George Zimmer: Culture Of Trust And Authenticity
by Miki SaxonA company culture to lust after created in an industry not known for powerful cultures by a guy who never let go of his values from the sixties.
Meet George Zimmer founder, Chairman and CEO of Men’s Warehouse, a nearly $2 billion retailer with 17,000 employees and no intention of slowing down, who believes that that success is a function of his company’s culture.
“Customer loyalty is harder to measure. As we are in this recession, one way to measure this is that I believe when the recession ends, Men’s Wearhouse will have a higher market share than when the recession began. That will be because of our corporate culture, which will be the glue that holds the customer and the employee and the organization, the shareholder, holds it all together.”
Zimmer has infused the culture with trust and authenticity based on 3 principles
- Listen carefully and wait at least one second after the other person’s last syllable before responding.
- Elevate the other person’s respect – by focusing on the positive before something that needs to improve.
- Always ask the subordinate how a problem might be solved.
The willingness to listen proved its value when a lower-level employee presented Zimmer with the idea that the company rent formal wear, now a significant revenue producer.
Beyond these three principles, the culture provides an environment in which employees aren’t afraid to mention problems or own up to a mistake and Zimmer constantly reinforces his desire for feedback and responds to each email.
“I tell people I like primary information, as opposed to information sifted by various levels of management, but I only get five a day on average.” (Many employees have little confidence in their writing skills.)
You hear a lot about trust and authenticity these days, but I’m willing to bet that George Zimmer didn’t think in those terms 30 years ago when he founded Men’s Wearhouse; no matter the words, he built something that followed his own moral compass.
“I consider anything to do with employees or the stores to be my priority. That’s one of the other things, I guess, when it comes back to trust and authenticity. That is my priority. I don’t say that, I don’t pay lip service to that. That is how I run this business and how I live my life. So, I think the people that work in our stores, know that.”
That’s what founders do.
Sadly, when their compass changes so does the culture—think Angelo Mozilo.
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Be sure to check out the great links at the June 7th, 2009 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival, including lots of great management expertise—in case you think that ‘leader’ doesn’t apply to you.
(I’ve finally gotten my act together to participate, which means I’ll know when they’re happening and that means I’ll have the link to share with you:)
Image credit: Men’s Wearhouse
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