Zappos as a HPO Final Paper

8/9/2019 Zappos as a HPO Final Paper

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ZAPPOS AS A HIGH-PERFORMING ORGANIZATION 2

Abstract

Zappos is a company like no other. Their corporate culture is legendary and is the

bedrock of their business. With low turnover and a stringent hiring policy, they create loyalty

among their employees through rigorous training. With a firm commitment to their team, Zappos

has consistently hit their goals and lives their ten core values with fervor and passion. Yet, does

this make Zappos a high- performing organization? In this paper, we will explore Zappos’

structure, culture, performance, strengths and weaknesses as we analyze whether they fit the

model of a company that succeeds by applying principles put forth in Ken Blanchard’s Leading

at a Higher Level and 144 Ways to Walk the Talk by Eric Harvey and Alexander Lucia.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

What is a High Performing Organization? 4

The Power of Vision 12

Serving Customers at a Higher Level 16

Self- Leadership 22

Coaching 27

Zappos Leadership: Developing a Point of View 32

Culture 36

Conclusion 43

Bibliography 44

Appendix: Personal Reflections (Alpha Order) 47


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Fortunately, there are companies out there that fit the criteria and Zappos, an online shoe and

apparel retailer, is one of them.

What is a Zappos, Anyway?

Zappos (a variation of the Spanish word zapotas which means “shoes”) was founded in

1999 by Nick Swinmurn. The main focus was strictly selling shoes online. It was a new market

idea for a $40B industry that had little to no revenue through web business at the time. As a

result, Swinmurn was turned down by almost every venture capital firm he approached. They

saw no profitability in selling shoes online, assuming no one would buy shoes this way because

they could not try them on before purchase (Gabbay, September). The point those companies

missed which current Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh did not, was that $2B of the shoe market was

already being purchased through catalogues. Hsieh, a recent millionaire due to his sale of

LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 million, was privately funding web start-ups through his

company Venture Frogs, LLC. At the time, he had approximately 20 other companies he was

investing in, but he was intrigued by Swinmurn’s idea, he invested $500,000 in the startup online

retailer. Hsieh ultimately believed so much in the concept of instead providing the ultimate

customer experience, that he came on board as Co-CEO.

Since 1999, Zappos went from a company with zero profits and a goal to be a $1B in 10

years; to being sold to Amazon.com for $1.2B in 2009. With 50 percent of their customer base

comprising of repeat customers and another 20 percent coming as referrals from existing

customers, Zappos has built a near fanatical following that is almost as fervent as Zappos own

employees. One would think that in selling the company, Hsieh would have taken the big payday

and walked, yet the terms of the deal were structured in a way that the culture of Zappos stayed


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intact and their customer service remained untouched. From an investor standpoint, all Zappos

stock was exchanged for Amazon stock of equal value. This is just the latest in a 10 year

example of how to walk the talk of being a high-performance organization. Although Hsieh had

the opportunity to “take the money and run,” he stayed true to the triple bottom line and stayed

the course on being the employer, provider, and investor of choice.

Zappos as Provider of Choice

Hsieh and Swinmurn looked beyond their plan on paper to grow Zappos and recognized

they needed to step beyond to capture the hearts and minds of their customers. To do that, they

saw they needed to make customer service 100 percent accessible and give customers what they

asked for, not just what Zappos thought they should have. Zappos set about planning how they

would become the provider of choice for their customers.

On September 24, 2009, Tony Hsieh gave a presentation at the Inc. 500 | 5000

Conference outlining how Zappos separated themselves from the competition by committing to

be “Powered by Service.” Hsieh explained that “Zappos provides the best online shopping

experience possible” (Hsieh, 2009). At the core is a 365-day return policy and fast, usually free

shipping. At first, the company would personally e-mail repeat customers to let them know of the

free upgrade in shipping to next day air. However, they continued to expand this feature with a

goal to give this service to every customer.

All returns are free of charge. In an age when most companies are loathe to put their 800

number on their web site, Zappos not only offers 24/7 support via phone, they provide round the

clock support via online chat too. Hsieh believes that displaying your contact information on

every landing page is one of the best ways to learn from and connect with customers. In this way


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the company “Delivers what the customer actually wants rather than what you think they ought

to have. (Harvey and Lucia).” To ensure that customer service is consistent and in line with the

company’s core values, Zappos does not farm out their service calls overseas. They keep

everything centralized in their new headquarters in Las Vegas, NV.

