The Message in Tony Hsieh’s Shoes

Tony Hsieh’s company Zappos, an online shoe store was sold last year to Amazon.com.  In light of the news I gasped.  I admired the man for the way he ran his business.  He implemented fresh ideas into his company culture and brought back good feelings to customer service.  Amazon.com, the largest Internet retailer, aggressively sought after the acquisition of Zappos.  They recognized that Zappos was a stand up company with rock solid values.  Will Amazon.com continue to make decisions that are win/win for both the customer and employee? 

I’ll bet my entire bobblehead collection that this isn’t the last time we see or hear about Tony.  He is a visionary leader who isn’t afraid to take risks and he listens.  He heard the customer in Des Moines who doesn’t want to talk to a woman in India about exchanging his size 9 penny loafers for a larger size.  Tony encouraged employees to establish company rules and provided them the power to provide the ultimate customer experience.  He didn’t cut corners to save a few dollars or rule with an iron fist, he built a company that is respected by many.  

These days we hear quite a bit about how big businesses have been mismanaged, demanded and obtained government bailouts without proper accountability.  We need a few, great business people like Tony to pull this great nation out of the hands of those who don’t know what a win/win situation is.

Gail Gamertsfelder
VP-CAO, A Better Connection, Inc.