Zappos & Tony Hsieh Inspire Global Patriot

I just finished Delivering Happiness, A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com.  Equal parts biography, business story, and corporate philosophy, it often speaks to Tony’s entrepreneurial spirit, which ultimately created one of the most successful companies in history.  In the end, however, it’s also an education on how each of us should live our lives.

Tenacity, Learning, Humility

I won’t recount the book, as you should grab a copy and read the story for yourself, but what came through for me were the concepts of tenacity, learning and humility.  While Tony walked away from endeavors that simply didn’t work, he understood the potential that Zappos possessed and never gave up on his vision for success.

At every turn he was humble enough to realize three things:

1. He didn’t have all the answers
2. He needed a team of dedicated people to succeed
3. Each day was a learning experience

Valuable lessons we should all incorporate into our daily lives.

Tony’s approach to business is there in the company tag line: Powered by Service.   And this ideology extends beyond servicing customers, as employees, vendors and investors should all be served in the process of building a business.

Zappos Core Values

As we grow as a company, it has become more and more important to explicitly define the core values from which we develop our culture, our brand, and our business strategies. These are the ten core values that we live by:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

“Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living.” Albert Einstein

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