Image credit: Zappos.com

Don’t miss Robert Reiss’ interview with Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh.

Hsieh believes that Zappos incredible customer service is the number one driver for sales growth that skyrocketed from $1.6 million in 2000 to more than $1 billion in eight short years, while powering straight through the dot com bust.

Hsieh believes that to be successful you “need to be truly passionate about whatever you’re in the business of doing—it should not just be about making money.”

Zappos.com’s incredible customer service is embedded in its culture and Hsieh explains in depth that the culture is protected by a unique “two-step” hiring process that in its second-step concentrates on Zappos’ corporate culture and its core values. Hsieh says, “We make sure the people we hire have similar values. We won’t hire them if they are not a “culture-fit even if they are technically strong.”

The company focus is obvious—listening to its customers to hear their requests and understand their needs.

Hsieh’s says, “We place a lot of value on the interaction with customers. We want and take the time to talk to our customers.”

The man’s on to something. In an age when most customers are left with the feeling that the company is doing them a favor by taking their money for the product/service and their desire for decent (not even great) customer service is at best an annoyance listening to Hsieh is not only refreshing, but offers tangible proof that a focus on company culture and superb customer service pays.

You tell me—it great customer service common sense or rocket science?

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I read an interesting conversation engendered by a post entitled You don’t create a culture over at Signal vs. Noise.

Jason posts, “You don’t create a culture. Culture happens. It’s the by-product of consistent behavior… Real cultures are built over time. They’re the result of action, reaction, and truth… Don’t think about how to create a culture, just do the right things for you, your customers, and your team and it’ll happen.”

He says, “Artificial cultures are instant. They’re big bangs made of mission statements, declarations, and rules.”

But in the comments, Dorai Thodla points our that, “Culture emerges initially from the synergy and shared values of the founding team. We need to articulate it so that you can look for similar values in people you hire or encourage it.”

Articulating it should include writing it down, so that it can be accurately shared with current employees, new hires and candidates, but that doesn’t mean it’s carved in stone. It needs to be flexible, breathe and grow, while staying true to the original core values.

Jason likens culture to patina because it takes time to develop, but patina stays on the surface whereas culture needs to be absorbed like stain.

Like many competent people, Jason seems unaware of his own role, but no kind of culture or cultural traits “just happens.” Whatever the culture becomes, it’s based on the top person’s MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) and what that person enables to happen—whether actively or through benign neglect.

Do great cultures “just happen?” What do you think?

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In the Seeds of Leadership Ken Flowers says,

When asked about key leadership traits, I respond with characteristics such as initiative, confidence, big-picture thinking, and pride of ownership. Then I realize that my list describes how individuals approach their personal efforts… I think these traits may be the seeds of leadership skills; fundamental kernels of approach that engender others to want to follow someone.

Ken’s seed analogy is a good one.

Leading isn’t a position or even something you do, it’s who you are and who you are is determined by what I call MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™).

Your MAP is like a garden—starting in earliest childhood and continuing throughout your life seeds are planted, take root and grow.

Although seeds come from many sources, you are the master gardener and it’s your choice to decide which are flowers to nurture and which are weeds that need pulling—no matter when they were planted or by whom.

Sometimes what seems like a flower when we’re young and insular we find to be a weed as we grow and change.

Do you believe that weeds planted in childhood can be eradicated?

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Anon Y Mous is probably the wisest, most prolific and longest-lived writer in history. Mous is assumed to be male, although the reasons for the assumption are lost in antiquity; likewise, the unusual use of his first name for attributions.

There’s also a nasty habit of crediting Mous for anything that isn’t fully copyrighted or nailed down, so corrections are constantly being made to Mous’ lexicon.

“That we are smarter than algae is a given. Whether we are wiser remains an open question.” –Anon

“There’s never just one wet butt in a canoe. We’re all in this together” — Anon

“Leadership is the ability to hide your panic from others” — Anon

What are you favorite Mous quotes?