These are just a few of the ways that Zappos is exceeding customer expectations and their

loyalty in providing top service is rewarded by customers continually coming back to them to

buy again and again One example of Zappos commitment to providing a high level of customer

service was tested when a customer was concerned at having not received her order on time. She

called Zappos and realized that she had given the wrong shipping address. Most companies

would have charged for re-pulling the order, the new merchandise, and shipping it, especially

because it was due to customer error. Not Zappos. Hsieh and his team made sure the order was

filled, free of charge, and shipped it overnight to the correct address, again, at no cost.

The company also provides their customers with a free referral service on merchandise if

needed. If a customer is looking for the lowest price on a product and Zappos can’t match it, they

will point the customers to a competitor’s website that offers better pricing. This shows that they

are conscious of their competitors and regardless if they make the sale or not, they want to give

the customer the best shopping experience possible (Ueng, October). Through consistently

supplying excellent customer support, responding to customer feedback, and building new ways

to better serve customers, Zappos has indeed carved out a niche for themselves as a provider of

choice for customers and therefore fulfills the first part of Blanchard’s triple bottom line.


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Zappos as Employer of Choice

At the outset, Hsieh and the Zappos team recognized that if you treat your employees

well, they treat the customers well. Many companies fail to realize there is not a distinction

between a happy employee and a happy customer. If the employee is happy, the customer is

happy. Zappos understand this and strives to create a work atmosphere and benefit package that

not only attracts top talent, but also retains them — a hallmark of a high-performing organization.

The company is very selective about hiring. If they find a candidate encompasses all the Zappos

traits, but one; they will not hire the applicant. (Zappos, 2010).

While many companies have a list of values, all too often, they do not act on them.

Zappos is the exact opposite and a quick web search on the company finds thousands of links

that show video of their work environment. Time after time, you will see a fun, happy

atmosphere that offers free vending machine treats, themed offices filled with trees and plants to

resemble a jungle, and recently has added an on staff life coach to help improve employee

happiness (Kjerulf, July). When the company was faced with a board who said, “think profits,

who cares if employees are happy,” Hsieh stuck to his guns, stayed true to company values, and

gave equal emphasis to employee happiness. This is just one of the reasons why Zappos has been

consistently ranked as a “best places to work” since it opened its doors. As if to prove this point,

CNN Money just released 100 best companies to work for in the US and Zappos ranks 6. Talk

about an employer of choice! Zappos has defiantly created a motivating environment and

organizational structure that fits in the equation of a high performance organization.


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Zappos as an Investor of Choice

The last part of a high performance organization equation is “investment of choice.”

Growing a company requires some type of financial backing. In order to attract investors, they

must believe their investment is going to give them a return. Simply put, you have to make them

believe in you and your business model.

Zappos has proven to be the investment of choice for many people and company alike

since its inception. (Blanchard, 2010). Nick Swinmurn thought up the idea of Zappos and raised

$150,000 from friends and family in 1999 to get going. His idea took him to the WSA Show in

1999 (a global market for footwear and accessory buyers) but had no luck in securing more

investors until he met Tony Hsieh. Hsieh put in the $500,000 in seed money, and pumped in

many more millions more as his enthusiasm and commitment to Zappos, its customers, and its

employees grew.

Over the years, Zappos has attracted tens of millions of dollars from outside investors

including $48M from Sequoia capital. In 2008, as the credit crisis put Zappos in a very uncertain

position, Hsieh watched with uncertainty as his board pressed him to abandon the company’s

core values and focus solely on profits. Zappos relied on a $100M line of credit to purchase their

inventory. Lenders wanted them to maintain and hit monthly goals to continue to keep the credit

line open. However, if Zappos missed goals by even a small margin, the lenders had the right to

rescind their credit. Many members of the board of directors were concerned about the potential

credit freeze and looked for a solution — which many felt lay with putting profits first and

employees second.

