This is the best business book I have read in a while.  My wife started the book and I read a little, got hooked and ordered my own copy.  No regrets.  Read it in a short time period and was inspired.

The book is written by Tony Hshieh (pronounced Shay).  After floundering around in college to some degree he graduates and starts a company, LinkExchange.  He turns down an offer for $22 million to sell the company but later at the age of 26 sells it for $274 million.  He then turns his attention to another endeavor by pouring his energy into a infant company called Zappos.  Zappos was a start up company selling shoes on-line.  People in the shoe industry were skeptical.  When Zappos was about to close its doors, Hshieh and the leadership decided on making customer service the number 1 priority.  They opened their phone lines 24/7 and made it goal to “Wow” every person that called in. 

During the early stages of the company Hsieh felt that creating the right culture was a key to success.  In time, they were able to list their core values.  Here are a few:

Deliver WOW through service

Embrace and drive change

Create fun with a little weirdness

Be adventurous, creative and open minded

To give you an idea of their success, the leadership team decided to move their base of operations from San Francisco to Las Vegas.  At the time they had 90 employees and 70 of them moved their families to the new location.  The ultimate measure of their success from a business standpoint is that they sold Zappos to Amazon for $1.2 billion.

I found that this book had many applications for my own life and the people I lead.   It reminded me of how being open to change is so vitally important in today’s world.  I also saw how creating the right culture (in your family, business, church) is the foundation for future success.  At Zappos it really does not matter how competent you are, if you do not embrace the culture, you are not a good fit.  In fact, they will pay you anyone their full salary and $2000 to leave during their first month.

I highly recommend this book.