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A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Managing Ourselves
Leading the Life You Want to Lead
Part 3 continues to share the "secrets" that have helped take Zingerman's from a 25-seat, 4-person start up to a nationally known, $49,000,000-organization employing over 600 people. It includes Secrets #30-39 and explores our belief that some of the most important work we do to build great organizations and lead rewarding lives is the work we need to do within ourselves. The book includes essays on our approach to managing ourselves, mindfulness, leadership at the four levels of organizational growth, personal visioning, why the way the leader thinks will be manifested in the way the organization runs, creating a creative organization, and more.
Part 3 continues to share the "secrets" that have helped take Zingerman's from a 25-seat, 4-person start up to a nationally known, $49,000,000-organization employing over 600 people. It includes Secrets #30-39 and explores our belief that some of the most important work we do to build great organizations and lead rewarding lives is the work we need to do within ourselves. The book includes essays on our approach to managing ourselves, mindfulness, leadership at the four levels of organizational growth, personal visioning, why the way the leader thinks will be manifested in the way the organization runs, creating a creative organization, and more.
490 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
19 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
About the author
Ari Weinzweig
21 books33 followersCO-FOUNDER, ZINGERMAN'S COMMUNITY OF BUSINESSES
In 1982, Ari Weinzweig, along with his partner Paul Saginaw, founded Zingerman’s Delicatessen with a $20,000 bank loan, a Russian History degree from the University of Michigan, 4 years of experience washing dishes, cooking and managing in restaurant kitchens and chutzpah from his hometown of Chicago. They opened the doors with 2 employees and a small selection of specialty foods and exceptional sandwiches.
Today, Zingerman’s Delicatessen is a nationally renowned food icon and the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has grown to 10 businesses with over 750 employees and over $55 million in annual revenue. Aside from the Delicatessen, these businesses include Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Coffee Company, Creamery, Roadhouse, Mail Order, ZingTrain, Candy Manufactory, Cornman Farms and a Korean restaurant that is scheduled to open in 2016. No two businesses in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses are alike but they all share the same Vision and Guiding Principles and deliver “The Zingerman’s Experience” with passion and commitment.
Besides being the Co-Founding Partner and being actively engaged in some aspect of the day-to-day operations and governance of nearly every business in the Zingerman’s Community, Ari Weinzweig is also a prolific writer. His most recent publications are the first 4 of his 6 book series Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading Series: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business (Part 1), Being a Better Leader (Part 2), Managing Ourselves (Part 3) and the newly-released Part 4, The Power of Beliefs in Business. Earlier books include the Zingerman’s Guides to Giving Great Service, Better Bacon, Good Eating, Good Olive Oil, Good Vinegar and Good Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Ari regularly travels across the country (and world) on behalf of ZingTrain, teaching organizations and businesses about Zingerman’s approach to business. He is a sought-after Keynote speaker, having delivered keynotes for Inc. 500, Microsoft Expo Spring Conference, Great Game of Business Gathering of Games, Positive Business Conference at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, American Society for Quality (ASQ), and the American Cheese Society. Most recently, Ari and Paul Saginaw were invited to address an audience of 50,000 for the University of Michigan 2015 Spring Commencement.
In 1982, Ari Weinzweig, along with his partner Paul Saginaw, founded Zingerman’s Delicatessen with a $20,000 bank loan, a Russian History degree from the University of Michigan, 4 years of experience washing dishes, cooking and managing in restaurant kitchens and chutzpah from his hometown of Chicago. They opened the doors with 2 employees and a small selection of specialty foods and exceptional sandwiches.
Today, Zingerman’s Delicatessen is a nationally renowned food icon and the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has grown to 10 businesses with over 750 employees and over $55 million in annual revenue. Aside from the Delicatessen, these businesses include Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Coffee Company, Creamery, Roadhouse, Mail Order, ZingTrain, Candy Manufactory, Cornman Farms and a Korean restaurant that is scheduled to open in 2016. No two businesses in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses are alike but they all share the same Vision and Guiding Principles and deliver “The Zingerman’s Experience” with passion and commitment.
Besides being the Co-Founding Partner and being actively engaged in some aspect of the day-to-day operations and governance of nearly every business in the Zingerman’s Community, Ari Weinzweig is also a prolific writer. His most recent publications are the first 4 of his 6 book series Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading Series: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business (Part 1), Being a Better Leader (Part 2), Managing Ourselves (Part 3) and the newly-released Part 4, The Power of Beliefs in Business. Earlier books include the Zingerman’s Guides to Giving Great Service, Better Bacon, Good Eating, Good Olive Oil, Good Vinegar and Good Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Ari regularly travels across the country (and world) on behalf of ZingTrain, teaching organizations and businesses about Zingerman’s approach to business. He is a sought-after Keynote speaker, having delivered keynotes for Inc. 500, Microsoft Expo Spring Conference, Great Game of Business Gathering of Games, Positive Business Conference at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, American Society for Quality (ASQ), and the American Cheese Society. Most recently, Ari and Paul Saginaw were invited to address an audience of 50,000 for the University of Michigan 2015 Spring Commencement.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 4, 2020
Incredibly eclectic. In the guise of a business book, Ari expounds on politics, philosophy, religion, food and recipes, friendship and loss, and, yes, business.
His partner Paul once told Ari that his talent is drawing meaningful connections between any two topics, and that talent is on display here in full force.
This volume feels like a glimpse into Ari's personal notebooks, in which he journals religiously every day, and in which he must create and fine tune these cross references and connections.
Indeed, one of the chapters consisted of recalling and reapplying some of the "secrets" from a previous volume to the central theme of this volume, self-management.
The end result is an encyclopedic almanac. Very holistic, and almost self-help in nature given the core theme.
His partner Paul once told Ari that his talent is drawing meaningful connections between any two topics, and that talent is on display here in full force.
This volume feels like a glimpse into Ari's personal notebooks, in which he journals religiously every day, and in which he must create and fine tune these cross references and connections.
Indeed, one of the chapters consisted of recalling and reapplying some of the "secrets" from a previous volume to the central theme of this volume, self-management.
The end result is an encyclopedic almanac. Very holistic, and almost self-help in nature given the core theme.
January 10, 2023
Great piece of work by Ari. He presents the information is plain English and the exercises really help drive home the ideas presented. This one was a game changer for me. My biggest take away was the personal scoreboard. I now have a 6'x8' whiteboard in my living room that I use to track my personal scoreboard and minigames I build for myself. It took me a while to finish it and I'm sure I will revisit several of the essays later on. Rereading the Visioning chapter is near the top of my to-do list.
October 17, 2025
It only took me three years to read, but a great book for anyone looking to bring more mindfulness to their work. It is geared towards entrepreneurs, which I found inspiring as well as superfluous.
January 19, 2014
this book is so inspiring.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews