True to Yourself: Leading a Values-Based Business

For those whose dreams involve using a small business "as a force for social change," entrepreneur Albion offers encouragement and valuable counsel. The second entry in the publisher's Social Venture Network series, this is a guide to leading "a company that reflects your values" and, along the way, building "a better world for us all." Assuming that the reader is already a believer, but just isn't sure how to reconcile principle and practice, Albion frames his advice in terms of compassionate, socially responsible leadership, though a lot of it is just plain good management. It's about how to build a company with the right priorities from the beginning, not just adding a veneer of responsibility. The book is grounded in the voices of earnest entrepreneurs and unusual case studies you don't see in every business book—including stories of failure as well as of success. While some readers may find Albion insufficiently hard-nosed ("It's better to fail trying to do what you really care about," he writes, "than to succeed at something else"), his sincerity is undeniably compelling. (July)