The Perfect Mix

Everything I Know About Leadership I Learned as a Bartender

By: Helen Rothberg PhD PhD PhD

Narrated by: Candace Thaxton

In the tradition of the popular business classics Leadership Is an Art and What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School, Dr. Helen Rothberg, a sought-after consultant to CEOs and entrepreneurs, reveals memorable insights about leadership developed while she worked as a bartender and restaurant manager.

Good managers and good leaders are not always the same. Dr. Helen Rothberg trains leaders, from Fortune 500 executives to startup entrepreneurs, with her particular brand of ADVICE—Action, Determination, Vision, Integrity, Communication, Empathy. Based on the management and life lessons she learned from working as a bartender while getting graduate business and behavioral science degrees, each aspect of ADVICE helps leaders hone their vision—of themselves and their business. You will explore who you are and who you need to become, analyze what has worked in the past and what might work better in the future, and realize ways to continually adapt—with courage and grace—to the unpredictable, uncertain business environment.

Through the book’s colorful stories of barroom brawls and boardroom bravado, competition and cooperation, conflict and other challenges, you’ll conceive of new ways to develop working relationships with colleagues and customers; keep things running smoothly; and manage infuriating, delightful, and sometimes dangerous clients as well as temperamental and talented employees, and owners or bosses with brilliant ideas who may not communicate well.

Leading an organization is knowing when to stir or shake things up, blend or serve neat, and Dr. Rothberg finishes each chapter with the recipe for a creative cocktail that embodies a lesson, to mix perfectly, contemplate, and savor.

Great read - Easy to understand

This book is light, fun and provides valuable knowledge to anyone pursing a career in management, education and restaurants.

A perfect mix of leadership and life experience!

I was very impressed with Helen Rothberg's book, "The Perfect Mix: Everything I Know About Leadership I Learned as a Bartender". Each chapter begins with a story from Ms. Rothberg;s bartending career, illustrating important lessons of leadership--action, determination, vision, integrity, communication, empathy, and authenticity and follows it with a later example from her life as a management consultant. The stories are very well told with lessons very well illustrated. It was a very inspirational journey into leadership well worth exploring. Listen to it and enjoy--Cheers!

too true

as a leader I found the book to be insightful and inspirational. A great read!

Pleasant and short read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Sure.

What did you like best about this story?

Interesting and cheerful read. Not much new advice to offer though.

What does Candace Thaxton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She did a fine job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Maybe not