Must Read Books -2

Do you want to read books but do not know where to start? Which books to pick up?

Continuing with my list of #mustreadbooks, today we will discuss about this book Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Let's start with this second book in the series.

Ok, Who doesn't know about NIKE? ok let me guess everyone knows. Now, who does know the story behind how NIKE brand and how the entire organization came into being? Well... maybe a select few. Let's be one of the privilaged ones to know the thought process and the visualization of the giant brand that is NIKE.

Book Genre – A Memoir, a True Story

About the Author

?Phil Knight the owner and founder of the company Nike, (born February 24, 1938) is an American billionaire businessman.?As of July 23, 2023, Knight was ranked by?Forbes?as the 25th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$45.1 billion. Knight is a graduate of the?University of Oregon?and?Stanford Graduate School of Business. He ran track under coach?Bill Bowerman?at the University of Oregon, with whom he would co-found Nike. After retiring and stepping down from the Chairman of the company, Phil wanted to document his story about Nike and hence this book.

The Plot of the book?

I wanted to read this book for the longest time and finally, I hear the Audiobook version! Though this book is not recorded in the Authors voice, it still manages to convey all the emotions that the founder of the company Phil Knight might want to put into this book. The book starts right from the year 1962 and takes you to the year 2006 till the time he retired by which time NIKE was already huge.

How the story evolves

In 1962, even Phil, the founder of Nike was not sure about his career choices and he started his journey for soul searching by traveling throughout the world, which was a rare choice in itself considering the year 1962 was not friendly for tourists and people didn't usually go plane hopping into different countries with no Agenda, But the author and thanks to his ever-supportive dad who not only gave his permission but also financed his trip. Therein starts the journey and his quest for doing something new and taking his love for running which was also something unheard of in that era. The next era is when Phil Knight becomes the distributor of Onitsuka Tiger shoes who already were established in Japan and bringing them to the US under the pretext of his new company -The Blue Ribbons. It was so refreshing to read the journey of his original company, how each employee came into being, their contributions into the journey, how the name and logo came into being, and how his company transitioned from Blue Ribbons distributing Japanese brand shoes to Manufacturing and Innovating Shoe designs under the Brand new name Nike. Of course, like any other legendary company which is now a household name, Nike had its own share of ups and downs, the pitfalls mainly coming due to the risks taken, no trust shown by the bankers, and the way Onitsuka betrayed them. But and as they whatever happens for the good, The betrayal was ultimately turned to their own advantage and their own brand.

Key Takeaways from this book

• I particularly like the fact that Phil admits that even he was?clueless at many times and that by not losing hope and always placing trust in his managers and the employees, treating them as someone who knew what they did, and ultimately grit and determination are what kept him going.
• There are some beautiful moments in the book when Phil recounts his relationship with his Dad and how he wanted him to be proud of his achievements, some moments when he forms friendships with his accounting partner and lawyer friend and how they take monumental positions in Nike, the authors fear of taking the company Public and ultimately how his net worth changed overnight to a 3 digit million figure which he had not imagined in his wildest dreams. These moments in the book are worthy of mention.
• The author also mentions how as his company was growing huge, he did lose some quality time to be spent with his family and sons, especially his elder son who rebelled by promising never to wear a NIKE shoe in his lifetime. But to gain something you have to lose some.

The following Quotes will give an insight into the book

“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.

“Beating the competition is relatively easy. Beating yourself is a never-ending commitment.”

Hard work is critical, a good team is essential, brains and determination are invaluable, but luck may decide the outcome.”

?Conclusion

A wonderful read and I would recommend this to anybody who loves to lap up success stories and how successful companies come to be starting from scratch believing in the product and the value that the product gives to its customers, and where Money is never the motivator. Whatever it takes to succeed, Success is never build overnight and it take years of hard work for a company to be a total household name and the looking back at the journey you realize for an empire to be build, it takes years of sweat and toil of all the persons who put whatever they own into the making of a company.

?#BOOKREVIEWS #bookreadinglove #booksthatinspire #mustreadbooks #nonfictionalbooks #bookreview2 #shoedog #philknight

P.S. I love reading books and get transported to a different imaginary world. I adore and read Fiction books in the same enthusiasm that I read Self help or Memoirs and Non Fiction books. I run a book club and it is so liberating to talk to like minded people and read together and listen and discuss the different perspectives/takeaways that each one feels from reading the same book.