Title : The Mary Kay Way: timeless principles from American’s greatest woman entrepreneur.
Author : Mary Kay Ash
Published : John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
City and Year : New Jersey, 2008.
Pages : 268 pages.
Golden Rules That Just Change Your Life.
The Mary Kay Way, is the secret behind the success key from Mary Key Ash, she received the Half of Fame Award in Direct Selling Industry, she selected to be a Horotio Alger Distinguished American Citizen and two years after her death she was awarded to be Greatest Female Entrepreneur in American History and also named as 25 Greatest Business Leaders. She has affected more than 500 women leaders around the world, her principles resonate magnificently in building a business, and in building a life. In 1963, when she began her ‘‘dream company,’’ she adopted the values that shaped her business. Over the course of the past 45 years, they have changed millions of lives for the better within her independent sales force. And they are still the guiding beacons use to manage the business today. When Mary Kay Ash first published this book in 1984, her cosmetics company had recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. She described annual sales exceeding $300 million and an independent sales force of more than 200,000. This new edition comes at the 45th anniversary, with wholesale sales exceeding $2.4 billion and a worldwide independent. Sales force of 1.8 million. Mary Kay™ consistently ranks among the top U.S. brands. This remarkable Company and independent sales force have succeeded not through ‘‘dog eat dog’’ competition so commonplace in ‘‘big business,’’ but through sensitivity for the needs of others.
This book tell us how Mary Kay started her business and how she run the business with. She retired after twenty five years in direct sales. That time she was a national training director of a large corporation, she achieved many of her goal, but she still feel disheartened. The boredom of retirement caused a deepening sense of discontent. She forces herself to think positively and that able to discontent inside her. As a mother strives to protect her children she wants to help other woman so they would not have to suffer what she had endured. She decided to write a book to motivate others, but who would pay attention to the leadership book written by no formal credential as an author.
She said “Instead of just talking or writing about it, why don’t you actually do it?” Once I made that decision, I needed something to sell. I wanted a top-quality product—one that could benefit other women and one that women would be comfortable selling. I also wanted to offer women an open-ended opportunity to do anything they were smart enough, and motivated enough, to do. After spending days and nights trying to think of such a product, it finally dawned on her one evening while she was getting ready for bed her skin care products. She had been introduced to them 10 years earlier by a local cosmetologist she had called on during my direct-selling days. Using formulas created by her dad, she developed creams and lotions for customers of her small, home operated beauty shop. In additional to herself, many of her relatives and friends had been using these wonderful products for several years, so when the cosmetologist died, Mary bought the original formulas from her family. Mary said “From my own use and the results I had personally received, I knew that these skin care products were tremendous”.
With some modifications and high-quality packaging, she was sure they would be big sellers! Although her Company now includes men’s products, her main objective was to establish a company that would give unlimited opportunity to women. It was a period when women were often paid fifty cents on the dollar that men received for the same work. It disturbed her that men were paid more ‘‘because they had families to support.’’It also disturbed her whenever a male manager put down one of my new ideas or suggestions with, ‘Mary Kay, you are thinking just like a woman".
As much as any time in our history, The Mary Kay Way governs and fuels our global enterprise as it works to better the lives of untold millions of families around the world. And, it will continue. This book also contents of her 23 golden rules that she had used and practicing on her company. The golden rules were proven to be a good leadership character. It works not only in the business area but also in the daily life. I suggest you to get the copy of this book, read it and you will be inspirited by her golden rules, that would change the way you run your life to be just better and better. It is free and you can download it from www.library.nu.