A Good Way to Change a Corporate Culture
We live by stories. We tell them, repeat them, listen to them carefully, and act in accordance with them. We can change our stories and be changed by them.
Let Me Tell You a Story
It’s the best way to grab potential customers’ attention and warm them to your pitch.
JPMorgan Chase chairman Jamie Dimon’s dramatic falling out with Sandy Weill has passed into financial folklore. The two men had worked very closely together for about 15 years before they took over Citigroup. Dimon was widely seen as Weill’s successor at Citi. But, in 1998, Weill fired Dimon (speculation has it that Dimon passed Weill’s daughter over for a promotion).Dimon moved on to Bank One in Chicago, turned it around, and merged it with JPMorgan in a deal that ended with him becoming chairman and CEO of JPMorgan. Then, in October 2006, he decided to pull out of subprime loans even as other banks bet huge amounts on them. The result: JPMorgan was the only bank with enough cash to acquire the ailing Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual when they were on the brink of collapse. Today, JPMorgan has surged far ahead of the crisis-ridden Citigroup. So is revenge sweet?“No,” he said promptly. “I still have a lot of friends there, and what happened was so hard on people. I could play a sport with you and want to beat the hell out of you. But if you break a leg or have a heart attack, I’ll take you to hospital. I truly want Citi to get better. Citi’s problems are bad for Citi, for the people there, for America, and not good for JPMorgan. Also, it’s a terrible mistake to measure yourself by someone else doing badly. I want us to grow for us.
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In this presentation at the Web 2.0 Conference, Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh talks about his first business selling pizza in college, starting Link Exchange after college, and how he eventually ended up leading Zappos as the CEO. Tony discusses how his experience at Link Exchange influenced him to focus on corporate culture as a top priority, and why he thinks culture is so important to a company’s future growth and success.
Tony talks about the internal vision of Zappos not just to be an Internet footware merchant, but to be a brand that is known for an excellent customer experience. He goes on to list a number of specific techniques that the company uses to enhance customer service, and explains why he thinks that the telephone is still one of the best branding devices available.
How do you define culture? Tony talks about some of the core values of Zappos, and why it’s important to have values that aren’t just a plaque on a wall. These values permeate every aspect of the company, and Tony details some of the hiring and training practices that Zappos uses to ensure that every employee fits into the corporate culture.
