In Built to Serve, Dan Sanders, CEO of the award-winning, service-oriented United Supermarkets, makes this bold claim: 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 partners
Create a people-centered culture in a numbers-focused world
Communicate your organization's vision
Focus on strengths, not weaknesses
Tie performance to the success of your mission
Reduce your employee turnover
Build communities connected by an emotional bond
Ensure 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.
Too bad many American leaders and mgrs will not follow... It is too bad that way too many managers, supervisors and leaders in the secular world will not follow the timely and true advise Mr. Sanders lays out in this book.
This is the first book I have read that has the correct way to view the secular world with a biblical reference. With that said, I dare you to read this book AND try some of the points in it and see if your work will not succeed!
BUILT TO BE A BEST SELLER An Important Book written by Dan J. Sanders CEO United Supermarkets
Reviewed by M. Joyce McMenamin
CALL IT THE CLEVERLY PACKAGED LITTLE BOOK THAT CAPTURED MY ATTENTION & INSPIRED US TO CREATE A NEW SECTION IN OUR LITTLE MAGAZINE!
CALL IT WHAT YOU WILL, WE THINK THAT MR. SANDERS HAS DONE A SUPERB JOB OF POSITIONING THE IDEA THAT "BUYER & SELLER'S INTUITION", COMBINED WITH EMPIRICAL DATA, CREATES A BLENDED SUCCESS MODEL OF THOUGHTFUL & INTELLIGENT PROFITABLITY & LONGEVITY.
SANDER'S GOES BEYOND MERELY MIMICKING PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED MODELS AND WE WERE ACTUALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE DOWN-TO-EARTH MODELS PRESENTED IN THIS NEW BOOK BY THE CEO OF UNITED SUPERMARKETS. NO SMALL FEAT. THE CAREER,THE BOOK, NOR THE SUCCESS OF THE ORGANIZATION. ASIDE FROM THE "INSIDE THE BOOK" ADMIRATION BESTOWED BY BEST SELLING BUSINESS AUTHORS, STEPHEN R. COVEY & KEN BLANCHARD, THIS BOOK DELIVERS ON IDEAS THAT NEED TO BE DISCUSSED MORE IN THE FUTURE. IDEAS THAT NEED TO BE TAUGHT IN BUSINESS SCHOOLS & NEED TO BE PUT INTO PRACTICE BY ANY ORGANIZATION THAT WANTS TO GROW AND THRIVE, LET ALONE SURVIVE, INTO THE NEXT DECADE. THIS IS A MESSAGE THAT ALL LEADERS NEED TO HEAR, BELIEVE & PUT INTO ACTION.
SANDERS SHOULD GET A TEAM OF FACILITATORS TOGETHER TO BUILD WORKSHOPS AROUND HIS PRINCIPLES & TAKE IT TO THE MILLIONS OF MANAGERS OUT THERE THAT STILL DON'T "GEDDIT". BACK WHEN I WAS CONSULTING & FACILITATING CORPORATE GROUP SESSIONS, I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE HAD MATERIAL LIKE THIS TO DRAW FROM. SANDERS GETS IT!
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
IN A WORLD WHERE TOO MANY, WHO "SHOULD KNOW BETTER",MERELY SPEAK TO THE METRIC-MODEL, IT'S OBVIOUS THAT SANDERS & UNITED LEARNED HOW TO WALK BEFORE THEY TRIED TALKING. SOMETHING MANY PROFESSIONALS SHOULD EMULATE. IN LIFE LEARNING HOW TO WALK, STUMBLE, FALL AND GET BACK UP AGAIN, IS THE NATURAL PROGRESSION TO GROWTH. WHO KNOWS? IF THIS BOOK HAD BEEN AROUND 20 YEARS AGO MAYBE WE'D STILL HAVE A STRONG AMERICAN AUTO INDUSTRY! BY THE LOOKS OF THINGS, UNITED SUPERMARKETS AND THE GROCERY INDUSTRY IN GENERAL ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE... AFTERALL, WE ALL GOTTA EAT, RIGHT?
BRAVO! UNITED, WE STAND & APPLAUD.
Reviewed by: M. Joyce McMenamin Publisher, Producer and author of The Integrity Channel [m.j.m. estrada] Network Abundance sponsored by Sensitive Pie Productions
This review originally appeared in NoNiche Magazine November 2007 Issue
Beautiful Book!!! This is a beautiful business book. It really teaches you that your business vision and mission must serve a higher purpose in this life. Your mission should not be money, but instead of servitude to humans. All businesses must serve, lead and help their employees and customers attain a higher purpose in this life, and you as a business leader must do just that instead of focusing on profits. Read it, you will have a different view of business after you are done with it.
Built to Serve United Supermarkets, the company Dan Sanders runs, has long been a strong presence in the community I live in...a very strong and a very positive influence.
The environment and culture Mr. Sanders talks about in his book are evident, from a customer's view point, so it was great reading what was going on behind the scenes of this corporation to help create this atmosphere. He does practice what he preaches.
The Image & Imprint of God in You is Evident By Your Serving One Another The most difficult thing a person can achieve naturally is a requirement and achievable in Christ, and that is to serve another human being.
We try and do things our way only to end up pursuing wealth, power, status, stuff and things. All along we miss out on the one thing that will bring fulfillment into our lives.
There are many books written on Management and Leadership; most prescribing tools and processes that when implemented over time the companies eventually retreat to nothing but empty warehouses and broken livelihoods, placing cities and towns under a burden of unemployment and families and governmental structures in a deficit. Built to Serve hits the nail on the head by providing practical steps on how to operate in a process that is proven to work.
Serve the people and they will spend more money just to be served; serve them well and they will drive great distances to spend their money because of how being served by your company made them feel. The three keys that I feel made this book so outstanding is that it deals with the reality of a current business mindset which operates in most businesses today which is that you the customer should be glad we are here to take your money and treat you like the ignorant customer that we you and believe you are. Go into businesses and organizations right where you live and you will surely come across this mindset and current prevailing attitude. Serving, the value of people (internal/external customers), and keeping the faith, are all keys that this book really addresses. Combine all of these together and you find yourself in relationship with your customers. Greater is the fact that you can actually begin to reproduce quality leaders.
This book touches my heart for people and helping them to employ daily their talents to assist people and bless their employers. I look forward to the day when more businesses, PNP's, companies, and organizations begin to apply the right tools for today's business problems. This is well written and contains many great truths...good job.
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