Synopsis
Eat your vegetables. Share. Say you're sorry.
We all remember familiar sayings and lessons from our mothers. Now Rhonda Abrams, one of the nation's most respected business writers and consultants, shows how these lessons--and the values they represent--serve as the foundation for building and running great companies.
In a time of cynicism about business and public life, Abrams offers examples of companies that excel by embracing Mom's timeless values. They know the bottom line is just that--the bottom. The key to greatness is building a business on a foundation of core values and running it in ways that would make Mom proud.
In Wear Clean Underwear: Business Wisdom from Mom, Abrams interprets Mom's lessons for today's business climate. Based on in-depth research and in-person interviews, she builds each chapter around a saying we've all heard from Mom:
"If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?" Southwest Airlines bucked the trend of keeping wages and benefits low while competing on the basis of price--and became one of the ten most-admired companies in the country and one of the few consistently profitable airlines.
"Don't judge a book by its cover." A severely dyslexic man realized he'd never get a good job, so he opened his own business, which was built on mutual trust and communication with his employ-ees--a company called Kinko's, now with over nine hundred locations nationwide.
"How do you know you don't like it, when you've never tried it?" 3M became the most innovative company in America by encouraging all its employees to experiment--for instance, the rocket scientist who helped develop a billion-dollar product by designing a Barbie dress.
Sprinkled throughout are sidebars that focus on famous figures and business leaders such as Scott Adams and Ben and Jerry, who share what they learned from their moms.
Wear Clean Underwear: Business Wisdom from Mom offers a refreshing and lively combination of serious insights, solid advice, and heartwarming stories. If you have a business, a Mom, or a life, you'll find Wear Clean Underwear indispensable.
About the Author
Rhonda Abrams writes the nation's most widely read small-business column, distributed by Gann-ett News Service. Her bestselling book, The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies, was acclaimed by Forbes as one of the two best books for small business and by Inc. as one of the six best for start-ups, and it was a Main Selection of the Business Week Book Club. Rhonda doesn't just write about business; she lives it. In 1986, she founded a management-consulting practice that has clients ranging from one-person start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. In 1995, she was an Inter-net pioneer, founding a Web-content company, which she later sold. Rhonda is a popular public speaker and frequent commentator on business topics. She lives in Los Altos Hills, CA.
Visit Rhonda Abrams at www.RhondaOnline.com
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