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It’s May and lots of strange and risky weather is in the air. It’s risk time here at the Business Channel and 13 of us met our editor’s challenge to do something different, because taking calculated risks is the foundation of most success—in or out of business.

For those of you who missed what’s new, here’s a list of risks by us and tips for you from around the channel.

1. At taxgirl, Kelly offers her best tax advice – to make decisions regardless of the tax consequences.
2. Mary Emma offers a peek into what it’s like to make the leap into entrepreneurship by developing your home business at Home Biz Notes, while Yvonne offers tips for taking chances in your home business.
3. Are you willing to take candy from strangers? Our newest blogger, Jennifer at Everyday Networker, thinks that it’s okay despite the risk. Find out under what circumstances it makes sense.
4. At Brandcurve, Susan explores the challenges and rewards involved in taking chances with your brand. Are you game?
5. Personal investment is all about taking risks. Should you avoid investing in a shaky market? Miranda has the answer at Yielding Wealth.
6. Politicians take risks every day – whether it’s Hillary downing a shot with a beer chaser (really!) or Obama trying out his bowling chops, it’s about getting noticed. At One Vote Matters, Thursday reminds us what’s really at risk during election season.
7. Leadership Turn invites you to be part of a new leadership reality show on the web. Miki is looking for help producing So you think you can lead… lots of fun opportunities for involvement and good stuff for the volunteers. Why not take a chance yourself?
8. Speaking of, what’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken? What about being the standout in your niche because everyone else says it can’t be done? At Doing Biz Abroad, Chris discusses why choosing to practice law in Philadelphia was outside of the norm.
9. Kristen at Biz Chicks Rule also discusses taking career risks. Do you like what you do? Shouldn’t you?
10. Rachel discusses taking chances in another niche – digital marketing – at Behind the Buzz – have you tried Penguin yet?
11. At Talk Stock Trading, Tisa ventures out of stocks to commodities to find out who is to blame for the “Gas Face” – you can cast your vote here.
12. At Digital Money World, Moneypenny wonders what to do when your choices are limited by circumstances that feel out of your control.
13. And not just a post – but an overhaul – Buzz Networker has a new writer, a new feel and a completely different look. Colleen is anxious to know if the risk pays off.

Join the fun and tell us what risks you’ll take this Spring.

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The best way to guarantee lots of media exposure is to be successful and in some way on the bleeding edge of your market—two feats that Google has managed since its inception.

Although it recently blew away its financial nay-sayers the media seems to grab for anything that looks like a weakness and pundits love nothing better than taking a poke at a high-flyer.

This is expecially true when high-profile employees leave, which they do no matter how great the company—it’s a personal thing—people get restless, annoyed, bored, follow their friends. Then there’s change—change that messes with people’s comfort zones because stuff is different.

CEO Eric Schmidt’s comment when asked about those leaving helps put things in perspective, “Let’s do some math. We have 18,000 people. What is 1% turnover [per month]? 180. Do you think 1% turnover is reasonable? In this area, it’s quite low. Ours is some small percent, 1, 2, 3%.

What bothers me is that some people write: “So-and-so left the company.” Well, they don’t also write that we hired 120 people that week, five of whom have Nobel prizes, three of whom have PhDs, and so on, who are beginning their career here now.”

Whereas most companies tightly control IT, Google keeps it’s people happy by giving them as much choice as possible in technology.

CIO Douglas Merrillsays, “Google’s model is choice. We let employees choose from a bunch of different machines and different operating systems, and [my support group] supports all of them. It’s a little bit less cost-efficient — but on the other hand, I get slightly more productivity from my [Google’s] employees.”

Other companies, not just technology, take heed. A wave of that could easily turn into a tusami fueled by Millennials and iPod lovers are agitating for and getting Macs in the workplace—an effort not instigated by Apple.

Considering how much money companies spend on incresing productivity and improving retention catering a bit on tech issues seems like a no-brainer.

How open are you/your company to choice?

