The Power of Potential: How a Nontraditional Workforce Can Lead You to Run Your Business Better

by Tom D'Eri

Overview

“A powerful, game-changing book. Tom's approach is changing lives.”

— Seth Godin, Author of This is Marketing

Discover how supporting employment for people with autism unlocked new ways of running a business—and revealed transformative lessons for all of us.

Rising Tide Car Wash in Parkland, Florida, isn’t average in any way. When Tom D’Eri and his father John bought the location in 2013, they wanted to create employment opportunities for workers with autism. Like 1 in 54 Americans, Tom’s brother Andrew has autism, and he was facing lifelong unemployment. So the family set out on a mission to provide professional opportunities for people like Andrew, starting with one car wash. Now it’s one of the highest-volume washes in Florida. Its employee retention rate is five times that of its competitors. It has spun off into two additional locations that have been immediately successful, and the business is absurdly profitable.

The Power of Potential tells the inspiring, surprising reason why: The wash’s excellence isn’t in spite of their unusual workforce, but because of it. Thanks to their neurodivergent staff, the Rising Tide team was able to discover and correct common problems that typically fly under the radar in businesses, including:

• You hire based on interviews
• You think great talent is the secret to a great business
• Your managers are “good enough”
• You fire your worst employees

By spotting and correcting these hidden problems, any business—with any kind of workers—can achieve unexpected wins and leave average behind. At Rising Tide, solving these problems resulted in four unexpected wins that added up to a culture of excellence:

• Every employee felt safe
• Accountability became a tool for growth
• Everyone’s work gave them a sense of purpose
• Customers loved their experience

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400228850
Publisher:	HarperCollins Leadership
Publication date:	01/24/2023
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,080,852
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Tom D'Eri has dedicated his career to unleashing human potential by creating organizational systems and culture that empower people to grow. Tom is the Co-Founder and COO of Rising Tide Car Wash, an organization that employs over 90 individuals with autism in a successful car wash business. Tom is also the Co-Founder of Rising Tide U an organization dedicated to teaching others how to harness the autism advantage. Tom is a Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur and speaks regularly at Fortune 500 companies, international conferences, leadership development programs, and universities.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

Introduction: How We Discovered the Power of Potential xi

Part I The Four Problems

1 You Hire Based on Interviews 3

2 You Think Great Talent Is the Secret to a Great Business 31

3 Your Managers Are "Good Enough" 65

4 You Fire Your Worst Employees 97

Part II The Four Wins

5 Every Employee Feels Safe 119

6 Accountability Is a Tool for Growth 137

7 Your Work Has Purpose 157

8 Customers Love Their Experience 179

Epilogue: My Brother, Andrew 197

Acknowledgments 201

Appendix 1 Any Business Can Become a Social Enterprise 205

Appendix 2 Start an Autism Social Enterprise 227

Notes 231

Index 235

About the Authors 243

Editorial Reviews

'This provocative, informative, and engaging book contains the seeds of a revolution—an inclusive future in which businesses unlock the hidden potential of employees with autism and other neurodivergent conditions by redesigning onboarding processes and creating opportunities for them to shine. It's a template for a society in which everyone is given the best chance of success.'

author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism an Steve Silberman

'This is a powerful, game-changing book, a book for anyone who has ever built a hiring process or managed a team. Tom's approach is changing lives.'

Author of This is Marketing Seth Godin

'Tom's account of how he built Rising Tide Car Wash and the lessons he learned from hiring and managing a non-traditional workforce is riveting. Read it and learn how to overcome some of the most entrenched problems that hold companies back from scaling.'

Author of Blitzscaling Chris Yeh

'Everybody who is interested in getting people with autism employed in a job that gives them a sense of purpose should read this book.'

Author of The Autistic Brain and Thinking in Pictu Temple Grandin

'One of the top ten businesses books of 2023. The book goes way beyond a story of one business that is so exhilarating and stimulating you'll want to tell it to friends and colleagues. It ultimately provides essential advice for every manager in business, nonprofits, and government. The advice on hiring alone will have you hiring art teachers to engineers and nurses—in half the time with double your success.'

Professor at Stanford Business School and coauthor Chip Heath