At the time, Alfred Lin, CFO and Tony, CEO controlled the majority of the shares, but

were in the minority on this particular vote. As Lin and Hsieh began to look for new investors,


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they were approached by Amazon. Discussions revealed that Amazon not only believed in the

Zappos culture, it believed in their revenue and growth potential. While Hsieh was offered an

outright buyout, he again stuck to Zappos core values and asked for an all-stock deal that would

allow employees, investors, and even customers who held stock to trade all their Zappos stock

for Amazon stock. As part of the deal, Amazon had to agree to let Zappos operate a separate

entity that was able to maintain their culture, values, and goals as is. Amazon so admired the

culture at Zappos, they not only agreed, they have since adopted the $4,000 incentive to quit and

have begun introducing other Zappos ideals within the Amazon corporate structure as well.

This deal helped Zappos show customers, investors, and employees that they were

“getting something out of the deal” and not losing anything in return. With the Amazon deal

done, Zappos removed the problems of the credit crunch and moved into total solvency, and

achieved their 10 year goal of being a $1B company on time. In fact, in the first quarter after

being acquired by Amazon, net sales were up 50 percent and several hundred employees were

added (INC).This year, the company is expanding even further and is again hiring more staff.

The entire acquisition process is one that could have greatly damaged the company and

moved it away from its core values, but Hsieh was able to turn it around and make it another win

for customers, employees, and investors, which clearly shows that Zappos fits Blanchard’s

profile for being an investor of choice.

Zappos is a company that truly focuses on employees, customers and they have earned a

reputation for making proper investment business decisions to drive innovative culture in all

types of economies. In this way, Zappos has truly demonstrated that it is a high-performance

organization.


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The following sections of this paper detail how Zappos addresses the following

components of HPO’s, including:

The Power of Vision

Serving Customers at a Higher Level

Self Leadership

Coaching

Developing a Leadership Point of View

Culture


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The Power of Vision

In The Beginning

Zappos.com began in 1999 with a very simple vision, “To be the company that provides

the absolute best service online.” (Zappos.com, 2011) Founder Nick Swinmurn set about

developing an organization whose culture is dependent on the complete satisfaction of every

customer. Today Zappos’ vision statement is expressed in three parts:

•One day, 30% of all retail transactions in the US will be online.

•People will buy from the company with the best service and the best selection.

•Zappos.com will be that online store.

In keeping with this tradition, current Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has integrated this vision

into every aspect of the company. Ken Blanchard, in Leading at a Higher Level, makes the case

for developing a shared vision and how to integrate that vision into all the organization’s

activities. Zappos takes this one step further by guaranteeing 100% customer satisfaction with

every purchase, holding all organizational activities accountable to this mission.

In their book, 144 Ways to Walk the Talk , Eric Harvey and Al Lucia provide suggestions

on how best to pursue this vision of exceptional service. They focus one section on how to be

customer driven, and one specif ic strategy states, “Deliver what the customer actually wants

rather than what you think they ought to have. If you’re not sure what they want, ask!” (Harvey

and Lucia, 2011, p. 11) Ken Blanchard explains this same concept in his description of

Legendary Service; an organization must decide what the customer experience should look like,

what customers want, and how to deliver on those expectations. (Blanchard, 2011) The Zappos

vision is simply a commitment to legendary service by remaining customer driven.


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company’s core values. This dedication to a shared vision is the cornerstone of success for

Zappos.

Vision and Leadership

The process of developing a shared vision remains the responsibility of the leader. The

leader is looked to for direction and guidance, and must be the one to implement this process.

Vision development must be an inclusive process and its success is crucial for successful

leadership. Tony Hsieh was not only instrumental in the creation of this vision; he participates in

the daily application of it as well.

In mid-2009, Zappos almost lost their CEO and their entire culture as well. Tony had

personally funded Zappos initial startup costs, but need outside investors to help manage

inconsistent cash flow issues. In a major miss-step, he brought on venture capitalists who did not

share the vision of corporate culture he had cultivated for 10 years. Revenue began to fall during

the long recession and there were talks of replacing Tony with a more like-minded CEO to that

of the remaining board members. Tony still held a majority share in Zappos and chose to

approach Amazon with an offer to partner and buyout the entire Zappos board. Amazon CEO

and founder, Jeff Bezos, understood the Zappos culture and agreed to not only buy the

organization, but to keep Tony on as Zappos CEO and give him full authority over the company.

