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The Little Things in a Corporate Culture

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March 24, 2009

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I recently spent a day visiting Zappos – the largest online shoe company that is especially well-known for their great customer service, corporate culture, and almost magical speed when fulfilling orders. As I toured the campus and met with some of the leaders, I was struck by a number of features at the core of the company’s culture. Here are a few that caught my eye…



#1: Celebrating Visitors
As I took the tour of the headquarters, I was taken to a special room called the “VIP Room” where I was asked to wear a king’s crown and pose for a photograph. The Polaroid was then placed on the wall among thousands of other photographs. I suspect Zappos was keeping Polaroid in business for quite some time. My lesson here, visitors are worth celebrating (especially if they travel from NYC to Henderson, NV to visit).

#2: Have A Leadership Library
The Zappos crowd clearly values leadership development. Professional development is part of the culture, and they make this clear with their “Leadership Library.” All of the usual suspects are represented on this bookshelf — all in large quantities. Any employee or guest is welcome to take a copy.

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