What do you think?
Rate this book
The Soul of the Firm
The chairman of the world's leading service company shares the secrets of success, explaining how, by creating a positive and nurturing environment for employees and customers, the firm has learned to celebrate profit, productivity, and diversity. $25,000 ad/promo. Tour.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published April 28, 1996
6 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 22, 2018
At the heart of good leadership and management is one simple thing: A love for people. In the corporate enterprise this includes caring for employees, customers, shareholders and more. Bill Pollard, the one-time CEO and Chairman of The ServiceMaster Company, uses The Soul of the Firm to describe his own experiences of leadership, focusing largely on its people-centric aspects and deriving certain key lessons from them.
The recurring themes of the book include the ideas that a worker is more than the function they perform for the company, that if an organization can find ways to make people feel a sense of purpose in their work it will engender better results and more loyalty, and the thought that leaders need to serve first. None of these concepts is original with Pollard, but it's clear that they are deeply personal and heartfelt for him. His anecdotes and stories underscore the point. The fact that every ServiceMaster employee has to spend time in their training (and again each year) doing front-line service work highlights how seriously he and the firm take these ideals.
Pollard also speaks about one of the more controversial things ServiceMaster did, putting God in their mission statement. At a pluralistic work place and a publicly traded company, how could such a statement ("To honor God in all we do") possibly be lived out? Pollard ties this to the idea that everyone looks for purpose and meaning in their work. So regardless of what an individual employee believes about God, the idea that there is a higher call seems to resonate. Religion is never a barrier to participation, collaboration or advancement at ServiceMaster.
I found myself more troubled by Pollard's idea that the workplace can have familial qualities. I have too often seen such language ("We're all one big happy family here!") used as a way to enforce fierce loyalty leading to unhealthy work conditions or habits. Bad leaders can use such ideas to abuse their people. I don't sense that that was the case at ServiceMaster, but what if the leadership culture was to change, but the "family" language stayed?
Overall, this is a solid book on loving people in the corporate world. I would probably rate it higher if I hadn't read so many other volumes on similar topics. Still, Pollard's contribution is as heartfelt, pithy and genuine as any I have ever read. It's a quality read for anyone who is interested in integrating values such as faith, hope and love into their work. But as Pollard clearly states, the greatest of these is love.
The recurring themes of the book include the ideas that a worker is more than the function they perform for the company, that if an organization can find ways to make people feel a sense of purpose in their work it will engender better results and more loyalty, and the thought that leaders need to serve first. None of these concepts is original with Pollard, but it's clear that they are deeply personal and heartfelt for him. His anecdotes and stories underscore the point. The fact that every ServiceMaster employee has to spend time in their training (and again each year) doing front-line service work highlights how seriously he and the firm take these ideals.
Pollard also speaks about one of the more controversial things ServiceMaster did, putting God in their mission statement. At a pluralistic work place and a publicly traded company, how could such a statement ("To honor God in all we do") possibly be lived out? Pollard ties this to the idea that everyone looks for purpose and meaning in their work. So regardless of what an individual employee believes about God, the idea that there is a higher call seems to resonate. Religion is never a barrier to participation, collaboration or advancement at ServiceMaster.
I found myself more troubled by Pollard's idea that the workplace can have familial qualities. I have too often seen such language ("We're all one big happy family here!") used as a way to enforce fierce loyalty leading to unhealthy work conditions or habits. Bad leaders can use such ideas to abuse their people. I don't sense that that was the case at ServiceMaster, but what if the leadership culture was to change, but the "family" language stayed?
Overall, this is a solid book on loving people in the corporate world. I would probably rate it higher if I hadn't read so many other volumes on similar topics. Still, Pollard's contribution is as heartfelt, pithy and genuine as any I have ever read. It's a quality read for anyone who is interested in integrating values such as faith, hope and love into their work. But as Pollard clearly states, the greatest of these is love.
January 18, 2019
This book has a solid core of great insight and advice for business executives. It is a book written by and for anyone looking for extraordinary opportunity in the executive ranks. It is about the culture of an organization - and one that required that all levels be a part of the work.
August 12, 2012
Thought provoking personal application of operating from a servant mindset within a business model.
As an Administrative assistant to a heating and air conditioning contractor and service company, I observed that this model comes very close the principles and ideals which were demonstrated by my employer.
I highly recommend this as must reading for anyone attempting to succeed in business and maintain their integrity and connection to Christ.
As an Administrative assistant to a heating and air conditioning contractor and service company, I observed that this model comes very close the principles and ideals which were demonstrated by my employer.
I highly recommend this as must reading for anyone attempting to succeed in business and maintain their integrity and connection to Christ.
July 2, 2016
In The Soul of the Firm, Pollard creates a revolutionary plan for new leadership in explaining the link between people and profits in a company's measure of success. This is the powerful message managers need for rethinking the meaning of work.
November 21, 2009
The man is a management/leadership genius!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews