What do you think?
Rate this book
Six Tires, No Plan: The Impossible Journey of the Most Inspirational Leader That (Almost) Nobody Knows
Most Unlikely to SucceedNo one who charted Bruce Halle’s early years would predict that the poor kid from New Hampshire might achieve greatness as an adult. Challenged in school and growing up in a struggling family, Halle looked like every other kid who would leave high school in the 1940s and disappear into a factory.Instead, Halle created one of America’s most respected companies, rose to join the Forbes magazine list of the four hundred richest Americans and serve as the role model for the ordinary Joes who seek out success at Discount Tire Company.Six Tires, No Plan maps Halle’s journey out of poverty and failure and reveals the deceptively simple values that drive success for him, his company and thousands of employees. Key among those principles is Halle’s commitment to passing on his good fortune to the thousands of employees who serve his customers every day. This is Halle’s true passion, and paying it forward to the ordinary guy is a cornerstone of Discount Tire’s ongoing success.Avoiding the spotlight, crediting his employees for the success of the company, Halle demonstrates the incredible power of perseverance and fundamental values to create long-term success. His journey offers a roadmap worth following in both career and life.
200 pages, Hardcover
First published February 29, 2012
40 people are currently reading
188 people want to read
About the author
Michael Rosenbaum
21 books3 followersMichael Rosenbaum is a dad, a husband, a friend and a very good listener.
He’s also a very bright guy; so bright, in fact, that he knows he has lots to learn. And he knows he can learn something new from everyone he meets.
A former reporter and editor for newspapers, magazines and wire services, Michael knows everyone has a story worth hearing. So he listens, and he takes notes, as people reveal their special insights into their corner of the world.
Michael is also a very efficient guy who figured out how to save lots of time and energy by learning from the experiences—and errors—of other people. “Why duplicate the mistakes of other people,” he asks, “when I can come up with tons of new mistakes on my own?”
A business consultant by trade, Michael is the author of three business texts; former president of Financial Relations Board, the nation’s largest investor relations agency; co-author of Pitching Penguins, a theatrical comedy; founder of Friends of the Forum, a non-profit focused on Polish/Jewish dialogue; active in a number of non-profits and a member of the World Presidents’ Organization.
Books by Michael Rosenbaum include:
• (Your Name Here) Guide to Life, Barosum, 2009
• Board Perspectives: Building Value Through Investor Relations, CCH, 2004
• The Governance Game, Aspatore, 2003
• Selling Your Story to Wall Street: The Art and Science of Investor Relations, book, McGraw-Hill, 1994
He’s also a very bright guy; so bright, in fact, that he knows he has lots to learn. And he knows he can learn something new from everyone he meets.
A former reporter and editor for newspapers, magazines and wire services, Michael knows everyone has a story worth hearing. So he listens, and he takes notes, as people reveal their special insights into their corner of the world.
Michael is also a very efficient guy who figured out how to save lots of time and energy by learning from the experiences—and errors—of other people. “Why duplicate the mistakes of other people,” he asks, “when I can come up with tons of new mistakes on my own?”
A business consultant by trade, Michael is the author of three business texts; former president of Financial Relations Board, the nation’s largest investor relations agency; co-author of Pitching Penguins, a theatrical comedy; founder of Friends of the Forum, a non-profit focused on Polish/Jewish dialogue; active in a number of non-profits and a member of the World Presidents’ Organization.
Books by Michael Rosenbaum include:
• (Your Name Here) Guide to Life, Barosum, 2009
• Board Perspectives: Building Value Through Investor Relations, CCH, 2004
• The Governance Game, Aspatore, 2003
• Selling Your Story to Wall Street: The Art and Science of Investor Relations, book, McGraw-Hill, 1994
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 27, 2021
Good lessons inside
Bruce Halle (Discount Tire), Sam Walton (Walmart), Ted Jones (Edward Jones), all seem to be cut from the same honest, hard working, God fearing midwestern stock. Good people who built great companies by doing what’s right. Read and learn, or if you have learned, to be reminded.
Bruce Halle (Discount Tire), Sam Walton (Walmart), Ted Jones (Edward Jones), all seem to be cut from the same honest, hard working, God fearing midwestern stock. Good people who built great companies by doing what’s right. Read and learn, or if you have learned, to be reminded.
