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It's All About Who You Hire, How They Lead...and Other Essential Advice from a Self-Made Leader
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 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 “To invest in people with the values, ability and passion to change the world.”
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 16, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 16, 2015
Morton Mandel is extraordinary.
His biography will grant you access not only
to his way of thinking but also to Peter F. Druker's
(Managing OneSelf) for Peter was his mentor.
In order to be a good leader you have to make your followers
your top priority investment. Take care of them and give them
the means to develop themselves.
In order to be a good businessman and entrepreneur you've got
to kill yourself for your clients. Thus, you have to really care
for your product and businesses.
You could start by fixing businesses. Mandel took his skills
of management and leadership to mend and improve existing
enterprises and did it with much success.
A great book about the growth of a young leader
in a world of enterprises. I also recommend:
Sam Walton: Made In America
to further increase your knowledge.
His biography will grant you access not only
to his way of thinking but also to Peter F. Druker's
(Managing OneSelf) for Peter was his mentor.
In order to be a good leader you have to make your followers
your top priority investment. Take care of them and give them
the means to develop themselves.
In order to be a good businessman and entrepreneur you've got
to kill yourself for your clients. Thus, you have to really care
for your product and businesses.
You could start by fixing businesses. Mandel took his skills
of management and leadership to mend and improve existing
enterprises and did it with much success.
A great book about the growth of a young leader
in a world of enterprises. I also recommend:
Sam Walton: Made In America
to further increase your knowledge.
March 2, 2019
יש פוטנציאל, אבל בסוף מאכזב. הספר כתוב באותיות גדולות, אז יש בו פחות ממה שמצפים. וגם מה שיש הוא אמירות כלליות של אדם שהצליח.
יש כמה פנינים בפנים.
יש כמה פנינים בפנים.
August 21, 2018
“Self-made leader and social entrepreneur Morton Mandel is likely the most successful person you have never heard of... until now. No matter where you are on your leadership path, this book will make an enormous difference in your outcomes. Get your copy today”. A cardinal rule of a serious book review is never to start with a quote. You have to establish yourself first. But the words of Lawrence Weinzimmer just nail it down perfectly. This book is destined to be a source of learning generations from now.
Management guru Peter Drucker, with whom Mandel has had a life-long discussion partnership, once put Morton Mandel in the company of Andy Grove and Jack Welch. Mandel’s company, Premier Industrial Corp, cannot compete with Intel or GE in size, but the sheer quality of the franchise he built and also adding his social impact through the Mandel Foundation, is certainly hard to beat. As a long-duration equity investor the elusive concept of corporate culture has always been important to me despite or because of the challenges of accurate measurement. But lack of precise measurement ought not to preclude its importance. “In my view, what makes institutions great is all the soft stuff, which I think is the hardest in business”. This book has been an immense help in showing what one version of great corporate culture looks like. If only all CEO’s were forced to write a book instead of attending all those one hour meetings...
The co-author of the book is John Byrne. If that name rings a bell, you are absolutely correct. He was also the co-author with Jack Welch of Straight from the gut. Apart from the fact that he has obviously brought lots to the table – two of the greatest leaders do not necessarily mean two of the greatest leadership books – I wholeheartedly agree with him that the world of corporate management would certainly be a somewhat more tolerant (dare I add better?) place if It ́s All About Who garners the same success as Mr Welch’s book.
Mandel and his two brothers built Premier from a smallish commodity-like distributor of spark plugs to a dominant outsourcing machine that constantly gathered new value-added businesses by asking clients what products they had problems getting hold of. Premier was not merely a people’s business on the inside, it had customer service in its DNA from its humble beginnings. Most enterprises focus heavily on the what and the how, for Mandel it was about the who - hiring “A- people” and letting them “live for the customer”. As with most other successful corporate cultures, that involves taking no short-cuts and total acceptance. When the father of security analysis Ben Graham was asked to distil his beliefs in one sentence he opined “Margin of safety”. Mandel’s version of this is clearly “It’s all about who”. A clear strength of the book in this regard is the focus on real life examples, actual events, attributes, action points and corporate anecdotes. Something that works particularly well are the “stories within the story”, where people involved get to share their side of the case at hand.
