Over the holiday I read a book called Delivering Happiness, A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com. It was recommended to me by a client so it thought I’d better give it a read. I’m so glad I did. This book is inspiring! I read most of it on a train ride down to Charlottesville, Va. and arrived full of energy and ideas for Maven and our clients. Although not a biography, the book is written by Hsieh (who does not always use the best grammar, but it’s endearing somehow), and starts with some stories of his childhood. What’s clear is that he is a born entrepreneur. From a young age he found ways to make money and had a number of small “businesses” that he ran alone or with his brothers or friends.
Hsieh’s never-give-up spirit is impressive. Zappos’ survival was touch and go for a while in the beginning years and his determination to make it work is never ending. Having a good amount of cash didn’t hurt either. Once he gets the company on good footing he comes to the realization that an excellent customer experience is what is going to set Zappos.com apart and he commits fully to making this happen, beginning with creating a positive cultural experience at the company.
While much of what he provides to employees to make their work experience a great one isn’t always appropriate for a company of five people, like Maven, the concept of creating an amazing culture translates. His emphasis on investing in the company culture and employees’ personal and professional development are elements that really hit home.
Hsieh demonstrates that company culture is worth investing in because your culture is essentially your brand. This is an especially poignant point for me, as we recently invested in hiring a business consultant for some guidance on growing the firm in a purposeful way. The hardest questions I had to answer during that process was “what is Maven’s brand?” At the time I couldn’t answer it.
Now that I’ve had a little time to think about it, I’ve come up with a few elements of what I hope it is:
- Deliver the best client service possible
- Be creative, but results driven
- Strive to never stop learning
- Build a positive team spirit, internally and externally
- Work with passion
My hope is that all of us at Maven will strive to meet these cultural elements in 2012 so that all of us, clients, employees, vendors and friends of the firm enjoy the best possible experiences possible. Here’s to a prosperous 2012 for all!
