Six Tires, No Plan: The Impossible Journey of the Most Inspirational Leader That (Almost) Nobody Knows [Hardcover]

Michael Rosenbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2012

Most Unlikely to Succeed

No one who charted Bruce Halle's early years would predict that the poor kid from New Hampshire might achieve greatness as an adult. Challenged in school and growing up in a struggling family, Halle looked like every other kid who would leave high school in the 1940s and disappear into a factory.

Instead, Halle created one of America's most respected companies, rose to join the Forbes magazine list of the four hundred richest Americans and serve as the role model for the ordinary Joes who seek out success at Discount Tire Company.

Six Tires, No Plan maps Halle's journey out of poverty and failure and reveals the deceptively simple values that drive success for him, his company and thousands of employees. Key among those principles is Halle's commitment to passing on his good fortune to the thousands of employees who serve his customers every day. This is Halle's true passion, and paying it forward to the ordinary guy is a cornerstone of Discount Tire's ongoing success.

Avoiding the spotlight, crediting his employees for the success of the company, Halle demonstrates the incredible power of perseverance and fundamental values to create long-term success. His journey offers a roadmap worth following in both career and life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An inspirational roadmap for business and life. --Harvey Mackay, author, #1 New York Times bestseller Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

Bruce Halle has achieved the impossible by earning immense brand loyalty in a commodity business. His disciplined focus on employee motivation and customer service offers lessons for anyone seeking success in business or life. --Pitt Hyde, founder of AutoZone

Bruce Halle's story is an inspiration. He starts his employees changing tires; fixes flat tires for free; is never undersold; scouts every location and okays every store he builds. He promotes from within, rewards his people generously for their achievements and leads by example never wavering from these core values. This book should be required reading for entrepreneurs everywhere. --Karl Eller, chairman and CEO of The Eller Company

Financial journalist and consultant Rosenbaum (Your Name Here Guide to Life, 2009, etc.) tells the cheering story of Bruce Halle, the force behind the Discount Tire Company. Halle's tale is inspiring because he built a business empire out of treating both his workforce and his customers with good will. Starting in 1960, he sold tires from his little shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a welcoming smile on his face, fast and courteous service and clean restrooms. He worked like a dog, yet he never showed anything but respect and appreciation to his customers and employees. Rosenbaum presents the story in pleasingly unadorned fashion; you can almost sense Halle standing over his shoulder, feeding him the material. One moment the action will be centered on an aspect of Halle's business strategy, which in turn might spark some personal reminiscence. Though a considerable amount of the book chronicles Halle's life's progress, what sings from the pages are the heart-gladdening pillars of his business vision. It goes without saying that the customer gets class treatment for, as a friend of Halle's noted, ''Nobody gets up in the morning and says, 'What a beautiful day. I think I'll go buy four tires.' They get up and say, 'I have to buy new tires.' It's like going to the dentist'' but the workers also feel like they are getting class treatment from the workplace. Many of the workers who gravitate to Discount are "lost boys without a sense of direction. The company provides a genial atmosphere, a good wage serious potential. Rosenbaum makes it all sound like business-for-dummies, with a bright helping of humor and head-slapping obviousness, repeating his subject s mantra: ''Be honest. Work hard. Have fun. Be grateful. Pay forward.'' Call them Halle's Golden Rules. They ought to be canned and fed to every schoolchild. --Kirkus Reviews

Bruce Halle's story is an inspiration. He starts his employees changing tires; fixes flat tires for free; is never undersold; scouts every location and okays every store he builds. He promotes from within, rewards his people generously for their achievements and leads by example never wavering from these core values. This book should be required reading for entrepreneurs everywhere. --Karl Eller, chairman and CEO of The Eller Company

About the Author

Michael Rosenbaum is a business consultant and former financial journalist who has both studied and advised hundreds of corporate leaders over his career. As president of the nation s largest investor relations agency, Rosenbaum managed operations of a $35 million business and advised CEOs and CFOs at more than 150 companies regarding strategic financial and marketing issues. He holds both a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in business administration and is an active member of the World Presidents Organization. In addition to Six Tires, No Plan, he has written three business texts and a collection of commonsense life lessons, Your Name Here: Guide to Life.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press (March 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1608322572
• ISBN-13: 978-1608322572
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 1.1 x 6.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #80 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Retailing

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Where do I submit my application? February 28, 2012

By Paul Tognetti TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Discount Tire Company does one thing and one thing only--tires--and they do it exceedingly well. Discount Tire doesn't offer oil changes, alignments or general automotive services. But even if you have never set foot in a Discount Tire store they will repair your flat tire or mount your snow tires for free. From the humblest of beginnings in a rented building on Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor, MI the company founded by Bruce Halle has grown to become the largest independent tire retailer in America with more than 800 locations. So just who is Bruce Halle and how did he manage to pull this all off? Author Michael Rosenbaum has chronicled the improbable story of Bruce Halle and his company in his informative and entertaining new book "Six Tires, No Plan: The Impossible Journey of the Most Inspirational Leader That (Almost) Nobody Knows". This is at once a fun, eye-opening and very inspiring read. I really enjoyed it!