Tony has since discussed this drawn out situation in great detail and now admits he was

shortsighted. Mike Masnick wrote of this situation for Techdirt stating, “Although Zappos was

highly profitable, disagreements about corporate culture and vision caused Tony to sell his

organization rather than loose it in a board takeover. In order to protect the Zappos vision, Tony

must ensure that investment interests in the future are as committed to the company’s vision as


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Serving Customers at a Higher Level

The second most important step in becoming a High Performing Organization is to serve

customers at a higher level. Researchers created an HPO SCORES model and identified six key

elements evident in High Performance Organizations. The R in SCORES stands for “Relentless

Focus on Customer Results”. This focus is not related to the industry the HPO is in. It is our

intent to compare Zappos’ performance in the customer service sector to the qualities that HPO

displays.

In one of the interviews with Tony Hsieh, we learn that he and Zappos employees see

their company as a customer service company that happens to sell shoes. This means a radical

shift from past service behaviors. It puts the customer right in the center of attention, instead at

the end of the process. Customer needs will drive innovation and help create new products and

new services. HPOs build their services from the customer backwards to their product and in this

way, they are able to react quickly and can adapt to changes in the market/industry. Customer

responses and purchasing behaviors, and questions asked in service calls enable the HPO to

anticipate trends much easier.

Creating Legendary Services

One of Zappos’ core values (mentioned earlier) is specifically targeted at the customer

and the service:

Deliver WOW through Service

The emphasis in an HPO is “relentless focus on customer results,” which far exceeds

merely good service. It produces reliable and repeatable customer satisfaction. When customers’

expectations are consistently met and frequently exceeded, customers will return and spread the

news of positive experience by word of mouth. The leadership of an HPO has identified


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customer service as one high priority element and acts upon it. The leadership in Zappos

encourages their employees to think outside the box, allows them to be creative and to deliver

legendary service. It is the service person at the other end of the telephone that builds the

relationship with the customer and gives the message “I CARE”. This phrase has more than one

meaning.

Blanchard describes legendary service as consisting of five elements:

Ideal Services: Once the importance of service has been recognized and that the customer

is the center of services, expectations can be consistently met or exceeded

on a daily basis.

Culture of Service: Serving internal and external customers at the highest possible level by

creating an environment that focuses on the customer.

Attentiveness: Listening to what the customer wants or needs in a non- threatening,

creative way.

Responsiveness: Demonstrate willingness to go the extra mile by paying attention.

Empowerment: Support the people facing the customer and enable them with information

sharing, tools etc. to do the best they can.


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The five elements above can be summed up to “I CARE,” which connects to the

customer on an emotional level. Below are examples of how I CARE manifests itself at the

company, directly from employees, leaders and outsiders:

Ideal Services: Q: How does Zappos 'go the extra mile'?

A:”Our team members send personal handwritten thank you cards to

customers of their choice. They can also put in a request to send flowers

or a ‘WoW’ package (culture book, stickers, other Zappos items we have

on hand, etc.). Usually we’ll send flowers for a celebration such as a

wedding or to offer our condolences for a family/friend who has passed”. -

Jane Judd on customer loyalty

Culture of Service: “ Although the always-on toll-free number is prominent on every page of

the company’s Web site, customer service is not the top priority for

Zappos. Corporate culture is. Tony says getting the corporate culture

right results in customer service falling into place, along with everything

else. Instead of being a department, customer service is the company. To

ensure the right attitude about things, prospective employees are asked, on

a scale of 1 to 10, how lucky they believe they are. Every new hire gets

four weeks of “customer loyalty” training. Do your job well at Zappos,

and you have a good chance of being honored with your own personal

random-acts-of-kindness parade through the office.” Jeff Cierny

Attentiveness: “ I don’t really pay attention to what competitors are saying. We just listen

to our customers. But I’m sure they are paying attention to our


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competitors, so the information eventually gets to us in the form of our

customers telling us what they want.” – Tony Hsieh

Responsiveness: “We serve therefore we are.” Christina C.

