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More Than a Pink Cadillac: Mary Kay Inc.'s Leadership Keys to Success (Paperback)
by Jim Underwood
| Category:
Leadership, Corporate history, Entrepreneurship, Business |
| Market price: ¥ 178.00
MSL price:
¥ 168.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Conceive, Believe, Achieve, And Lead. This book provides great insights on how Mary Kay Ash built a successful firm through these principles. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
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Author: Jim Underwood
Publisher: McGraw Hill
Pub. in: August, 2004
ISBN: 0071439986
Pages: 224
Measurements: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00053
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- MSL Picks -
This book does more than explain the success behind Mary Kay, Inc. It tells the world how Mary Kay Ash lived her life. The simple steps outlined in this book can give direction not only to a business but to a life. The sections are put together well and the text is very well thought out and suggestions are given from the heart. Every business leader should read this book and put it into practice.
Target readers:
Executives, managers, entrepreneurs, professionals, government leaders, and MBAs.
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Jim Underwood, Ph.D., is an award-winning author and business professor. He has been a strategy consultant to many international organizations and has written five books on the topics of leadership and corporate strategy.
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From the Publisher:
It's no secret that Mary Kay Inc. – the home of the famous "Pink Cadillac" – is one of the best run and most successful companies, prompting Harvard professors and U. S. government agencies to study what made the company a global phenomenon. But what many may not realize is that Mary Kay is much more than a Pink Cadillac. While this widely recognized icon is a symbol it stands for something greater – a way of doing business with a personal concern for people that has made Mary Kay a different kind of company. This book explains the methods and mindset that can bring the same kind of success to your organization.
More Than a Pink Cadillac provides insights into a uniquely and extraordinarily successful business – one that grew out of, and is still founded upon, a simple set of powerful principles. It represents the first time the company has given an outside author – Jim Underwood – an unlimited access to its employees and management. The principles he reveals in this book have already influenced hundreds and thousands of men and women around the world – and they can do the same for you and your organization.
Inside you'll find inspirational stories from Mary Kay management and leaders of independent sales force that illustrate the "nine leadership keys to success", which can be applied in any company. From "Never Leave Your Values" and "Think and Act Strategically" to "Have a Higher Purpose" and "Innovate or Evaporate", More Than a Pink Cadillac gives you the strategies and tools you need to build binding ties of trust and loyalty – to your customers and employees – and adopt the leadership thinking necessary for high performance.
Mary Kay Ash was the best example of this leadership style. She was devoted to her employees and independent sales force. This was the woman who viewed her company as a family; who talked of "P & L" not as profit and loss, but "people and love". You'll see how the Mary Kay philosophy can make enthusiasm, integrity, laughter, and excellence an everyday part of your organization – along with extraordinary growth. You'll learn why inspirational leadership is fundamental to leadership success. And you'll discover skills you need to triumph against overwhelming odds – no matter the scenario.
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Mary Kay knew her purpose in life. She also knew somehow that her purpose was larger than her own life. When Morley Safer of TV's 60 Minutes news magazine suggested that she was using God to further her own ambition, Mary Kay responded without hesitation that he had it backward: She sincerely believed that God was using her to accomplish His purpose.
She was confident that there was a grand pattern to her life. In the 30 years I knew her, I never saw her waver from her purpose, not once. I invite you to think how many people you've met about whom you'd say the same thing.
Mary Kay viewed her company as a family, a living community that she strove to perpetuate. She talked of P&L not as but as "people and love". She knew that maximizing profits could not serve as the driving purpose of a company that hoped to sustain itself over decades. Make no mistake: Mary Kay knew profits were important, but they were only a means to an end. They would finance the next round of investments and make possible the next installment in a saga of enriching women's lives. She knew she had to be generous, investing in her employees and the members of her independent sales force. And she had to build binding ties of trust and loyalty, starting within the corporate "family" and extending all the way to her tens of millions of customers.
Darrell Overcash, Executive vice president of global human resources and operations, offers some thoughts on the human dynamic of Mary Kay's leadership:
Mary Kay clearly and fervently believed people were born good regardless of how external factors may have influenced their lives. Inherent in that belief is that we are basically good people who want to do what is right. She realized that any of us could be victims of our surroundings but that no matter where we are in life, we can change. Her theory was, "it's not where you start, it's where you finish." it is evident to me that what set Mary Kay apart as a leader is that she saw through to the core of human nature. She looked beyond all the external factors to find the real person. And to that her ability to breathe belief into people and you begin to understand her genius.
What you've observed in human resources is that people who connect with our culture want to stay. Let me hasten to add that existing within this culture includes focused effort, hard work, and numerous challenges. These are givens around here, just as in any other competitive business environment. And we're not perfect. We make mistakes.
