LEADERSHIP | ENTREPRENEURSHIP
A Leader Who Believed in People First
Leadership lessons that we can learn from Tony Hsieh
Competitive advantages that large corporations once held have faded. Today big brands are following the Zappos model, direct to consumer (DTC), the very model startups and entrepreneurs adopt from the outset.
Zappos founder, Tony Hsieh, “was an internet pioneer” who developed “a banner advertisement company in 1996” after graduating from “Harvard University with a degree in computer science.”
A few years later he sold this company, “LinkExchange” to Microsoft, allowing him to “become a venture capitalist for technology startups, including Zappos, which he and Harvard classmate Alfred Lin transformed from a small business selling shoes online to a $1.2bn company by the time of its acquisition by Amazon in 2009.”
In her recent Crunchbase article, Marlize Van Romburgh captured the essence of an “unorthodox businessman”, the genius of Hsieh:
“Hsieh was known for his idiosyncratic approach to building companies.”
This article will discuss the one factor that Hsieh, an entrepreneurial leader, valued beyond parallel.
The People-factor
Individuals are creating more value from their bedrooms or dorm-rooms than ever before, as Hsieh did way back in 1996. Some solopreneurs outperform large corporations that have been around for decades.
Tony Hsieh valued people above everything else.
Visionaries are having a real impact on people, the world, and redefining business and leadership in the process.
The Tech-factor
Advances in technology have enabled rapid brand development, laying the foundation for business bootstrapping, a concept that levelled the playing field in recent years.
Companies like Instagram and Shopify have played a huge role in the obliteration of competitive advantages that corporations once enjoyed, often unchallenged in the past. High technology costs, monopolistic distribution networks and access to funding are no longer barriers to entry.
Talent
Talent is now a determining factor.
“Tony Hsieh Used Happiness as a Business Model to Change the World Forever” — Heather Wilde
Those with talent, or sheer determination and resilience, have an excellent opportunity to succeed today. So business leaders who can attract, enable, support and retain these type of individuals will realise a significant competitive advantage over those who fail to do so.
What Hsieh saw
Talent reflects the belief that Tony Hsieh held. During his time at zappos.com, he identified people as the single biggest differentiator in business. He saw people as a major source of competitive advantage that others undervalued.
“People are also assets and must be valued as such, measured, and developed.” — Jim Pinto
People are not assets that depreciate, rather dynamic resources that collectively increase in value over time, within the right culture.
Vision
Hsieh foresaw an opportunity — being better at identifying, attracting, enabling and retaining talent. The ability to discover talented individuals, and helping them to shine, was a scarce leadership skill at the time.
“Hsieh’s 2010 book, “Delivering Happiness,” outlined a management philosophy that emphasized an offbeat company culture focused around employee engagement. One of the company’s 10 core values, according to Hsieh’s book, was “Create Fun and a Little Weirdness.” — Marlize Van Romburgh
Skateboard star, Tony Hawk, called Hsieh “a true pioneer”.
He “was a visionary. He was generous with his time and willing to share his invaluable expertise with anyone. And he was very, very cool.” — Tony Hawk
The “cool” Hsieh certainly broke the leadership mould, ignoring beliefs held by generations past by creating a fun-filled culture with “a little weirdness.” He was very much a “visionary” who contributed to a new wave of leadership change that was emerging from the shadows at the turn of the last century.
Tony Hsieh stood out among his peers, part of the new generation of leaders that defined A New Style of Leadership for future generations.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, it's only fitting to share the ten values that Tony and the team at Zappos.com created.
Zappos values
- Deliver WOW Through Service
- Embrace and Drive Change
- Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
- Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
- Pursue Growth and Learning
- Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
- Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
- Do More With Less
- Be Passionate and Determined
- Be Humble
From these values, it’s clear to see that people, employees and consumers, are core to the ethos shared by Hsieh and everyone at Zappos.
“You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” — Unknown
Rest in peace Tony Hsieh — The footsteps of your wisdom will encourage others to “walk a mile” in your shoes — you were one of a kind!
