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Built to Serve: How to Drive the Bottom Line with People-First Practices
In "Built to Serve," Dan Sanders, CEO of the award-winning, service-oriented United Supermarkets, makes this bold the prevailing business culture is broken and a radical transformation is required-a paradigm shift that reshapes our understanding of the true purpose of work.
Leaders have a choice-continue to chase a broken price-profit model and suffer the consequences or build a culture committed to servanthood and discover the fulfillment evident when people see their work as a ministry. The choice leaders make will not only determine economic success and failure but also will determine their organization's long term impact on humanity.
The time is now. Sanders reveals how your people can adopt United's mission of "Ultimate Service, Superior Performance, Positive Impact." He distills valuable lessons from nine decades of a people-centered culture that consistently delivers outstanding customer service and reveals how you can develop a fully engaged, productive workforce.Treat your customers like partnersCreate a people-centered culture in a numbers-focused worldCommunicate your organization's visionFocus on strengths, not weaknessesTie performance to the success of your mission Reduce your employee turnoverBuild communities connected by an emotional bondEnsure sustainability and growth-with an eye on the principles that allowed your success in the first place
When you're built to serve, employees come to work because they want to, not just because they have to. "Built to Serve" is your hands-on guide to seeking this higher purpose.
Leaders have a choice-continue to chase a broken price-profit model and suffer the consequences or build a culture committed to servanthood and discover the fulfillment evident when people see their work as a ministry. The choice leaders make will not only determine economic success and failure but also will determine their organization's long term impact on humanity.
The time is now. Sanders reveals how your people can adopt United's mission of "Ultimate Service, Superior Performance, Positive Impact." He distills valuable lessons from nine decades of a people-centered culture that consistently delivers outstanding customer service and reveals how you can develop a fully engaged, productive workforce.Treat your customers like partnersCreate a people-centered culture in a numbers-focused worldCommunicate your organization's visionFocus on strengths, not weaknessesTie performance to the success of your mission Reduce your employee turnoverBuild communities connected by an emotional bondEnsure sustainability and growth-with an eye on the principles that allowed your success in the first place
When you're built to serve, employees come to work because they want to, not just because they have to. "Built to Serve" is your hands-on guide to seeking this higher purpose.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 27, 2007
7 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 16, 2009
So far, I'm half way through this. It's not very well written, and the author is the CEO of the company he's extolling the virtues of, so I take much of what he says with a grain of salt. But I have hit upon a few nuggets here and there that would have been nicer as just a couple of short blog posts.
Weeks later ...
The book is poorly written and lacks any insightful tidbits. There are so many great business books, that I would strongly recommend others (Good to Great, Built to Last, Crossing the Chasm, etc) and wouldn't waste time on this one.
Weeks later ...
The book is poorly written and lacks any insightful tidbits. There are so many great business books, that I would strongly recommend others (Good to Great, Built to Last, Crossing the Chasm, etc) and wouldn't waste time on this one.
October 7, 2019
Highly recommended to everyone who has to manage a team. (But I'm sure the author would argue, in a mission-oriented, people-first culture, everyone can make a difference, not just "those in charge.")
Some points I really like:
*Leaders can delegate authority, but they can never delegate responsibility
*Servant leadership requires time and patience, resulting in building relationships and friendships based on trust
*Leaders understand the role servant leadership plays in helping others realize their potential
*Leaders must spend more time communicating the vision to people and less time devising ways to catch people intent on disrupting the process
*An effective vision statement has more to do with significance than success
*An organization must control and pace its growth or risk compromising its mission and vision. Growth is a good thing, but not at the expense of an organization's unique value system
*Culture dictates whether great ideas will spring from anyone in the organization
*A focus on the future keeps people motivated to achieve whatever is necessary for sustained success
If you liked this, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose is very similar.
Some points I really like:
*Leaders can delegate authority, but they can never delegate responsibility
*Servant leadership requires time and patience, resulting in building relationships and friendships based on trust
*Leaders understand the role servant leadership plays in helping others realize their potential
*Leaders must spend more time communicating the vision to people and less time devising ways to catch people intent on disrupting the process
*An effective vision statement has more to do with significance than success
*An organization must control and pace its growth or risk compromising its mission and vision. Growth is a good thing, but not at the expense of an organization's unique value system
*Culture dictates whether great ideas will spring from anyone in the organization
*A focus on the future keeps people motivated to achieve whatever is necessary for sustained success
If you liked this, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose is very similar.
July 24, 2011
READ NOV 2010
Easy read about aligning service with strategic outcomes. While the book focused on the United supermarkets, the application is easily leveraged in other business sectors.
Best quotes, "What is compelling about a great vision well communicated is people will do almost anything to keep from compromising it" (p. 97); and "People are always more important than the process" (p. 179).
Easy read about aligning service with strategic outcomes. While the book focused on the United supermarkets, the application is easily leveraged in other business sectors.
Best quotes, "What is compelling about a great vision well communicated is people will do almost anything to keep from compromising it" (p. 97); and "People are always more important than the process" (p. 179).
May 5, 2020
To sum it up: People run your business. Treat people with respect and they will run your business into great success. Also, treat customers with respect and help them to no end. Decent book, but somewhat unrealistic if your company is on a large scale.
February 19, 2008
This is obviously a book I read for work. It had valuable insights that were practical and simple, but were shown in a new light, but it could be a little preachy at times.
February 23, 2009
Good info on culture-making and people-first practices!
December 5, 2009
Autor mówi głównie o sobie i swojej firmie, a ja nadal uważam, że niektórych rozwiązań z USA nie da się przenieść ot tak na grunt polski.
December 17, 2015
Creo que como administradores, jefes, lideres estamos para hacer la vida de quienes dependen de nosotros mejor, somos facilitadores.
August 26, 2016
Sanders has a good core message: people first. A bit heavy on the anecdotes, but the principles are sound.
November 13, 2018
Definitely going on my 'to recommend' list of leadership books.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews