Everybody Matters

The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family--Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition

By: Bob Chapman, Raj Sisodia

Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins

Now revised and expanded with five new chapters for the 10th anniversary of its 2015 publication, the beloved classic on truly human leadership

“Bob Chapman, CEO of the $1.7 billion manufacturing company Barry-Wehmiller, is on a mission to change the way businesses treat their employees.” – Inc. Magazine

Starting in 1997, Bob Chapman and Barry-Wehmiller have pioneered a dramatically different approach to leadership that creates off-the-charts morale, loyalty, creativity, and business performance. The company utterly rejects the idea that employees are simply functions to be moved around, “managed” with carrots and sticks, or discarded at will. Instead, Barry-Wehmiller manifests the reality that every single person matters, just like in a family. It’s not a cliché on a mission statement; it’s the bedrock of the company’s success.

It’s natural to be skeptical when you first hear about this approach. Every time Barry-Wehmiller acquires a company whose team members have experienced more traditional management practices, the new team members are skeptical too. But they soon learn what it’s like to work at an exceptional company where the goal is for everyone to feel trusted and cared for—and where it’s expected that they will justify that trust by caring for one another and putting the common good first.

Chapman and coauthor Raj Sisodia show how any organization can reject the traumatic consequences of rolling layoffs, dehumanizing rules, and hypercompetitive cultures. In this tenth anniversary update to Everybody Matters, Chapman and Sisodia share new statistics and analysis on the leadership crisis that continues to plague modern businesses and that only Truly Human Leadership—pioneered at Barry-Wehmiller—can fix. Packed with additional insights gained over a decade as the company has evolved, weathered a pandemic, and grown from $1.7 billion in annual revenue with 100 acquisitions to $3.6 billion with more than 140 acquisitions, this updated classic is needed now more than ever.

As Chapman says, “The way we lead impacts the way people live.” Once you stop treating people like functions or costs, disengaged workers begin to share their gifts and talents in service of a shared future. Uninspired workers stop feeling that their jobs have no meaning. Frustrated workers stop taking their bad days out on their spouses and kids. And everyone stops counting the minutes until it’s time to go home. This is the journey documented in Everybody Matters; now it’s time to transform your own workplace.

Heartfelt. Human. Timeless.

When I first read Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman & Raj Sisodia years ago, it genuinely changed how I thought about leadership. Back then, I was drawn to the idea that business could be a force for good — that you could build success and take care of people at the same time.

Fast forward ten years, and I just finished the Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition.
It felt less like reading a book and more like having a conversation with an old mentor — one who still challenges me to lead with more heart, courage, and humanity.

Chapman’s core message still hits home: “The way we lead impacts the way people live.”
But what makes this edition special is how it shows that the philosophy still works — even after a decade of change, uncertainty, and disruption. Barry-Wehmiller has continued to grow by doubling down on care, trust, and respect.

💡What resonated most:
-Empathy isn’t the opposite of performance. It’s the foundation for it.
-Culture compounds. Small daily acts of care shape big results over time.
-Leadership is stewardship. Every decision affects someone’s well-being.

Reading it again reminded me how easy it is to slip into managing tasks instead of leading people and how transformative it is when you flip that mindset.

❤️ Why it’s a 5-star read:
This isn’t just a “feel-good” leadership book. It’s a practical, time-tested blueprint for creating workplaces where people actually thrive. I finished it inspired, re-centered, and reminded that everybody truly does matter — not as a tagline, but as a way of leading and living.

⭐ 5/5 — Heartfelt. Human. Timeless.

If you read the first edition, this one is absolutely worth revisiting. And if you haven’t read it yet…start here.