The Airbnb Way: 5 Leadership Lessons for Igniting Growth through Loyalty, Community, and Belonging

by Joseph Michelli

New from bestselling author Joseph Michelli!  How Airbnb has disrupted the hospitality industry for unparalleled success—critical lessons that apply to any 21st Century business  No one understands better than Joseph Michelli how businesses create and leverage world-class customer experiences. Over the past decade, Michelli has guided businesses in human experience transformation and revealed how Starbucks, Zappos, Mercedes, and other top companies design and execute the strategies that made them the undisputed leaders of their industries. Now, Michelli turns his attention to major disrupter, Airbnb. In The Airbnb Way, he shows how innovative leaders have managed to build an unique brand by inspiring and engaging a community of hospitality entrepreneurs—a feat unparalleled in the shared economy. Inside, you’ll

•  Airbnb’s strategies and practices that drive customer engagement and loyalty•  How to provide phenomenal customer service in the shared economy•  Proven principles for getting the most from all stakeholders—including those who share resources and services •  Exclusive interviews with Airbnb leaders, hosts, and guests that provide invaluable information for your business 

The shared economy is the future, but it introduces business challenges never before How do you serve a broad range of customers across varying geographies through a distributed network of "partners?

Airbnb has solved the puzzle, and Michelli shows you all the pieces—and how they fit together.

 

Genres: Business, Leadership

337 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 16, 2019

Reviews

[Jason Hillenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Michelli’s "The Airbnb Way: 5 Leadership Lessons for Igniting Growth Through Loyalty, Community, and Belonging" is a work exploring the overarching theme of how redefining human interaction on a commercial level, using the Airbnb phenomenon as an example, has universal application on a business, entrepreneurial, and personal level. It begins with a thorough overview of the exponential growth Airbnb has experienced since first emerging near the end of the century’s first decade. Michelli wisely opts to not examine the attendant controversies attached to the Airbnb story, but it isn’t because doing so undercuts his argument – he directs interested readers to material that covers these elements of the company’s story. The exclusion, instead, is a matter of focus.

BOOK WEBSITE: www.airbnbway.com

This focus defines the work overall. Michelli draws from a vast wealth of quantifiable facts and data to support his conclusion, but logic and well argued points are among the book’s hallmarks as well. The research cited throughout the book underlines, over and over again, the central fact that technology’s growing influence has altered expectations regarding customer service and convenience and continues to do at a breakneck pace. Despite these changes, “The Airbnb Way...” makes it clear an overwhelming preponderance of individuals still desire human interaction in their experiences with technology at crucial points; anyone who has seethed with frustration when dealing with automated menus will relate to this. Michelli believes thoughtful and intelligent integration of cutting edge technology and devotion to personal interaction is the key element distinguishing modern successful companies from their less responsive older counterparts.

He makes his case in comprehensible prose accessible for the average readers and incorporates occasional tables and illustrations to make his point. “The Airbnb Way...” is never a dry and dull read. Michelli’s enthusiasm for the subject is apparent; if nothing else, the aforementioned research driving his conclusions testifies to this. Michelli’s work is unique, as well, thanks to its insight – his reading and research illustrates how a key aspect of Airbnb’s success is their commitment to convenience, premium pricing, and yet providing a personalized experience for individuals far removed from the cookie cutter uniformity of traditional hotels or other overnight/temporary lodgings. The last point is crucial and, perhaps, an aspect that may escape attention at first glance.

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/126...

There will likely be a culture divide about this book. Some readers may read more into the growing desire for convenience than others – where one point of view might see this clamoring for speed as a by-product of a world moving at an ever faster tempo, others may view this trait as emblematic of growing impatience and a sense of entitlement spreading throughout modern global society. Those falling on the latter side of this argument are likely older while the young, never knowing anything different, accept these new developments as being “just the way things are”. It would be interesting to observe the different reactions this book produces among its potential readership.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Air BnB way seeks to show how the company, its hosts, and its customers come together to form a unique ecosystem focused upon community, loyalty and belonging by empowering the hosts to act as independent entities towards the greater goals of the company. This book does suffer a bit from what many business books do where the author tells you what he is going to tell you, tells you and then tells you what he told you and while it can drive the point home here it got the point of being repetitive and annoying. There is a lot of great information in this book with useful exercises at the end of each chapter that can help someone think through what was covered. Overall an interesting look at the company and what makes it work although I would have appreciated a little more to the point writing and some better background on the companies start and how that led to its values in the context of the themes.

[Minlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason why I interested in this book is I always wanted to become an Airbnb host to have a chance to meet people from all around the world and share all some not very popular but worth a visit places for them to explore !!! The book is extremely helpful if you also wanted to become a host in the future. The author explains all the details that protect both hosts and users. Apart from that, the book also mentions the contribution that Airbnb have done! For example, not just helping some people to have an additional income source but also create another form of travelling and helping to reduce electricity usage, so on and so forth!!
Highly recommended this book for those people who are curious how Airbnb works and wants to know more about their business model!!

[Evan Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t get me wrong - I love airbnb and am a somewhat regular user. But this book felt like an investor pamphlet or that the author was just a cheerleader for the company. I’m sure there’s things that airbnb would acknowledge haven’t gone to plan, but you’re not getting the ‘warts and all’ in this book.

[M. Sabina Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an informative book for those who are interested in learning about the Airbnb's business model and it's platform which will allow it to move beyond a typical profit-driven venture.

[Jeffrey Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the third Michelle book that I've read and the most disappointing. 80% of the book was focused on how to be a great host. Very different perspective than Starbucks and Ritz. I expected a more in depth dive into how Airbnb lives it's purpose....that was not this book.