Ducks In A Row: Tony Hsieh, the Person
by Miki Saxon
From an article about Tony Hsieh,
Although his admirers credit Mr. Hsieh with having created a unique (and unified) culture at Zappos, others point out that what he is doing is actually simple, and perhaps not so original.
I’d like to know who those ‘others’ are.
The best things usually are simple, have often been done before and I don’t think Hsieh has ever claimed his ideas and approach were new—but his execution is.
His approach is simple: happy employees make for happy customers; happy customers spend lots of money and return often.
Of course, if it’s so simple why don’t all CEOs and other bosses run their own organizations that way? Why do they pay $4000 to learn from him? Because the proof is in the Zappos pudding.
I’ll bet that Jack Welch never cared if the people who worked at GE were happy as long as they made their numbers—in fact, I’ll guarantee that no imperial CEO gave or gives a damn; nor do similarly minded managers at other levels.
Hsieh is more proof that great CEOs aren’t necessarily extroverts; don’t seek or require the limelight; nor do they actually fit all those profiles you read.
Rarely do articles focus as much on Hsieh the person as this one does. In terms of analyzing what makes Tony tick, and why others have so much trouble implementing and sustaining his simple approach, this bit of insight seems to say it all.
Then he quietly slipped out from the party. Employees talked affectionately about him after he had gone. “Sometimes I look at him, and I say, ‘He is such a dork,’ ” said Lauren Glassman, a buyer in the action sports clothing division, downing a goblet of beer. “But at the end of the day, we are all dorks.”
Want more on introverted bosses? Check out this post by Douglas R. Conant, President and CEO of Campbell Soup.
Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/
