Biography & Autobiography : Business

The founder of Four Seasons Hotels shares the philosophy and values that have made his legendary brand. How did a child of immigrants, starting with no background in the hotel business, create the world?s most admired and successful hotel chain? And how has Four Seasons grown dramatically, over nearly a half century, without losing its focus on exceptional quality and unparalleled service?. Isadore Sharp answers these questions in his engaging memoir, which doubles as a powerful guide for leaders in any field. He recalls the surprising history of his company, starting with its roots in his father?s small construction business, which Sharp joined after getting a degree in architecture. Shifting into hotels wasn?t easy, and he learned by trial and error. His breakthrough was a vision for a new kind of hotel, featuring superior design, top-quality amenities, and, above all, a deep commitment to service. Sharp realized that customers would gladly pay extra for a ?home away from home? experience. But that would be possible only if everyone?from managers and supervisors to bellmen, servers, and housekeepers?was fully engaged. The front-line staff, who have the most contact with guests, can make or break a five-star reputation. Readers will be fascinated to learn how Four Seasons does it, year after year, in more than thirty countries around the world. more...

Price: $29.95

Steve Jobs has turned his personality traits into a business philosophy. Here’s how he does it. It’s hard to believe that one man revolutionized computers in the 1970s and ’80s (with the Apple II and the Mac), animated movies in the 1990s (with Pixar), and digital music in the 2000s (with the iPod and iTunes). No wonder some people worship him like a god. On the other hand, stories of his epic tantrums and general bad behavior are legendary. Inside Steve’s Brain cuts through the cult of personality that surrounds Jobs to unearth the secrets to his unbelievable results. It reveals the real Steve Jobs—not his heart or his famous temper, but his mind. So what’s really inside Steve’s brain? According to Leander Kahney, who has covered Jobs since the early 1990s, it’s a fascinating bundle of contradictions. Jobs is an elitist who thinks most people are bozos—but he makes gadgets so easy to use, a bozo can master them. He’s a mercurial obsessive with a filthy temper—but he forges deep partnerships with creative geniuses like Steve Wozniak, Jonathan Ive, and John Lasseter. He’s a Buddhist and anti-materialist—but he produces mass-market products in Asian factories, and he promotes them with absolute mastery of the crassest medium, advertising. In short, Jobs has embraced the traits that some consider flaws—narcissism, perfectionism, the desire for total control—to lead Apple and Pixar to triumph against steep odds. And in the process, he has become a self-made billionaire. In Inside Steve’s Brain, Kahney distills the principles that guide Jobs as he launches killer products, attracts fanatically loyal customers, and manages some of the world’s most powerful brands. The result is this unique book about Steve Jobs that is part biography and part leadership guide, and impossible to put down. It gives you a peek inside Steve’s brain, and might even teach you something about how to build y more...

Price: $23.95

From the acclaimed Vanity Fair and GQ journalist–an unprecedented, in-depth portrait of the man whose return to Apple precipitated one of the biggest turnarounds in business history. With a new epilogue on Apple’s future survival in today’s roller-coaster economy, here is the revealing biography that blew away the critics and stirred controversy within industry and media circles around the country. more...

Price: $19.00

Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. more...

Price: $20.00

Legendary auto executive Lee Iacocca has a question for every American: Where have all the leaders gone?. The most widely recognized business executive of all time asks the tough questions that America's leaders must address:. • What is each of us giving back to our country?. • Do we truly love democracy?. • Are we too fat and satisfied for our own good?. • Why is America addicted to oil?. • Do we really care about our children's futures?. • Who will save the middle class? more...

Price: $15.00