A book just written for me…

As I was searching for information about some older Salomon products, I stumbled upon a book written by a former Salomon’s manager, namely Walter Zibung, former Swiss subsidiary director for the French ski company. 

In B USELESS ;-), as his book is named, Zibung paints a fascinating picture of an evolving career that took him from accounting apprenticeship in his hometown of Switzerland, to backpacking around the world, just enough to whet his appetite for international business, to a decade working in Japan before landing his beloved job at Salomon. I immediately purchased the book on Amazon. 

A page-turner written with wit and some reasonable exaggerations, that autobiography uncannily mirrors my own career path, indirectly pays homage to Georges Salomon, the genius entrepreneur that, with his dad François, built Salomon to the number ski company in the world. 

 It shows that the late leader was chuck-full of common sense, knew how to pick the right associates as well as observe intensely and listen extremely well to the market. 

It also shows that the company successive take-overs, beginning with Adidas, was the poison pill that killed the culture and the creative juice that ran through that company. 

It’s also a reminder to all of us who were privileged to work in the ski industry as much as we did, that we're indeed a very lucky bunch…