We do strive daily to strike the delicate balance that is at the heart of the Mary Kay priorities. God first, family second, and career third not only requires belief in these priorities, it requires a strong work ethic and a strong commitment. Mary Kay Ash had a strong work ethic, and for some reason many people miss that part of her history. What we've found is that having a strong work ethic is an important part of the equation to create balance in your life. We truly believe that finding this balance is as equally important to our success as are the efforts to be profitable. Some would argue that it is more important.
The "Practice Rules"
Over the years, Mary Kay In. faced tough decisions, large and small. When it came to the large decisions, the founder was almost always involved. But when it came to the smaller decisions, when Mary Kay Ash was not likely to be consulted, people often invoked the ideas of the founder.
That was not particularly hard to do. Many of her trenchant observations were already part of the oral lore. "Do the right thing," someone inevitably would say when a tough ethical decision was being confronted, invoking the founder's guidance. And of course Mary Kay Ash wrote a number of books – including her autobiography and Mary Kay on People Management - that provided additional guidance.
These things were helpful, of course, but it is difficult to run a fast-growing corporation on the basis of anecdotes and autobiography. The company's leaders therefore decided that they wanted to take the essence of those Mary Kay beliefs and boil them down into clear statements of leadership.
The result of this collaborative effort is the Mary Kay Leadership Practice Rules. These 10 rules reflected how Mary Kay conducted herself as a manager and summarize how she wanted others to lead. Once adopted by the executive team, these rules were published and used as a guide for leadership practices at the firm:
Mary Kay Inc.
LEADERSHIP PRACTICE RULES
Employee commitment to an organization is founded on trust and is a reflection of its leaders' decision-making process, people management practices, and communication style.
All company leaders, from first-line supervisors to members of Executive Team, can directly contribute to strengthening the bond between employees and Mary Kay by consistently doing the following:
- Always do what is right, honorable, and ethical.
- Always consider the human impact of every decision before a final decision is made. Use the Golden Rule as a guide for determining the right thing to do.
- Before doing something, always consider, "How will it appear to employees and affect employee morale?" Make sure it's the right thing to do. If it is, and it may be perceived negatively, explain it to employees before doing it.
- Before doing something, ask yourself, "Will it impact on employee trust?" Make building employee trust and confidence a top priority. Morale is every leader's responsibility.
- "Speak" to employees, don't "market" to them. Effective communication is open, frequent, and timely, in good times and bad.
- Allow employees to do their jobs. Reduce bureaucracy where possible and empower employees to make decisions. Measure employees' performance by "their batting average, not their last time at bat."
- Each time you interact with employees, sincerely demonstrate that you respect, value, and appreciate them. Be approachable, open, and honest.
- Think before taking action or making a decision. A "knee-jerk" reaction to a problem or situation may not be the right decision and can erode employee respect for the decision makers.
- Remember employees are real people with diverse backgrounds and multidimensional lives. Value their personal differences, recognize their individual circumstances, and respect the whole person that each truly is.
- Always strive to be fair. When in doubt, err in favor of the employee.
This simple one-page summary leadership rules is currently the standard for leadership behavior at Mary Kay Inc. and is the focus of all the leadership training at the firm.
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| View all 5 comments |
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Mary Kay Ash built one of America's most admired companies. She turned her $5,000 investment into a billion-dollar corporation, and along the way helped thousands of women launch successful careers. This book is filled with the inspirational tales of modest women with grand expectations. Their stories are proof that success is based on choices, not circumstances. |
Cheryl Richardson (author of Life Makeovers) (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
If you want to understand the true foundation of success, read this book. Then, take action and put [Mary Kay's] philosophy to work for you! |
Alexis Hart (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
When I decided to start my own business, my goals were lofty and to the average person unattainable. Many people in my life were unconvinced that I could accomplish them. Desperate to grown personally, I began working my way through self-help books and the like. By mistake I picked up More Than A Pink Cadillac and my life was forever better. Jim Underwood offers us a look into the life of a remarkable woman who refused to let anyone hold her back. Not only does this book share her personal/professional journey, it shares the journey's of women just like myself. It's not just about business, it's about people. It reminds us that this world is nothing without the people in it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever thought they couldn't make it work...no matter what "it" is. Pure inspiration! |
Rolf Dobelli (MSL quote), Switzerland
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Mary Kay, Inc., is perhaps best known for two things: the cult of personality surrounding its founder, Mary Kay Ash, and the fact that it rewards successful salespeople with pink Cadillacs. In this illuminating book, management expert Jim Underwood delves into the guiding principles of Mary Kay, Inc.'s daily operations, which remain, 40 years later, true to Ash's founding vision. Countries or corporations founded by a charismatic leader often sag or sink when that leader inevitably steps down. Mary Kay's leadership was unique in that she built a solid foundation for the company so it could continue without her day-to-day guidance. This corporate biography represents the first time the privately owned company allowed an outsider complete access to its managers and employees, enabling Underwood to persuasively illustrate nine leadership rules with testimonies from members of the "Mary Kay family." We recommend this to anyone who aspires to leadership. Mary Kay may look fluffy, but it's all about the firm. |
View all 5 comments |
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