contrary to popular management literature. Mort, however, shows the importance of direction, accountability and clarity to achieve the kind of superior execution that can deliver exponentially better results. After reading how he does it, you'll become a convert, too.

And at a time when the headlines so often remind us of people who failed to act with integrity, Mort reminds us that personal values really do matter. He believes that people everywhere can lead a values-driven life filled with honesty, decency, respect, kindness, and generosity.

These are timeless lessons and how Mort uses these principles to guide his decision making over the years makes them highly valuable, too. My prediction: It's All About Who You Hire will make Mort Mandel the most successful person you may never have heard of--until now.

From the Back Cover

"Mandel stands out ... a true master of leadership"
―Warren Bennis

Praise for It's All About Who

"The epitome of the American Dream, Mort Mandel has established himself as one of its greatest champions. In this book, he shares the secret of his success in both worlds: understanding the value of exceptional leadership and supporting it in every way possible."
―Vartan Gregorian, president, Carnegie Corporation of New York

"Mandel's principles are simple and straightforward, but highly effective. This book will clearly be invaluable to those leading business today, but also to teachers of management practice and their students―the managers of tomorrow."
―Ron Daniel, managing partner emeritus, McKinsey & Company

"In It's All About Who, Morton Mandel tells us the inspirational story of his life as a CEO and philanthropist. From Mandel, we learn lessons of leadership necessary to achieve the greatest levels of success!"
―Marshall Goldsmith, the author of New York Times best sellers MOJO and What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"Leave it to a self-made billionaire and social entrepreneur to deliver the news: It's only about leadership. Morton Mandel shares his powerful story for the first time, and reveals the few well-tested practices that have generated so many extraordinary results. So stop what you're doing, get a copy of this book, and start changing your world."
―Mary Davis Holt, partner, Flynn Heath Holt Leadership; best-selling author, Break Your Own Rules

"Anchored in real-life experience, this is an absolutely fascinating and enlightening treatise on the number one imperative of leadership: attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining talent. This is a 'can't miss' classic written by people who should know. Well done!"
―Douglas R. Conant, former president, CEO, and director of Campbell's Soup Company; New York Times best-selling author, TouchPoints

For more on effective leadership, visit www.MortonMandel.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1118379888
• ISBN 13: 9781118379882
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224