After re-reading the book back-to-back, I still have only one objection: why did they merge with Farnell Group? Mandel spends a fair amount of pages on the chain-of-events leading up to the 1996 deal, but never really answers the question why his otherwise impeccable people skills failed him this time. That however, might be more of an academic interest to a Premier shareholder at the time - as a reader it’s a fascinating script of a clash between being governed by the City’s EPS estimates on the one hand (Farnell) and running a business on the other hand (Premier).
But arguably the best praise I can give this book is the fact that Mandel will be as much defined and remembered by his philanthropic work. The belief in the power of individuals to make a huge difference is of course the same be it electronics distribution or community development. The chapters dealing with Mandel Foundation are perhaps the book’s most riveting. “Three principles in the corporate world – respect for the individual, superior customer service, and the pursuit of excellence – are core values that can deliver as much impact in the social world. These ideas work in all settings”.
Management guru Peter Drucker, with whom Mandel has had a life-long discussion partnership, once put Morton Mandel in the company of Andy Grove and Jack Welch. Mandel’s company, Premier Industrial Corp, cannot compete with Intel or GE in size, but the sheer quality of the franchise he built and also adding his social impact through the Mandel Foundation, is certainly hard to beat. As a long-duration equity investor the elusive concept of corporate culture has always been important to me despite or because of the challenges of accurate measurement. But lack of precise measurement ought not to preclude its importance. “In my view, what makes institutions great is all the soft stuff, which I think is the hardest in business”. This book has been an immense help in showing what one version of great corporate culture looks like. If only all CEO’s were forced to write a book instead of attending all those one hour meetings...
The co-author of the book is John Byrne. If that name rings a bell, you are absolutely correct. He was also the co-author with Jack Welch of Straight from the gut. Apart from the fact that he has obviously brought lots to the table – two of the greatest leaders do not necessarily mean two of the greatest leadership books – I wholeheartedly agree with him that the world of corporate management would certainly be a somewhat more tolerant (dare I add better?) place if It ́s All About Who garners the same success as Mr Welch’s book.
Mandel and his two brothers built Premier from a smallish commodity-like distributor of spark plugs to a dominant outsourcing machine that constantly gathered new value-added businesses by asking clients what products they had problems getting hold of. Premier was not merely a people’s business on the inside, it had customer service in its DNA from its humble beginnings. Most enterprises focus heavily on the what and the how, for Mandel it was about the who - hiring “A- people” and letting them “live for the customer”. As with most other successful corporate cultures, that involves taking no short-cuts and total acceptance. When the father of security analysis Ben Graham was asked to distil his beliefs in one sentence he opined “Margin of safety”. Mandel’s version of this is clearly “It’s all about who”. A clear strength of the book in this regard is the focus on real life examples, actual events, attributes, action points and corporate anecdotes. Something that works particularly well are the “stories within the story”, where people involved get to share their side of the case at hand.
After re-reading the book back-to-back, I still have only one objection: why did they merge with Farnell Group? Mandel spends a fair amount of pages on the chain-of-events leading up to the 1996 deal, but never really answers the question why his otherwise impeccable people skills failed him this time. That however, might be more of an academic interest to a Premier shareholder at the time - as a reader it’s a fascinating script of a clash between being governed by the City’s EPS estimates on the one hand (Farnell) and running a business on the other hand (Premier).
But arguably the best praise I can give this book is the fact that Mandel will be as much defined and remembered by his philanthropic work. The belief in the power of individuals to make a huge difference is of course the same be it electronics distribution or community development. The chapters dealing with Mandel Foundation are perhaps the book’s most riveting. “Three principles in the corporate world – respect for the individual, superior customer service, and the pursuit of excellence – are core values that can deliver as much impact in the social world. These ideas work in all settings”.
January 28, 2021
Very good book on philanthropy and building a team
February 26, 2021
A thoughtful and insightful book from Mort Mandel, emphasizing the personal values necessary to live a fulfilling life.
February 6, 2013
I purposely avoid business books e cause try are the same junk, but this is great.
October 28, 2013
Mort Mandel is a remarkable man.
Read
June 19, 2017Mr. Mandel is a huge supporter of the Jewish Federation where I work. It has been a pleasure to read his book and gain the insight of a wonderful leader. I would recommend anyone in a HR role or executive position to read this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews