The Growing Business Handbook by Adam Jolly

The book starts with an exploration of the meaning of work, tracing its demonisation as a curse from Adam through to Sisyphus and medieval traders. It was supported by spending time with some Jesuit monks who opened his eyes to the motivating force of having noble purpose.

His shift from hard, accounting-led corporate strategy to a more holistic, purpose-led approach started quite early on in his career, through conversations with the French businessman, Jean-Marie Descarpentries who held leadership roles at Danone and Saint-Gobain, that initiated his journey. Joly is one of those business people who has more depth than we tend to expect in corporate leaders these days. There followed a long, hard road to recovery but it was led by the employees' energy and initiatives – and the power of the 'human magic' that they brought when they had space to act and trust placed in them. He reinstated the employee perks that recent cost-cutting had removed, and started to build the business back-up from the frontline people first. It was here he started to see the power that running a People First strategy unleashes in a business – and what he immediately put to work at Best Buy Co with his Renew Blue initiative. He followed this with a stint at Vivendi, followed by senior leadership roles at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, the owner of Radisson Hotels, TGI Fridays and other hospitality – and importantly – people-centred businesses. Joly had followed a successful career path from his early days as a McKinsey consultant in Paris, trained on the numbers and traditional commercial strategy approach. As a consequence the employee morale and general innovation and energy capacity of the business were at rock bottom. Best Buy was seen to be at the wrong-end of the online battle, with large bricks-and-mortar retail stores and a management that was showing no nimbleness or agility. Joly took on the CEO role at Best Buy Co in 2012, when everyone believed the business was destined for bankruptcy and the job a poisoned chalice. Listen to Hubert speak with Roddy Millar in this Ideas for Leaders podcast He is now a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School and a member of the board at Johnson & Johnson and Ralph Lauren Corporation, as well as of the advisory board of the top French business school, HEC Paris. Hubert Joly is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Best Buy Co Inc, the giant US electronics retailer, where he led the company's turnaround and transformed it into an industry leader.

The Growing Business Handbook by Adam Jolly