Who comes first? “The Customer Comes Second” is an account of the management and leadership style of Hal Rosenbluth, chief executive officer (CEO) of Rosenbluth International, a global travel management company. which was founded in 1892 by Marcus Rosenbluth, Hal's great-grandfather. The premise of Hal Rosenbluth's management style is exactly as the title of the book suggests; focus on your employees first and your customers second. I found the management practices described by Mr. Rosenbluth to be innovative and applicable to all types of businesses, not just the travel industry. I was also very intrigued by some of the creative employment practices used by Rosenbluth International as well as their struggle to stay alive in the travel industry after the tragic events of September 11, 2001 (September 11) (Rosenbluth, Prologue xi). The majority of the book focuses on the process of hiring good people, treating them right, and letting their love and dedication to their business translate into top-notch customer service. The idea of ​​putting employees first seems simple enough, but in today's business environment, it's easy to get caught up in traditional measures of business success and lose sight of the need to take care of a company's most important asset, its employees. It all starts with hiring. the right people, and the book outlines some great strategies for doing just that. Rosenbluth argues that the most important approach to hiring is to find likeable people. Their selection process focuses on finding people who are kind, caring, compassionate, and selfless, as opposed to people with impressive resumes who tout multiple degrees, years of experience, and impressive salary histories. It is standard practice for Rosenbluth International to interview... in the middle of a newspaper... to find good people and treat them well, this is nothing new. In fact, if you asked ten successful CEOs what their recipe for success was, all ten would probably mention the importance of finding good people and treating them well. The Customer Comes Second was a fantastic book because it provided real-life examples and anecdotes on HOW to follow the philosophy of putting employees first and the customer second. The company's success after the tragedy of September 11 gives substance and merit to the philosophies of Hal Rosenbluth. He doesn't just tell his ideas; he explains how to make them work, then backs it up with an incredible success story from a time when most travel management companies started to exist. Works Cited Rosenbluth, Hal F. and Diane McFerrin Peters. The customer comes second. New York: HarperCollins, 1992, 2002.