Product Description

Many leaders of small businesses want to serve the common good, but everyday pressures can make that extremely difficult. What tools are available to lead an organization that's obligated to more than the financial bottom line? Utilizing a sleek, condensed format, "True to Yourself provides potent, practical advice for leaders looking to make their small business profitable and sustainable. Arguing that small-business leaders that look beyond the bottom-line are not only more fulfilled, but also more successful, author Mark Albion shows how by embodying competence, commitment, and compassion any small businessperson can lead more effectively. A series of five best practices forms the basis of a full plan to that shows readers how to bring the three C's to their business. Equally useful for those starting out or veterans of many years, "True to Yourself reveals tried-and-true methods for keeping a values-based business on track.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192167 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 171 pages

From Publishers Weekly
For those whose dreams involve using a small business "as a force for social change," entrepreneur Albion offers encouragement and valuable counsel. The second entry in the publisher's Social Venture Network series, this is a guide to leading "a company that reflects your values" and, along the way, building "a better world for us all." Assuming that the reader is already a believer, but just isn't sure how to reconcile principle and practice, Albion frames his advice in terms of compassionate, socially responsible leadership, though a lot of it is just plain good management. It's about how to build a company with the right priorities from the beginning, not just adding a veneer of responsibility. The book is grounded in the voices of earnest entrepreneurs and unusual case studies you don't see in every business book—including stories of failure as well as of success. While some readers may find Albion insufficiently hard-nosed ("It's better to fail trying to do what you really care about," he writes, "than to succeed at something else"), his sincerity is undeniably compelling. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher
"A perfect blend of inspiration and instruction, a must-read manual for anyone who aspires to a position of leadership." — Alan M. Webber, Cofounding Editor, Fast Company Magazine

"If you want to build a values-based business, as I did with Kinko's, Mark Albion provides you with the practical know-how to avoid mistakes and lead your company's growth." — Paul Orfalea, Founder and Chairperson Emeritus, Kinko's

"If you want to build a business with social conscience, a company that reflects your core values and that people are proud to work for, True to Yourself will help you pour your heart into doing just that." — Howard Schultz, Chairman, Starbucks Coffee Company

"There has never been a more important moment for leadership from women. It is critical that we have equality in business as well as education and politics, as women recognize the social and environmental challenges we face and develop the courage to confront them. True to Yourself offers the practical guidance and support to allow women to meet these exhilarating challenges and help others working with them do the same." — Susie Tompkins Buell, Cofounder and Chairperson Emeritus, Esprit Clothing Company

About the Author
Mark Albion is a social entrepreneur who has co-founded seven organizations, including Net Impact, an international network of MBA students and professional committed to using the power of business to create a better world. He wrote the New York Times Business Best Seller, Making a Life, Making a Living.Formerly, Albion was a student and professor at Harvard University and its Business School for 18 years. He was profiled on 60 Minutes, praised by leaders as diverse as Ronald Reagan and Mother Teresa, and dubbed "the savior of b-school souls" by Business Week for his efforts to nourish our next generation of business leaders.

Customer Reviews

Reassuring guide to making money and doing good
Mark Albion explains a very contemporary balancing act: how to run a business based on values and still make a profit. Companies ranging from Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's to small bakeries and toy makers have prospered while supporting the social concerns of their founders and employees. Building such values-based businesses is not easy. They face the same profit-and-loss problems as other small companies, plus they take on an additional layer of social issues. Albion tells his personal story, buttressed by corporate examples and interviews with 75 owners of values-based businesses. getAbstract suggests this book full of practical advice to anyone who is willing to sign up for the challenge of running a values-based business.

Really good book on building a values-based business.
This book gives good insight on how to build a successful business that goes beyond just profitability. Mark Albion describes how to strike a balance between personal values, profitability, corporate social responsibility, and environmental contributions by what he calls the "five values-based leadership practices". I do recommend this book to those interested in learning the characteristics of a values-based business leader.

Joseph Morgan
MBA Student at Loyola University New Orleans

Trendy phrases that fall short
Poor. It consists of fillers and redundancies that could hypothetically be widdled down to a small pamphlet. Albion throws around trendy managerial phrases throughout, but fails to inform the reader as to how to seriously apply them.