2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CEO Shows Steps to Success, March 14, 1999
This review is from: The Three-Legged Stool (Hardcover)
"The Three-Legged Stool" is a clearly written book by the CEO of a successful company. Author Roland Boreham shares his philosophy on how to do business that has worked well for Baldor Electric. The book is filled with helpful examples taken from his years with the firm.
Who should read it? Anyone involved in a business or non-profit organization of any size. The book will be especially helpful to those desiring long-term success in turbulent times.
What does "The Three-Legged Stool" mean? Simply that there are three key priorities to success: 1. customers, 2. employees, and 3. shareholders. These priorities reflect the author's belief that when relationships come first, profit follows. The book shows how to create, maintain and use winning business relationships.
Mr. Boreham's approach helps with the big challenges business people face: 1. increased competition pressures, 2. less certain career tracks, and 3. faster trends. All business people must learn how to build islands of strength and stability for themselves. So it is hepful when one can learn from someone has been successful over many years.
One of the big challenges today is commodization. This is when products and services to become less special... and perhaps all too common. It results in ever-lowering prices, decreasing profits and lessening job security. As Mr. Boreham points out, proper pricing is one way to beat out competition. He explains how his pricing methods, sales approach and sound business relationships secured product prices that assured competitive victory.
It's clear why Mr. Boreham sees customers as the stool's first leg. Although educated as an engineer, he developed superb marketing skills. One insightful comment on sales people is that "professionals ask, amateurs tell." This expresses true marketing, and it created repeat customer revenue.
Not only is Mr. Boreham a contrarian thinker, he is a successful contrarian executive. This path leads to stand-out products or sevices. These command better prices, keep customers loyal and secure new customers. Take for example, his attitude to inventory levels. Most companies love lean inventories. Mr. Boreham likes them plump. His contrarian inventory meets demands quickly... and locks in customers.
The book combines practical experience and wisdom with leading-edge management thinking. For example, it stresses the importance of providing helpful information to customers. For successful companies, it's now part of their winning product package. It helps forge continuing business relationship with customers.
Relationships with employees - the second leg of the stool - is another plus. The employee challenge to Mr. Boreham and other CEOs is especially sensitive in an era noted for stocks going up when layoffs are announced. Mr. Boreham's contrarian approach is to stress meaningful work, steady work, better communications, education and training.
Reality, for many companies, is that stockholders and customers come first. Why? Largely because today's good news is the driver. It determines executive bonuses and tenure. The younger generation has gotten the message. Increasingly, they opt for entrepreneural opportunities - where life is quick - versus joining what they see as dangerously sclerotic, established businesses.
While they may separate businesses into the quick and the dead, the younger generation may be ignoring Mr. Boreham's key lessons. Solid business and customer relationships, created over time, are invaluable to careers. Individuals possessing such relationships are easily employable over a long career. As Mr. Boreham would see it, some are successful for the quick moment... others are successful for life.
Shareholders relationships are the third leg of the stool. Mr. Boreham outlines good shareholder relationships, which benefit both company and investor. He points out that investors want consistency as well as change. Consistency that makes investors confident in a company's stability. Change that shows it is responding to the qucksand essence of the business world.
Summing up, Roland Boreham's new book instructs us and challenges us. It is easily read guide to the key steps to business and personal success.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What really works in business, reinforced with humor., March 2, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Three-Legged Stool (Hardcover)
Question: Why would you buy this book if you are not a CEO of a company, and don't care to know about management anyway?
Answer: Because of the neat stories about successful men such as Sam Walton, Warren Buffet, Winston Churchill, and Peter Drucker, to name a few, with added emphasis from one of our favorites, Will Rogers. And along the way, while you chuckle at the anecdotes, you'll find yourself learning a few things about building relationships with everyone, no matter what business you are in, and no matter how unimportant you perceive your job to be.
Finally, we have an author who builds on customer relationships by recognizing the importance of the other two legs of the corporation: employees and shareholders (or owners). These three constituencies give a new meaning to CEO. The Chief Executive Officer becomes the facilitator for relationships among the new CEOs: Customers, Employees, and Owners. Author Rollie Boreham is CEO of Baldor, a leader in the industrial motor field that was named in a January 1998 issue of Fortune as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work for in America."
The Three-Legged Stool is well organized, highly readable, and adds new perspectives to the philosophy of management and profits. The author reinforces theory with humor, anecdotes, personal stories, and lessons learned through successful relationships with all three constituencies. You'll chuckle at the stories of Mr. Boreham wandering around Wal-Mart with Sam Walton, and you'll cheer at Baldor's practice of asking employees how to improve quality and increase production through better relationships.
You'll find no unnecessary long-winded philosophies, and no technical jargon. Even the Baldor Value Formula is not mathematical at all. It is merely a useful description of how customers rank quality, cost, service and availability when they make purchases.
Mr. Boreham does not insult our intelligence nor waste our time by giving us excessive descriptions of problems or by over-explaining solutions. He gets right to the point, giving illustrations of successful relationships that really worked.
The Three-Legged Stool has great possibilities of becoming the next generation of One Minute Manager books. It's the perfect gift for your new MBA, and should be mandatory reading for every rising star in your organization.
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