A Corporative Revolution: One Step At a Time

At the age of 24, Tony Hseih, the current CEO of Zappos.com and author of "Delivering Happiness", boasted a net worth of 240 million after selling a company he co-founded to Microsoft. Yet, Tony found himself disappointed with his role in the company and the direction it was steered towards. For Zappos.com, he envisioned a different set of goals.

Far from conventional, Tony Hseih diminished his corporative leadership, becoming just another cubicle worker. His personal belief is that managers should work by example and create the infrastructure for a flourishing company, not necessarily control its every decision. Far from an autocratic leader, Hseih sees himself in more of a free-reign style of leadership. In this sense, he allows his employees to think and act freely. For example, every year Tony asks employees for an honest opinion of the workplace environment by having every employee contribute to a 'culture book', which is read and decisions are made based upon responses (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYr2Q7rRva0).

Instead of putting himself above his employees and leading through intimidation, Tony gains the respect and loyalty of his employees through mutual honesty and compassion. His power is referent power, demonstrating "friendliness and trustworthiness" (Comm. pg. 151). Because of this free thinking environment he engineered, the company's consumers not only benefit from well-renown customer service, but the employees themselves enjoy unmatched company culture. His employees do not mind devoting their time and effort to a goal they believe in, a goal drafted by Tony. This company culture is the platform of Zappos.com from which every aspect of their company is linked.

Other than the company culture he helped create, my favorite characteristic of this great leader must be his unmatched devotion to his stringent set of' goals. He is a self motivated leader that, through his passion, is able to motivate others. For him, money is not the object, it is great customer service. As a testament, Tony only gets paid an annual salary of $36, 000, less than most of his call representatives get paid. He is a true testament to leading by example.

Yet, one of the flaws in his leadership style might be an inability in asserting himself as the leadership figure when needed. If Tony Hseih is always seen as an equal, it may work to his disadvantage in situations when he would have to distinguish himself as a leader of the company. Regardless of this minuscule flaw, Tony Hseih's method has proved successful in both employee reviews and customer satisfaction. Despite focusing on customer service versus net profit, Tony Hseih proved his method to generate profit, reaching a billion dollars in sales this past year.

Great Quote By Tony:

I think of myself less as a leader and more of a protector, and I guess an analogy I would use is this: If you imagine a greenhouse with lots and lots of plants, then at other companies the leader would be the tallest, strongest plant that all of the other plants aspire one day to become.

I view myself less as a plant but let's say as the architect that designs the greenhouse, that enables the plants to flourish and how they grow and their ability to grow is already innately within them, they just need to be put in the right environment, so that creativity, in the case of our company, comes out.

Picture Source: http://feelfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/tony-hsieh-zappos.jpg

Other Sources:

"On Leadership Panelists: On Leadership: Zappos.com CEO Tony Hseih on Who He Won't Hire - On Leadership Video Transcripts." The Washington Post. 14 July 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. .

Hseih, Tony. "Your Culture Is Your Brand." Blogs | Zappos.com. 3 Jan. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. .

Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYr2Q7rRva0