Leadership and the Customer Revolution: The Messy, Unpredictable, and Inescapably Human Challenge of Making the Rhetoric of Change a Reality [Hardcover]

Gary Heil (Author), Tom Parker (Author), Rick Tate (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1995 | ISBN-10: 0471286311 | ISBN-13: 978-0471286318 | Edition: 1

Praise from business leaders for Leadership and the Customer Revolution "This book forcefully and in immensely practical ways teaches Einstein's staggering point: 'The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.' Absolutely both cutting edge and real time, disturbing and confirming, inspiring and pragmatic! I recommend it highly. Worth reading again and again." --Stephen R. Covey, Author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle Centered Leadership; Chairman, Covey Leadership Center "Gary Heil makes a good case about what lies ahead of us. The next revolution is that of Leadership--true Leadership based on managing the whole and not the parts. Those aspiring to be tomorrow's Leaders are advised to take a few hours off and to read the book from cover to cover in one go. Enjoy the pleasure of rediscovering the New World of Customized Leadership." --Jan Carlzon, Former CEO of SAS, Author of Moments of Truth "Leadership and the Customer Revolution is a must read for business executives." --Art Levitt, Chief Executive Officer, Hard Rock Cafe "This is a terrific book if you're really serious about improving your company. It's straightforward and no-nonsense, visionary and practical. It forces you to look at the way things are, not how you wish they were, and points out areas where significant change can take root." --Sandra Kurtzig, Founder and Former Chairman, ASK Computer Systems "Leadership, customer loyalty, front-line ownership, the authors rise above the rhetoric on these issues." --Thomas J. Garvey, President, Chase Manhattan PFS "This book is a call to action. It tells us we have to stop talking about change and start making it happen. It's tough and candid, and filled with provocative ideas and smart suggestions." --Richard B. Thomas, EVP and Director, American Honda "When it comes to customer service, many organizations still talk the walk. For those interested in really doing something about service, this book provides an excellent road map." --Gordon Peters, President, The Institute for Management Studies "Rick Tate and Gary Heil are two experts who have helped Johnson & Johnson discover how we can differentiate ourselves by serving our customers better than our competition. We look forward to their new book and new insights into this fascinating subject of Customer Service." --Jerry Gilbert, Vice President, Consumer Sector Customer Relations, Johnson & Johnson "When it comes to customer service, customer loyalty, and leadership, Leadership and the Customer Revolution is both instructional and inspirational. The authors' fresh, often unorthodox perspective and unique ability to translate theory into action make this one of the best business books I have ever read." --Jules Trump, Chief Executive Officer, Northern Automotive Corporation

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Leadership and the Customer Revolution Gary Heil • Tom Parker • Rick Tate Re-engineering? How about TQM? Maybe if we organize in teams? Hire a consultant? Benchmarking? We’re all looking for ways to create a fast, flexible, adaptive, customer-focused organization. We’re talking about the changes we have to make. The problem is that we’ve simply been better at talking about change than we are at making the hard and often risky choice to change significantly. Leadership and the Customer Revolution levels an unflinching gaze at today’s rhetoric around change and at the actual reality we’ve created. Authors Heil, Parker, and Tate advocate taking revolutionary steps while recognizing the need to be pragmatic — to serve today’s customers, quickly, efficiently, reliably, and impressively. They challenge us to re-examine our thinking, take on the system, delight customers, and help those we work with reach their potential. They invite us to become the architects of a very different kind of organization. Drawing from the data gathered in scores of organizational audits and years of real-life, on-the-job experience, the authors tell:

• How to overcome the inevitable resistance (organizational white blood cells) that is produced in significant change efforts.
• How organizational DNA can facilitate decision making while cutting down on the need for rules.
• How to turn employee compliance into employee commitment.
• How to reduce morale-depleting and time- and money-wasting internal competition.
• How and why to make learning the foundation of all our improvement efforts.

Leadership and the Customer Revolution lays out 20 challenges that we must confront and broadens our understanding of the key issues we must address. It offers ideas to expedite the learning process, provides suggestions for experimentation, and helps us anticipate the effects of our actions. In this era of constant whitewater, we must make the choice to lead a revolution. We must work to transform our organizations to adapt to a constantly evolving marketplace. To do less is to put our futures and our organizations’ futures at risk. As the challenges outlined by the authors suggest — these are not times for the faint hearted. Caretaker leaders need not apply.

From the Back Cover

Praise from business leaders for Leadership and the Customer Revolution "This book forcefully and in immensely practical ways teaches Einstein’s staggering point: ‘The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.’ Absolutely both cutting edge and real time, disturbing and confirming, inspiring and pragmatic! I recommend it highly. Worth reading again and again." —Stephen R. Covey, Author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle Centered Leadership; Chairman, Covey Leadership Center "Gary Heil makes a good case about what lies ahead of us. The next revolution is that of Leadership—true Leadership based on managing the whole and not the parts. Those aspiring to be tomorrow’s Leaders are advised to take a few hours off and to read the book from cover to cover in one go. Enjoy the pleasure of rediscovering the New World of Customized Leadership." —Jan Carlzon, Former CEO of SAS, Author of Moments of Truth "Leadership and the Customer Revolution is a must read for business executives." —Art Levitt, Chief Executive Officer, Hard Rock Cafe "This is a terrific book if you’re really serious about improving your company. It’s straightforward and no-nonsense, visionary and practical. It forces you to look at the way things are, not how you wish they were, and points out areas where significant change can take root." —Sandra Kurtzig, Founder and Former Chairman, ASK Computer Systems "Leadership, customer loyalty, front-line ownership, the authors rise above the rhetoric on these issues." —Thomas J. Garvey, President, Chase Manhattan PFS "This book is a call to action. It tells us we have to stop talking about change and start making it happen. It’s tough and candid, and filled with provocative ideas and smart suggestions." —Richard B. Thomas, EVP and Director, American Honda "When it comes to customer service, many organizations still talk the walk. For those interested in really doing something about service, this book provides an excellent road map." —Gordon Peters, President, The Institute for Management Studies "Rick Tate and Gary Heil are two experts who have helped Johnson & Johnson discover how we can differentiate ourselves by serving our customers better than our competition. We look forward to their new book and new insights into this fascinating subject of Customer Service." —Jerry Gilbert, Vice President, Consumer Sector Customer Relations, Johnson & Johnson "When it comes to customer service, customer loyalty, and leadership, Leadership and the Customer Revolution is both instructional and inspirational. The authors’ fresh, often unorthodox perspective and unique ability to translate theory into action make this one of the best business books I have ever read." —Jules Trump, Chief Executive Officer, Northern Automotive Corporation

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471286311
• ISBN-13: 978-0471286318
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,555,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspired reader from California May 23 l999, May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Leadership and the Customer Revolution: The Messy, Unpredictable, and Inescapably Human Challenge of Making the Rhetoric of Change a Reality (Hardcover)

A must for businesses who dare to make changes to improve their service and customer realtions and inspire their employees and in turn insure the future success of their companies. As expected Rick Tate is inspiring and along with Heil and Parker has written a winner.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read book for Visionary Leaders, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Leadership and the Customer Revolution: The Messy, Unpredictable, and Inescapably Human Challenge of Making the Rhetoric of Change a Reality (Hardcover)

An informative, hard hitting read about leadership as it relates to customer service policies and procedures. Should be required reading for all management.