Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change

Marc Benioff · Monica Langley

Oct 2019 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Ray Porter

About this audiobook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The founder and co-CEO of Salesforce delivers an inspiring vision for successful companies of the future—in which changing the world is everyone’s business.

“An urgent and compelling book for anyone in business who yearns to fulfill a higher mission in the world.”—Richard Branson

What’s the secret to business growth and innovation and a purpose-driven career in a world that is becoming vastly more complicated by the day? According to Marc Benioff, the answer is embracing a culture in which your values permeate everything you do.

In Trailblazer, Benioff gives readers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of one of the world’s most admired companies. He reveals how Salesforce’s core values—trust, customer success, innovation, and equality—and commitment to giving back have become the company’s greatest competitive advantage and the most powerful engine of its success. Because no matter what business you’re in, Benioff says, values are the bedrock of a resilient company culture that inspires all employees, at every level, to do the best work of their lives. Along the way, he shares insights and best practices for anyone who wants to cultivate a company culture positioned to thrive in the face of the inevitable disruption ahead.

None of us in the business world can afford to sit on the sidelines and ignore what’s going on outside the walls of our workplaces. In the future, profits and progress will no longer be sustainable unless they serve the greater good. Whether you run a company, lead a small team, or have just draped an ID badge around your neck for the first time, Trailblazer reveals how anyone can become an agent of change.

Praise for Trailblazer

“A guide for what every business and organization must do to thrive in this period of profound political and economic change.”—Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase

“In Trailblazer, Benioff explores how companies can nurture a values-based culture to become powerful platforms for change.”—Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube

Ratings and reviews

Basically an infomercial by Benioff on how awesome Benioff is. Unless you feel the need to hero worship Marc as much as Marc likes to hero worship himself, you can probably skip it.

About the author

Marc Benioff is chairman, co-CEO, and founder of Salesforce and a pioneer of cloud computing. Benioff was named the Decade’s Top Innovator by Forbes, one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune, and one of the 10 Best-Performing CEOs by Harvard Business Review. He has won numerous awards for his leadership on equality.
 
A Fortune 500 company with more than 45,000 employees, Salesforce has been recognized as the Most Innovative Company by Forbes and the Best Place to Work and 15th Most Admired Company in the World by Fortune. Upon founding Salesforce, Benioff created the 1-1-1 model of philanthropy, giving one percent of the company’s equity and product and employees’ time back to communities around the world. Today, more than 8,500 companies have adopted the 1-1-1 model through the Pledge 1% movement.
 
Monica Langley joined Salesforce as executive vice president of global strategic affairs in 2017. For twenty-seven years, she was an award-winning senior writer at The Wall Street Journal, specializing in front-page profiles and news-breaking narrative stories. Langley has also been a TV news commentator, a corporate attorney, and a bestselling author.