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More than 200 years ago Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

A hundred years later Napoleon Hill said, “Think, act, walk and talk like the person you want to become and you will become that person.”

What these two great thinkers have in common is the positive use of assumption, but not assumption in a vacuum.

Assumptive management a la Goethe requires that you provide all the information necessary to attain the vision, coach as needed and be an active cheering section for accomplishments.

Personal growth a la Hill requires a clear vision of who/what you’re emulating. Yes, it’s easier with active support from those around you, but don’t let the lack of support hold you back—it’s achievable without it.

(Thanks to Phil Gerbyshak over at Slacker Manager for the Goethe quote.)

Do you use positive assumptive techniques at work or personally?

Post from Leadership Turn Image credit: mrbill

Are you tired of the Chinese deficit,
do you want to see less of it?
Are you waiting for the Feds to fix it
when you have the power to nix it?

When you shop to avoid that sin
check the country of origin,
or if you must, buy second hand
at garage sales, thrift stores or Aunt Pam.

Best trick yet, join the boycott that’s brewing
from 6/4 to 7/4 that people are doing.
If just one third of us avoid a hundred bucks of Chinese goods
it’ll kick a billion dollar hole in our trade deficit woods.

Your comments—priceless

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“When asked if Google’s strategy would change as the economy heads into a likely recession, Schmidt replied: “What recession? Innovation has nothing to do with downturns. A hot product will sell just as well in a recession as it will in a nonrecession…by what degree we can get people to substitute [our product] for the other. The strong companies understand this, and during a recession, they invest.”

Google’s vaunted innovation culture is always talked about in terms of catered food and in-house massages, but those and similar perks aren’t what continues to attract and retain the best and brightest.

The real key is Google’s own variation of the 80/20 rule.

In Google’s case, the 80% is the work time that people owe Google, while the 20% is the time they have to work on their own ideas. “It means the managers can’t screw around with the employees beyond some limit. I believe that this innovation escape-valve model is applicable to essentially every business that has technology as a component.”

It works, because no matter how far on or off-the-wall, “The No. 1 thing we do require is: You can do whatever you want as long as you track it.” Further the focus need to fit, “We make an explicit decision to favor the end-user. [We] do not say, “Newspapers should be happy. Advertisers should be happy. Telcos should be happy. Competitors should be happy.” Those are fine if we can do it. But it’s all about end-users.”

Just how earth-shattering are the results of the 20%? How about Google’s entry into cloud computing?

What started as one programmer’s idea to teach the next generation of students how “to work—and to dream—on a vastly larger scale” morphed into cloud computing using the enormous muscle available in Google’s global hardware.

Finally, Schmidt doesn’t believe that innovation is “managed.” “You have to have a set of necessary conditions for innovation to occur. To start with, you have to listen to people…Innovation comes from places that you don’t expect.”

What does your company do to foster innovation?

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Image credit: mariaboismain

A manager I coach was concerned about one of his people. He said that although he knew it was none of his business he felt that one of his top producers was wasting her personal time working on an idea she had for a new product, but admitted that her actions had no impact on what was a stellar performance.

It wasn’t that she might leave to pursue the idea that bothered him, but rather that failing would be painful and he found it sad that she was setting herself up for so much disappointment if things didn’t pan out.

And before you write this off with the thought that he’s old and she’s young or that he’s jealous let me clarify a bit.

Both are in their early thirties—she’s actually two years older, they’re educational equals and both are highly innovative.

What they have is different MAP. While both take risks, he prefers being an intrapreneur while she likes the idea of entrepreneurism.

I told him that

• they were more similar than he realized and that he shouldn’t evaluate her dreams using his MAP;
• in return for her productivity and 110% efforts he owed it to her to support her dream;
• the way dreams come true is by being willing to risk making a plan, setting goals and then going for it; and
• the only real failure comes when you’re dead, since any time before that you can try again and that the only people who never “fail” are those who attempt nothing.

What would you have told him?