Review of When Business Is Love
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Review of When Business Is Love
[Following is a volunteer review of "When Business Is Love" by Jan Ryde.]
“When Business is Love” by Jan Ryde is an engaging book that interprets leadership tropes with love, compassion, and commitment to craft. Ryde uses his experience when he was the CEO of Hästens, a Swedish luxury bed manufacturer, to support his idea: love as a business management model. Told in personal stories, business advice, and the story of Hästens’ origin, the book explains why love and its positive influence are the keys to business and life.
The book opens with a fundamental question: *“Can you really run a company on love?”* Ryde's resounding answer is yes! That is the success story of Hästens: a family business turned global brand. He gives a background of his forefathers and the company, tracing its roots from his great-great-grandfather Pehr Adolf Janson, a master saddler in the 19th century. Inspired by a passion for work, Janson created a base for the company’s policy: love in combination with quality in every produced item.
That philosophy is rather different from the practical approaches typical of the majority of companies. In Chapter one, the author says “Hästens runs on love”, a statement that may appear revolutionary in the environment of contemporary business. However, the company uses this approach, and this is what separates Hästens from its competitors. He says, “We aren’t competing with anyone”. Leave it for the usual business rivals to compete for market share; the company’s goal is to make the product’s value superior through mastery and craftsmanship.
Undoubtedly, one of the most striking and thus most vivid chapters is related to Hästens’ blue check pattern, which was launched by Jack Ryde, the author’s father, in the late 1970s. Jack opted for the provocative check combination of blue and white, which stood out.
The last sections are dedicated to the extension of the concept of love for managing business and organizational goals. To accomplish this, Ryde provides suggestions about designing products that benefit humanity, specifically emphasizing sleep. He says that “most people don’t know they are sleeping badly because they’ve never slept well” and presents Hästens as a company that offers people not only beds but a better life with good sleep. This mission statement is an example of how the company adopted a multi-faceted strategy in meeting customers’ needs—through love, quality, and health. I love everything about the book, I didn't find anything negative about the book.
“When Business is Love” is a moving and thoroughly autobiographical account of leadership based on and defined by love. Ryde has shared some peculiarities of Hästens’ development along with his own story, which can be considered a guide to successful spiritual and business leadership. The book undermines expectations and promotes that a business can be productive and moral if love is the guiding principle. For anyone who cares about leadership, family businesses, and one’s core values and aspirations in the world of work, there are many useful insights—even in the sphere of selling comfortable beds—that can be gleaned from “When Business is Love”. The book is edited beautifully, I didn't find any errors. I award “When Business is Love” 5 out of 5 stars.
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When Business Is Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
“When Business is Love” by Jan Ryde is an engaging book that interprets leadership tropes with love, compassion, and commitment to craft. Ryde uses his experience when he was the CEO of Hästens, a Swedish luxury bed manufacturer, to support his idea: love as a business management model. Told in personal stories, business advice, and the story of Hästens’ origin, the book explains why love and its positive influence are the keys to business and life.
The book opens with a fundamental question: *“Can you really run a company on love?”* Ryde's resounding answer is yes! That is the success story of Hästens: a family business turned global brand. He gives a background of his forefathers and the company, tracing its roots from his great-great-grandfather Pehr Adolf Janson, a master saddler in the 19th century. Inspired by a passion for work, Janson created a base for the company’s policy: love in combination with quality in every produced item.
That philosophy is rather different from the practical approaches typical of the majority of companies. In Chapter one, the author says “Hästens runs on love”, a statement that may appear revolutionary in the environment of contemporary business. However, the company uses this approach, and this is what separates Hästens from its competitors. He says, “We aren’t competing with anyone”. Leave it for the usual business rivals to compete for market share; the company’s goal is to make the product’s value superior through mastery and craftsmanship.
Undoubtedly, one of the most striking and thus most vivid chapters is related to Hästens’ blue check pattern, which was launched by Jack Ryde, the author’s father, in the late 1970s. Jack opted for the provocative check combination of blue and white, which stood out.
The last sections are dedicated to the extension of the concept of love for managing business and organizational goals. To accomplish this, Ryde provides suggestions about designing products that benefit humanity, specifically emphasizing sleep. He says that “most people don’t know they are sleeping badly because they’ve never slept well” and presents Hästens as a company that offers people not only beds but a better life with good sleep. This mission statement is an example of how the company adopted a multi-faceted strategy in meeting customers’ needs—through love, quality, and health. I love everything about the book, I didn't find anything negative about the book.
“When Business is Love” is a moving and thoroughly autobiographical account of leadership based on and defined by love. Ryde has shared some peculiarities of Hästens’ development along with his own story, which can be considered a guide to successful spiritual and business leadership. The book undermines expectations and promotes that a business can be productive and moral if love is the guiding principle. For anyone who cares about leadership, family businesses, and one’s core values and aspirations in the world of work, there are many useful insights—even in the sphere of selling comfortable beds—that can be gleaned from “When Business is Love”. The book is edited beautifully, I didn't find any errors. I award “When Business is Love” 5 out of 5 stars.
******
When Business Is Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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