In the first few chapters Of "Six Tires, No Plan" Rosenbaum focuses on the life of Bruce Halle as he was growing up in Berlin, New Hampshire and Taylor Township, Michigan. Bruce admits that he was not a particularly gifted student and that most viewed him as something of an underachiever. In 1944 his parents enrolled him at Holy Redeemer High School. It was a decision that would change his life. On the first day of his freshman year in 1944 young Bruce Halle met two of the people who would influence his life the most: his future wife of 38 years Geraldine Konfara and his homeroom teacher Sister Marie Ellen. Sister Marie Ellen believed in young Bruce and would become a constant source of encouragement. Years later Bruce Halle would fondly recall the role this Immaculate Heart of Mary nun had in turning his life around. If nothing else young Bruce firmly embraced his Catholic faith and absorbed the values instilled in him by his parents. This spirit of kindness and generosity would serve him well in the years ahead as grew a fledgling small business into a giant national retailer.

In building his Discount Tire Company behemoth Bruce Halle proved to be anything but your typical businessman. Bruce insists that each and every new hire on the retail side of Discount Tire starts out as a tire changer. This policy has not changed in the more than 50 years that Discount Tire has been in business and there are no plans to change it anytime soon. From the very beginning Bruce Halle has always been a firm believer in promoting from within. Bruce sees a lot of himself in many of his managers and is genuinely thrilled to see them succeed. He takes a personal interest in all of them and makes it his business to meet everyone personally. A large percentage of his employees reciprocate by remaining on the job for 15-20-25 years or more. Bruce can best be described as a `manager-by-exception" type of leader who relies on his people to do the job they were hired to do and stepping in only when something goes wrong. Another key component of Bruce's business philosophy is what he calls the "reset button" which is designed to salvage the careers of good employees who hit a wall in their lives. Meanwhile, Bruce is also a firm believer in the concept of "paying forward". Frankly, I had never heard the term. "Paying forward" is the act of using our talents to help others, not because we owe them a favor, but simply because we have the ability to do so. Finally, Bruce Halle encourages his employees to carefully balance work and family obligations. From the very beginning, Discount Tire outlets have been closed on Sundays. This is unheard of in this day and age and I for one applaud Bruce Halle for taking such an admirable stand here in spite of the fact that it puts Discount Tire at a significant competitive disadvantage. In my view the introduction of Sunday sales in the 1970's has contributed mightily to the downward spiral of family life in this country.

Now it goes without saying that happy employees will generally translate into happy and loyal customers. Such has obviously been the case with Discount Tire. From the very beginning back at that renovated plumbing supply store in Ann Arbor, Michigan Bruce Halle has been committed to providing his customers with fast and friendly service and quality products at the lowest possible price. It is easy to see why so many people admire Bruce and the way he has grown his business over the past fifty years. If you happen to be a small business owner reading "Six Tires, No Plan: The Impossible Journey of the Most Inspirational Leader That (Almost) Nobody Knows" might just change the way you conduct your own business. And as it says on the back cover of the book "His story offers a map worth following in both career and life." I could not agree more. It's great to see a nice guy finish first. Highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Leadership and Respect in a Business -- What a Concept! March 25, 2012

By Gallery90

Format:Hardcover

If you've had a feeling that maybe you don't have to act like Donald Trump to be a success, this is the book to give a little more "oomph" to your argument. In fact, after reading "Six Tires, No Plan" you might even wonder if Donald Trump really IS a success.

Calling this a "rags to riches" story is correct, but that's just the outer wrapper. The thoughtful stuff comes as you use this book to look at how Bruce Halle runs his business. A couple of important ingredients are respect and determination.

Bruce Halle made a decision respect his customers and respect his employees. Not just when things were going good, and not just when it was convenient. Holding onto that vision takes determination, as does keeping your focus on the fundamentals of the business and what makes it a success.

Is Discount Tire an anomaly? Probably so -- both in terms of its success and in terms of how the business is conducted. For me, it raises some questions. Would Discount Tire be the company it is today if it had multiple investors? If it was publicly traded? Would the company have been able to stick to just tires and wheels? Would Discount Tire's expansion have been put on a schedule to meet at timeline and plan, or allowed to proceed at a pace dictated by the business environment?

Some things in the book beg asking a question or two. Although the decision to not move into the Washington, DC area was said to have been based on the cost of living (have to sell tires at a competitive price, but you also have to make sure your employees can afford to live), but Discount Tire is operating in other areas of the country with higher costs of living. But that's a critique in the margins.

For me, the value of this book is to remind the reader that there is no one way to success, and there is no single set of rules to guide you in your relationships with your workforce and your customers. Bruce Halle "broke" with "common wisdom", has loyal customers and loyal employees, and is a billionaire. Hmmmm.

Four stars because the flow of the writing rambles and jumps a bit more than I prefer. But don't let that stop you from reading this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I now know why I've been buying tires from Discount Tire for 20+ years! March 19, 2012

By Dallas Guy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is simply a great portrait of a man who found his place in the business world by applying the simple principle of treating customers as he wanted to be treated. And how it has paid off over 50 years! I got this book via Kindle and once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I actually downloaded it to my Kindle WHILE I was sitting in my Sierra Vista, AZ Discount Tire store on Saturday March 10 while I was waiting to get the tires rotated on my car. It's also very nice that our local store manager, Tony d'Oca is mentioned in the book as well.

Read it to find out more about Discount Tire...read it to find a philosophy that works....read it more to find out more about the founder and sole shareholder, Bruce Halle. What a gentleman! Everybody knows about Sam Walton and HIS story, but Bruce and Discount Tire are how Wal Mart SHOULD BE. Or started out but are very far from today. He says Discount Tire will never be a publicly traded company, and I HOPE that it stays that way as well. Like the title says, after I read this book, I know now why I've been buying tires from Discount Tire for over twenty years. Simple, because they treat you right. That is put into practice by every employee (from a part time tire buster to the store managers) I've come into contact with. If I were younger, I'd go apply to work there!