What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture

Ben Horowitz

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Ben Horowitz, a leading venture capitalist, modern management expert, and New York Times bestselling author, combines lessons both from history and from modern organizational practice with practical and often surprising advice to help executives build cultures that can weather both good and bad times.

Ben Horowitz has long been fascinated by history, and particularly by how people behave differently than you’d expect. The time and circumstances in which they were raised often shapes them—yet a few leaders have managed to shape their times. In What You Do Is Who You Are, he turns his attention to a question crucial to every organization: how do you create and sustain the culture you want?

To Horowitz, culture is how a company makes decisions. It is the set of assumptions employees use to resolve everyday problems: should I stay at the Red Roof Inn, or the Four Seasons? Should we discuss the color of this product for five minutes or thirty hours? If culture is not purposeful, it will be an accident or a mistake.

What You Do Is Who You Are explains how to make your culture purposeful by spotlighting four models of leadership and culture-building—the leader of the only successful slave revolt, Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture; the Samurai, who ruled Japan for seven hundred years and shaped modern Japanese culture; Genghis Khan, who built the world’s largest empire; and Shaka Senghor, an American ex-con who created the most formidable prison gang in the yard and ultimately transformed prison culture.

Horowitz connects these leadership examples to modern case-studies, including how Louverture’s cultural techniques were applied (or should have been) by Reed Hastings at Netflix, Travis Kalanick at Uber, and Hillary Clinton, and how Genghis Khan’s vision of cultural inclusiveness has parallels in the work of Don Thompson, the first African-American CEO of McDonalds, and of Maggie Wilderotter, the CEO who led Frontier Communications. Horowitz then offers guidance to help any company understand its own strategy and build a successful culture.

What You Do Is Who You Are is a journey through culture, from ancient to modern. Along the way, it answers a question fundamental to any organization: who are we? How do people talk about us when we’re not around? How do we treat our customers? Are we there for people in a pinch? Can we be trusted?

Who you are is not the values you list on the wall. It’s not what you say in company-wide meeting. It’s not your marketing campaign. It’s not even what you believe. Who you are is what you do. This book aims to help you do the things you need to become the kind of leader you want to be—and others want to follow.

What will you learn from this book

  1. Culture is Defined by Actions: The book emphasizes that a company's culture is defined not by what leaders say but by the behaviors they exhibit and the actions they take.

  2. Values and Beliefs: Culture is shaped by the core values and beliefs that drive the actions and decisions of the organization and its leaders.

  3. Leadership's Role in Culture: Leaders play a pivotal role in setting and reinforcing the company's culture. Their actions and decisions have a significant impact on shaping the organization's ethos.

  4. Alignment with Values: Cultures are effective when they align with the company's stated values and are reflected consistently in the organization's actions and behaviors.

  5. Cultural Transformation: Transforming a company's culture often requires deliberate, consistent effort and may involve making difficult decisions to align behavior with desired values.

  6. Inclusivity and Diversity: Embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive environment are essential elements of a strong company culture.

  7. Resilience and Adaptability: Cultures that foster resilience and adaptability are better equipped to navigate challenges and change effectively.

  8. Learning from History: The book delves into historical examples to illustrate how leaders and organizations have shaped cultures that have endured and succeeded.

  9. Cultural Norms: Norms and practices within an organization, established by leadership and reinforced by behavior, significantly influence the overall culture.

  10. Measuring and Maintaining Culture: Establishing metrics and mechanisms to measure cultural health and proactively maintaining it is crucial for long-term success.

Language English
ISBN-10 0008356114
ISBN-13 9780008356118
No of pages 304
Font Size Medium
Book Publisher William Collins
Published Date 04 Nov 2019

About Author

Author : Ben Horowitz

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