March 2, 2012
Fabulous story. Incredibly enlightening to see a man who values his employees as the means to his success. Gives you hope that there are good business leaders still out there. Quick, entertaining read on one of the most interesting men you never heard of. Highly recommended!
March 18, 2025
3.5 🌟 This took me almost exactly a year to read... And it's only 200 pages! Not my usual speed! There's maybe a third of this book that reads very business & dry, then it gets to the heart of Bruce's life.
Reading this as a young-30s, female, in 2025, there were some early sections that were very white-religious-male focused, or eventually *rich* white-family, that was just a little cringe? Mayhaps it was also a sign of the era or when it was written (2012?!). Very 1950s minded in some regards. So over 10 years later I'm glad there are women in the tire industry!
Overall it ended up an interesting read for my workplace and Bruce seems like he would have been a great person to meet IRL. I appreciate his lifelong commitment to the Golden Rule, which really should be basic human instinct.
...let's see if my work wants to continue a book club 😏
Reading this as a young-30s, female, in 2025, there were some early sections that were very white-religious-male focused, or eventually *rich* white-family, that was just a little cringe? Mayhaps it was also a sign of the era or when it was written (2012?!). Very 1950s minded in some regards. So over 10 years later I'm glad there are women in the tire industry!
Overall it ended up an interesting read for my workplace and Bruce seems like he would have been a great person to meet IRL. I appreciate his lifelong commitment to the Golden Rule, which really should be basic human instinct.
...let's see if my work wants to continue a book club 😏
March 13, 2023
One of the best business books I've ever read!
In college we had to study several successful companies and write term papers about them. Man do I wish that I had heard Bruce Hall's story then! Now I know why I love doing business with Discount Tire - they truly embody the pay it forward model started by their founder.
In college we had to study several successful companies and write term papers about them. Man do I wish that I had heard Bruce Hall's story then! Now I know why I love doing business with Discount Tire - they truly embody the pay it forward model started by their founder.
June 23, 2020
The life story of the founder of Discount Tire. I've taken my last couple flat tires to them for free repair and that act of goodwill, so uncommon in the business world, worked... I bought my last set of tires from them. So many lessons on applying the Golden Rule.
November 17, 2021
Lots of leverage
Was interesting to see how Halle used heavy amounts of leverage for initial expansion. I’m looking forward to reading Les Schwab’s book to hear more about growth without leverage
Was interesting to see how Halle used heavy amounts of leverage for initial expansion. I’m looking forward to reading Les Schwab’s book to hear more about growth without leverage
April 19, 2018
Great story, just not very well written.
June 17, 2018
Decent book that can be summarized as hire people for entry level positions, promote them, and take care of them.
August 23, 2025
it’s worthwhile for any venture investor to study how “non-tech” businesses are built, as it stretches one’s understanding of what really matters.
August 13, 2024
Worked there for 10 years and could never get past page 20. Bruce Halle was an incredible entrepreneur, savvy business man, and a generous gentleman but tires are boring. End of story.
April 12, 2012
Here's a confession.
I didn't actually finish reading the book all the way to the very last page. I just couldn't take it any more. (I got within the last 30 pages, though)
This is a fine book if you're looking for a quick and easy read about a man who started off with very humble beginnings and made himself into a gazillionaire. The best part, of course, is that he made his money with tires (can you believe it? not computers or social media!) and he is one hell of a nice guy.
He didn't use cutthroat tactics to build his business and edge out his competition. No. He just put his nose to the grindstone and worked like hell but always made sure he was nice, nice, nice.
Actually, this book reminds me of another book like this called Everybody Wins - The Story and Lessons Behind RE/MAX. I got that book for free since I was a RE/MAX guy at the time the book came out (still am). That book made the founder of RE/MAX out to be a saint in the same way Six Tires, No Plan: The Impossible Journey of the Most Inspirational Leader That (Almost) Nobody Knows makes Bruce Halle out to be the best and most beneficent business leader in modern times.
To be sure, there are some references to a hot temper which Bruce Halle learned to control through life. There are also some fleeting references to various scrapes he got himself into. All in all, though, you would think that this man can do no wrong. Moreover, he treats his employees like family complete with financial help in times of duress and a promotion and compensation scheme that encourages a brotherhood of tire guys.
OK. I'm a little cynical. Maybe jaded. Maybe Bruce Halle is a genuinely great guy who cares about humanity and, particularly, his employees. I can hardly believe, though, that he got to where he is without some people feeling some pain.
