Good Company: How Values-Driven Leadership Creates Success―Lessons from The Home Depot and the NFL

A WALL STREET JOURNAL AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

Featuring an introduction by President Jimmy Carter

The Home Depot cofounder and owner of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and MLS's Atlanta United shares a vision and a roadmap for values-based business.

Arthur M. Blank believes that for good companies, purpose and profit can-and should-go hand in hand. And he should know. Together with cofounder Bernie Marcus, Blank built The Home Depot from an idea and a dream to a $50 billion-dollar company, the leading home improvement retailer in the world. And even while opening a new store every 42 hours, they never lost sight of their commitment to care for their people and communities. In fact, in 2001, The Home Depot was voted America's most socially responsible company.

Blank left The Home Depot that same year with a burning question: Could the values and culture that made that company great be replicated? Good Company takes readers inside the story of how he did just that-turning around a struggling NFL team, rebooting a near-bankrupt retail chain, building a brand-new stadium, revitalizing a blighted neighborhood, launching a startup soccer club, and more.

"When good companies put the wellbeing of their customers, their associates, and their communities first, financial success will follow," Blank writes. "The entrepreneurs and business leaders of today and tomorrow have an extraordinary opportunity: to prove that through upholding values we can create value-for the company, for the customer, and for the community."

This powerful leadership memoir reveals the core principles behind his success:

• Putting People First: Discover the counterintuitive "inverted pyramid" management structure that powered The Home Depot’s legendary customer service and can transform any team.
• Purpose and Profit: Learn how a commitment to corporate social responsibility became a competitive advantage, proving that doing good is good for business.
• Listen and Respond: Go inside the story of turning around the Atlanta Falcons by listening directly to players and fans—a lesson in finding wisdom outside the boardroom.
• Values-Based Leadership: A playbook for replicating a winning culture across different industries, from a struggling NFL team to a brand-new Major League Soccer club.

Arthur M. Blank is a co-founder of the The Home Depot, which he retired from in 2001. He is currently the owner of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, MLS's Atlanta United, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, PGA TOUR Superstore, Mountain Sky, West Creek and Paradise Valley Ranches, and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. A successful businessman, community leader, and philanthropist, Blank lives in Georgia with his family.