Empowerment: “ Zappos encourages me and gives me tools to become the best me I can

be.” - Vanessa L. Employee since 2007

“Empower and trust your employees. When you take care of your

employees they take pride in the work they do, which helps to provide the

ultimate customer service.” – Tony Hsieh

Serving Customers at a higher Level

Serving customers at a higher level means, defining your goal. Blanchard suggests asking

the question, “What kind of experience do you want your customers to have as they interact with

every aspect of your organization?” You need to understand what the customer wants, and create

a powerful image of what your service will look like when everything runs as planned. Zappos

has accomplished that with its core ten values. By putting the “Deliver WOW through Service”

in first place, Zappos Leadership makes a statement and Zappos employees live by that

statement. The Zappos Culture book that gets published yearly reflects the state of mind of every

employee.

Harvey and Lucia’s 144 Ways to Walk the Talk says that customers are not only people

buying the product (Harvey, Lucia, page 11, 2nd edition). Customers can be inside and outside

the company. Zappos policy is to give great service to everyone. Zappos has identified four

potential customers; customers, employees, vendors, and investors

One of Zappos strategies is to discover what the customer wants, by listening and

understanding. Really listening in a non-defensive way helps customers open up and share their


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experience. Zappos can then understand what the need is and act on it. Zappos has established a

direct connection with the customers ranging from service numbers on every webpage,

Facebook, Twitter a 24/7 live customer service. By understanding what it is the customer wants,

Zappos can deliver the perfect service experience.

Another key to delivering the perfect service is the people who deliver the service.

Blanchard emphasizes that an HPO has to make employees part of the vision, make them feel

responsible and take ownership of the process. Zappos accomplishes just that by creating the

perfect culture in which their employees can serve and be part of the “Zappos experience”.

“My wife had ordered a pair of sandals from Zappos. When they arrived, she found that

they didn’t fit. She tried to order the right size, but Zappos was sold out of her size. So here’s

what the company offered: she could return the sandals (for free), Zappos would refund the

purchase price and they’d send her a $25 coupon toward her next purchase. But wait — there’s

more! Zappos also offered to try to locate a pair of the sandals in her size from another vendor.

(Hah! Sure, they will!) Fifteen minutes later, the company called my wife and told her they’d

found her sandals, in her size, at another online merchant — “and,” the Zappos clerk told her,

“They’re even cheaper at this other site!” Stephen J Dubner

Empower people to their full potential

In a HPO people should follow rules, but should at the same time make decisions on their

own when circumstances call for it. People who are empowered and trusted with making

decisions within their field of responsibility feel proud and energetic about what they are doing.


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People in every organization can be turned into followers, when the work is worthwhile and they

feel that they are in control of achieving their goal. This energy or flame needs to be kept alive

by cheering each other on.

People at Zappos who serve customers have rules, but at the same time, these rules are

not limiting. The rules encourage the individual to go the extra mile to deliver the best service

experience for the customer. Following are some of Zappos unique approaches:

No call time

No sales-based performance goals for reps

5 weeks of culture, core values, customer service, and warehouse training for everyone in

Las Vegas

Culture book

Interviews and performance reviews are 50% based on core values and culture fit.

Having looked at how Zappos lives and breathes customer service, we should ask the

question if there is anything that can be done better. Zappos’ track record has shown that the

current customer service is at the heart of Zappos success and therefore fulfills every aspect of a

High Performance Organization. The challenge lies in the ever changing needs of the customer.

Zappos has to keep adjusting to new ways of communication, new customer needs and new ways

of delivering its services. What does this look like? No-one knows for sure. That means for

Zappos, that their effort to service the customer has to keep energized, keep growing with the

situation and follow one of the old words of wisdoms “panta rhei”.*

* panta rhei (lat., Heraclitus of Ephesus) – everything flows


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Self Leadership

High performing organizations have staff who exhibit self-leadership. Our objective is to

examine the performance effects of self-leadership efforts related to ZAPPOS success. We

explore the effects of the self leadership model by investigating the extent to which ZAPPOS’

use of self leadership strategy is related to the overall performance and success of the

organizational unit.

Zappos culture embodies the empowerment model and fosters self-leadership.