It's a short book, as I mentioned, and it's written by a guy who is really not a biographer. If you want to read something that'll make you feel good and restore your faith in humanity than this book is for you. Sure, I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I really want to believe you can grow a large business by hard work, compassion, courtesy and customer service.
I just have my doubts.
I didn't actually finish reading the book all the way to the very last page. I just couldn't take it any more. (I got within the last 30 pages, though)
This is a fine book if you're looking for a quick and easy read about a man who started off with very humble beginnings and made himself into a gazillionaire. The best part, of course, is that he made his money with tires (can you believe it? not computers or social media!) and he is one hell of a nice guy.
He didn't use cutthroat tactics to build his business and edge out his competition. No. He just put his nose to the grindstone and worked like hell but always made sure he was nice, nice, nice.
Actually, this book reminds me of another book like this called Everybody Wins - The Story and Lessons Behind RE/MAX. I got that book for free since I was a RE/MAX guy at the time the book came out (still am). That book made the founder of RE/MAX out to be a saint in the same way Six Tires, No Plan: The Impossible Journey of the Most Inspirational Leader That (Almost) Nobody Knows makes Bruce Halle out to be the best and most beneficent business leader in modern times.
To be sure, there are some references to a hot temper which Bruce Halle learned to control through life. There are also some fleeting references to various scrapes he got himself into. All in all, though, you would think that this man can do no wrong. Moreover, he treats his employees like family complete with financial help in times of duress and a promotion and compensation scheme that encourages a brotherhood of tire guys.
OK. I'm a little cynical. Maybe jaded. Maybe Bruce Halle is a genuinely great guy who cares about humanity and, particularly, his employees. I can hardly believe, though, that he got to where he is without some people feeling some pain.
It's a short book, as I mentioned, and it's written by a guy who is really not a biographer. If you want to read something that'll make you feel good and restore your faith in humanity than this book is for you. Sure, I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I really want to believe you can grow a large business by hard work, compassion, courtesy and customer service.
I just have my doubts.
February 18, 2016
Six Tires, No Plan by Michael Rosenbaum is great for anyone looking to read an inspiring success story. I enjoyed the book as a whole, but I had a hard time getting hooked in the beginning as well as getting over the repetition of several stories.
The book follows Bruce Halle, owner and founder of Discount Tire Company, from when he was a poor boy living in Berlin, New Hampshire to becoming the founder of a multi-billion dollar company. Bruce received great amounts of support from his parents, teachers, friends, and other business associates during times of struggle and failure. Although there were a few hiccups on the way, Halle opened his first tire store and managed to gain popularity through very unorthodox marketing techniques; soon opening a second store and things just took off from there. Through excellent customer and employee care, Bruce runs one of the largest tire retailer companies in the nation.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but let me explain why I gave it 3/5 stars. The book was easy to follow, but at the beginning of most chapters, the author would restate what was just going on in the previous chapter (“Previously on…”), which I found annoying, since I would read multiple chapters at a time. If you’re the type of person who reads a chapter at a time, then it would probably be quite nice to get a paragraph of recap before diving into more (then again, I’m not you, so I can’t say for sure).
I also disliked the beginning of the book when Halle was young because it was too slow for my liking. There were a few good stories here and there, but it just seemed to drag on for too long and not much was happening most of the time. Once I got passed the first 40-50 pages, I started gaining more interest. I especially liked how the author didn’t dive too deep into the business aspects of running a tire store; he kept it nice and simple to the point where just about anyone could understand it.
The book follows Bruce Halle, owner and founder of Discount Tire Company, from when he was a poor boy living in Berlin, New Hampshire to becoming the founder of a multi-billion dollar company. Bruce received great amounts of support from his parents, teachers, friends, and other business associates during times of struggle and failure. Although there were a few hiccups on the way, Halle opened his first tire store and managed to gain popularity through very unorthodox marketing techniques; soon opening a second store and things just took off from there. Through excellent customer and employee care, Bruce runs one of the largest tire retailer companies in the nation.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but let me explain why I gave it 3/5 stars. The book was easy to follow, but at the beginning of most chapters, the author would restate what was just going on in the previous chapter (“Previously on…”), which I found annoying, since I would read multiple chapters at a time. If you’re the type of person who reads a chapter at a time, then it would probably be quite nice to get a paragraph of recap before diving into more (then again, I’m not you, so I can’t say for sure).
