This book is important for business management. It chronicles what Frank Perdue did, which made him so successful! While there are many books on successful business leaders, this book in unique in that it is written by Mr. Perdue’s widow, thus providing us with an exceptionally close view of what kind of person Mr. Perdue seemed to be.
Mr. Perdue built what became the world’s largest chicken processing firm, privately owned. Today, the firm that he built has sales in more than 50 countries and employs more than 20,000 people.
The author, Mitzi Perdue, is a well-known professional writer and TV host, with interests in environmental issues as well as in family business in particular.
Frank Perdue had several approaches on how to achieve success, and six of these are discussed in the book. Each of these might perhaps be considered rather small when considered in isolation but taken together they seem to have led to great success. The author has identified five critical sub-issues for each of these. I shall not want to repeat all of them, but merely aim highlight what seem to be the most critical, in my view.
Listen well. And it takes a certain humility to be a good listener. It is key to be open-minded and flexible, so as to make adjustments where improvements might be made. By being a good listener, to a broad set of others, one might also be able to build loyalty amongst team members so that talents might stay in one’s organization.
Build a solid organizational culture. This should be built on values such as supporting one’s people, celebrate with the team, pay attention to names, and so on.
Strong leadership, so that the team sees critical issues the same way as the leader. Critical issues in this respect would be to give people credit when deserved, to encourage broad “ownership” of ideas. Again, a good leader should be flexible and open to change when merited. Or, as Mr. Perdue apparently said, “a business that doesn’t change, is a business that is going to die”.
Build a sturdy network. To make contacts with people is particularly important. These contacts should be as powerful as possible, i.e., be seen as meaningful in both ways. And, when promising something, then always follow up. When in meetings, one should try to interact with as many different people as possible. Networking is a vital skill, as Mitzi Perdue says.
Learn, learn, learn… Learning is key, and an effective way to become inspired to get good ideas. All ways of learning will do - reading, listening, attending lectures, and so on. It is important to actively try to obtain helpful information relating to a particular project that one might be working on. It costs nothing to ask! Specialists, suppliers and customers are typically good sources for this type of learning. But even competitors might at times be willing to share key information. The task of learning should have a broad focus. Seemingly irrelevant issues might prove to be useful in some future setting, or at least be an inspiration for creative thinking. To do whatever it takes to make one’s aptitude for learning as strong as possible – read a lot, scan newsletters, have a good coach for mentoring, and so on.
Be frugal. To keep a low profile is key. There should be no spending to show off. One should live relatively modestly, not be excessive when it comes to the choice of one’s car, use public transportation where possible, fly economy class, and so on. It comes down to the dictum of spending less than one earns. To pay one’s bills. To not create stress here. To have “free” liquidity that might be drawn on when opportunities arise is a critical part of running any business, including family firms, and when it comes to managing one’s personal economy as well. This is the way to take advantage of opportunities!
After the discussion of what might be seen as Frank Perdue’s six “pillars” for guiding the running of his firm as well as his personal life, the book concludes with a discussion of how to put together what might be labelled one’s “ethical will”. Not only to leave a legacy, but also so as to guide future generations, and perhaps even be a source for future strategizing within the family firm. According to the author, the inspiration for Frank Perdue to put together his ethical will came from the observation that wealth without values tends to lead to unhappiness. So, an ethical will should reflect the key values of the person who is putting it all together. And the process of creating such an ethical will might serve as a good way to clarify one’s core values.
For an ethical will to be effective, it should be relatively simple, containing maximum ten points or so. Mitzi Perdue reports how Frank Perdue started out with a much broader draft, around 50 issues! But “strategy means choice” so after hard deliberations, Mr. Perdue ended up with a final ten point ethical will.
In a final chapter the author stresses the importance of being inspired. Inspiration leads to direction and energy. It is never too late to be inspired to aim for being better and better! This might be a fitting way of summarizing what Frank Perdue stands for.
Reflecting on what I got out of reading this book, my first conclusion is that all that the book contains made good sense. While I have of course never run an operation the size and complexity that Frank Perdue’s was, I have nevertheless been able to follow several of the principles that have been highlighted. But, as also the author says, the challenge for me was perhaps more to combine these six pillars into a natural one! Partial behavior tended to come in the wrong way! But, nevertheless, I too seemed to have enjoyed success following principles such as these.
This brings me to a realization that the essence of a firm’s strategy might be exactly this. A good strategy is indeed equal to a cohesive set of principles, such as those outlined in this book. I am therefore wholeheartedly recommending this book to all corporate leaders. I am in fact thinking about another successful entrepreneur cum leader of a family business, namely Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, who I had the privilege to know. Principles such as those outlined in this book is what can be equated with business success, much more than the typical principles that we might find in most textbooks on strategy (SWOT analysis, dominant market share, …).
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