About the Book
The fundamental question in business and in personal life is the same: What really matters? In this book one of America' s most widely admired business leaders distills a lifetime of experience, including failures as well as successes, to reveal his answers.
John Pepper, president, CEO, and chairman of Procter & Gamble for a combined 16 years, underscores the importance of continuous change, innovation, and renewal as prerequisites for growth and sound leadership. In "What Really Matters" he suggests that a preparedness to alter perspective, rethink assumptions, or change course is central not only to understanding customer needs and keeping costs under control but also to developing talent, organizing global businesses, and supporting communities. While he discusses specific business tactics, he notes that they all center on fundamental tenets: listen to and respect the customer, engender personal accountability and passionate ownership, encourage diversity, and create a vibrant, trusting institution that incorporates employees and their families. In his own years as an executive, Pepper has demonstrated that a profitable business can create and sustain a culture that shapes-- and is shaped by-- ethical behavior. His profoundly important advice and counsel belong in the lexicon and practice of every leader.
Review :
""What Really Matters" is a deeply personal, almost spiritual, set of reflections focused on the human side of enterprise. John Pepper presents a collection of principled values and short stories that focus on individual contributors and team-based behaviors that at the core reflect humility and pride, stewardship and service, loyalty and devotion, all shaped and guided by a shared sense of purpose that binds together a very special global community of winners who are privileged to call themselves P& Gers."-Pete Nicholas, CEO, Boston Scientific Corporation
""What Really Matters" is a wonderful antidote for executives who make excuses for their bad behaviors: it's complicated out there; ' the pressures are enormous; ' etc., etc. In practical, clear, and compelling terms, John Pepper lays out how to lead with integrity, humility, and -not instead of -effectiveness."-Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
"An insightful and wonderful book about business and life originally directed to Procter and Gamble employees. "What Really Matters" is a book that every business man must read."-Domenico De Sole, Retired President and CEO, Gucci Group, NV
"John Pepper has again demonstrated his awesome leadership skills, people sensitivity, personal values, and focus on the delivery of real value to the consumer"-Donald R. Beall, Retired Chairman and CEO, Rockwell
"John Pepper has been an inspiration to countless people around the world. "What Really Matters" captures his contagious optimism and positive presence, and lays out lessons for living and leadership from which we all can learn."-A.G. Lafley, Chairman and CEO, Procter and Gamble
"John Pepper proves that leading a good life and leading a great company require the same personal attributes: vision, perseverance, kindness, and the capacity to change. This is a wise and inspiring book."-Richard Levin, President, Yale University
"John Pepper's "What Really Matters" may been written for a Procter and Gamble audience, but it should be read by other companies and business school, as well as those in government. Not only was John Pepper an extraordinarily creative CEO at P& G, but he also has an unusual ability to communicate what I call character-based leadership.'"-David M. Abshire, President and CEO, the Center for the Study of the Presidency
"No one should accept a position of responsibility without reading this book. John Pepper provides ground-zero real-world insights into managing the dilemmas that confront every leader-including ethical dilemmas. The business world might be quite different today if this book had been required reading for those CEOs of the past decade who lost their way."-Norman R. Augustine, Retired Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Former Undersecretary of the Army, Former Chairman of the American Red Cross.
"This is an honest and generous personal account of an inspiring career by a great business leader who also has served a range of other good causes so well. I hope many young people will read and benefit from this excellent book."-Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, Member of the P& G Board, Former President of Mexico
""What Really Matters" really is what one learns from touching lives, improving life, as John Pepper did with Procter and Gamble."-Tim Love, Vice-Chairman, Omnicom Group
""What Really Matters" matters really in what one learns from touching lives, improving life, as John Pepper did with Procter and Gamble."-Tim Love, Vice-Chairman, Omnicom Group
"An exceptional roadmap, built from experience, for success in business and life."-Richard Ferris, Retired Co-chairman, Doubletree Corporation