I also disliked the beginning of the book when Halle was young because it was too slow for my liking. There were a few good stories here and there, but it just seemed to drag on for too long and not much was happening most of the time. Once I got passed the first 40-50 pages, I started gaining more interest. I especially liked how the author didn’t dive too deep into the business aspects of running a tire store; he kept it nice and simple to the point where just about anyone could understand it.
March 7, 2012
I had an advance copy of this book and I must say it was really pretty good. This is the story of Discount Tire and the success that the founder - Bruce Halle - had experienced. His forumla is pretty simple really . . . treat your employees like you would want to be treated - and this will not only engender loyalty from them, but will be shared with customers.
I have been a customer of Discount Tire as it happens for close to ten years - in Alpharetta, Georgia. The principles outlined in the book and as a part of Mr. Halle's strategy have been reflected in the store that I use. Once on a while - once in a while - they run behind in appointments which for a type A behavior person - can be frustrating. But that is really the only wrinkle in my experience with them.
It is interesting that some of the same techniques used by Mr. Halle were outlined in a book titled Good to Great, as well. And further . . . one week ago we heard from a speaker at our church North Point Community Church (www.northpoint.org)by the name of Lee Cockerell retired from Disney World - and it was almost as if Mr. Halle had heard him before starting his Discount Tire. Of course he did not, but a lot of the same values at Disney World are shared by Discount Tire.
The bonus for me is that this business was founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan - my hometown - was an extra bonus. Some of the areas where Mr.Halle set up business or moved to in Ann Arbor are familiar to me.
I have been a customer of Discount Tire as it happens for close to ten years - in Alpharetta, Georgia. The principles outlined in the book and as a part of Mr. Halle's strategy have been reflected in the store that I use. Once on a while - once in a while - they run behind in appointments which for a type A behavior person - can be frustrating. But that is really the only wrinkle in my experience with them.
It is interesting that some of the same techniques used by Mr. Halle were outlined in a book titled Good to Great, as well. And further . . . one week ago we heard from a speaker at our church North Point Community Church (www.northpoint.org)by the name of Lee Cockerell retired from Disney World - and it was almost as if Mr. Halle had heard him before starting his Discount Tire. Of course he did not, but a lot of the same values at Disney World are shared by Discount Tire.
The bonus for me is that this business was founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan - my hometown - was an extra bonus. Some of the areas where Mr.Halle set up business or moved to in Ann Arbor are familiar to me.
May 2, 2012
An inspiring look at a true American entrepreneur who never compromised his principles for the sake of the almighty dollar. When you excell at what you do and treat people fairly, you can succeeed no matter what your business. This is well written and uncovers an impressive story that needed to be told. A must read for anyone who mistakenly thinks that America has lost it business excellence.
December 3, 2012
This was a great memoir about the founder of Discount Tires. I have been buying tires from there since I bought my first set of tires as a teenager and they've treated me fair ever since. They sell tires cheap, but focus on meeting customer needs and reward their employees, based on how well customers are treated. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
April 5, 2012
Well written! I'm not one for biographies, especially about people I have never heard of or have no interest in. Halle was the former. While the successful businessman biography entertained me and I have an admiration for him now, it's not one that I will read again. But, overall good book.
October 24, 2013
Not incredibly well written (repeats a few times and doesnt flow smoothly) but the story is inspirational.
Great to read about companies that really do put their people and customers first, not the bean counters. You cant help but wonder how the company you work for would do with such a culture.
Great to read about companies that really do put their people and customers first, not the bean counters. You cant help but wonder how the company you work for would do with such a culture.
November 25, 2013
Decent writing about an uplifting journey in which most of us can relate in one way or another. Refreshing to hear the good guys who seem to pride themselves on not just doing right but also the "hard" right are the ones who come ahead. Feel good, do-right, worth while kind of book.
July 1, 2018
Really enjoyed this book. Story about Bruce Halle and the company he founded, discount tire.
Great story of rising out of poverty by a poor student to build not only wealth, but a huge company with an apparently great culture. Highly recommend.
Great story of rising out of poverty by a poor student to build not only wealth, but a huge company with an apparently great culture. Highly recommend.
February 16, 2012
I learned a ton about the company my sons work for by reading this book about the founder of Discount Tire. It was very interesting!
August 13, 2018
A book ever entrepreneur should read.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews