I first met Tony Hsieh a little over a year ago…
Jenn Lim, Tony’s friend and “backup brain” was in NYC and had asked to film an interview with me for a project they were working on. About halfway through filming, Tony walked over and sat down next to Jenn, wearing a t-shirt with a zipper hoodie and jeans. He sat quietly and, after the interview, we talked for a little while about what’s important in business, life and traded ideas on the health and fitness industry.
Tony’s an interesting guy. I’d heard him speak a bunch of times before and was always fascinated by his “regular guy” on-stage persona. At first, I wondered if it was just his shtick, but the more I heard him and came to know his approach to business and life, the clearer it became that what I was seeing was largely just Tony being, well, Tony.
Very unassuming, low-key when you first meet him, yet it’s pretty clear that he’s fiercely intelligent, quest-driven and curious. Very curious. Which I, in turn, found curious. Because a lot of guys sitting atop a company soon to be sold to amazon in a deal valued at more than $1 billion dollars lose that sense of genuine curiosity, the notion that every other person at every level can add to your knowledge base and experience of business and life.
I sense a big part of what’s made Tony so successful is this quest for knowledge and openness to the idea that those who might serve as sources of knowledge, insight and experience can and do come from all walks of life, all levels of education and all socio-economic backgrounds.
Pedigree is not a prerequisite to contribution.
And, in his new book, Delivering Happiness, you get a deeper look into how that curiosity and willingness to stand with rather than above those who’d eventually help build his empire formed what he views as the essence of success.
It’s not about the product, systems, logistics, branding or positioning, but rather culture.
Actually, it IS about all these things, but the culture and the mission define how each of these elements is brought to life. Delivering Happiness is chock full of business nuggets, but it’s not a heavily tactical book. It’s not a how-to book, full of checklists and strategies (there are some), but rather a look at the bigger picture core drivers.
You won’t learn to write copy, set up a marketing funnel, design systems or persuade customers to buy. But, you will learn how to focus on the deeper stuff that lays the foundation for doing all those things on a level that drives cult-like loyalty, evangelism and eventually, success on a much larger scale.
And, to me, that’s worth many times the price of the book
By Jonathan Fields, Awake @ the Wheel
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