Tony Hsieh’s schema, which symbolizes Zappos, is sustained by the passion in a

statement which is contained in every written article, book or blog about the company… “If we

get the culture right, then everything else, including the customer service will fall into place.”

This is embraced by every employee and supported by the following testimonial;

Zappos Culture is the overall environment; space, attitude, freedom, management style,

and actual physical surroundings which all work together to create a total milieu which attempts

to make each individual better and happier on a whole, so that each one of us will then spread

this to each other, our customers, and everyone we encounter . ” -Mike S. Employee since 2005

Zappos core values define their organizational culture. Those values support and

cultivate the organization workforce, their behavior, their commitment, and their

individualism/collectivism, suggesting that effective self-leadership involves achieving

equilibrium between focusing a cohesive work group which focuses on the value and identity of

each individual employee.

Blanchard, Fowler and Hawkins argue that when self-leaders infuse ingenuity into their

methodologies for success, it prompts leaders to respond to those queries; the stereotypical

pyramid turns upside down and leaders then support those who were being led.


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At Zappos, the “WOW” approach supports self -awareness and innovation. This first core

value promotes individuality, fosters self-confidence offering each employee the opportunity to

enhance their scope of creativity without reserve. By cultivating intrinsic freedom the common

fears which generate assumed constraints are vanquished from the equation unleashing a

welcomed passion for change. Zappos extrinsically supports open mindedness, promotes and

encourages decision making-skills, advocates the “why” as well as endorses exploring new

possibilities. The commitment to employee growth extends beyond the professional component;

it is aligned with personal growth. Hsieh’s philosophical mission for all of Zappos employees is

to constantly challenge and stretch oneself, to guide them as they reach beyond personal

expectations to unlock their ultimate potential. If this is done, then the company will grow, and

in the process, they will be growing themselves.

Harvey and Lucia’s 144 Ways to Walk the Talk include several strategies which align

with Zappos’ mission, empower others, strategies 93 -96 and Support Teamwork, strategies 97 to

100. Summarizing the former, “Empower Others”, Harvey and Lucia demonstrate the value of

shared authority, the rise of untapped potentials, the significance of increased communication,

feedback and interaction impart and the inclusion of EMPOWERESE with such phrases as

…”Would you like”, “How can I”, “I trust…” Each one of these four stratagems is threaded

throughout their Zappos Family Core Values.

The latter, “Support Teamwork”, validates Zappos’ creed to realize empowerment

concurrently understanding that this is an endless cycle whereby success, risk, stress, and

confusion intrude. The resulting product is that Zappos is better than their competition on every

level. Zappos has a stated performance reliability which epitomizes their core values and belief;

passion and determination are contagious, the universal optimism that everyone’s actions impact


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another is abundantly clear. Strategically, Zappos inherent commitment to employee

advancement paves the way for self-confidence, conviction and organizational pride. Self-

leadership is fertilized by individual learning, a critical facet of high performing organizations.

ZAPPOS is a leader in the industry; their core values hold their employees to high

standards, and meet with little or no resistance as they demonstrate the commitment to these

values across every level of the organization. ZAPPOS has created an organizational culture

which embraces growth, learning, self-awareness, commitment and a greater good for all. The

environment which supports this magnanimous culture, cycles through change and challenge at a

rate that for many would seem unfeasible; it is this ideology that warrants a more in-depth

analysis as we develop an alternate plan of action to facilitate the emotional, behavioral and

constructive thought patterns associated with self-leadership and significant rates of change.

The culture of ZAPPOS is unique; ever changing, transforming, and adjusting as stated in

one of their core values, Embrace and Drive Change. This campaign is what controls ZAPPOS

ethos, their destiny and evolves their culture. This realization, albeit solid in theory, we

recommend the following systemic approach to ideologically enrich the constructs of the self

leadership behavioral design. Focusing on the three skills of a self leader as offered by

Blanchard et al,

Challenge Assumed Constraints: Zappos core belief to be determined, passionate and

drive change could be markedly enhanced by focusing their leadership training systems

towards a deeper awareness of individual personal constraints. Managers who poses the

tacit knowledge necessary to identify the subtle nuances that restrict their direct reports

effectiveness can release those constraints allowing them to go beyond those assumed

constraints to reach their goals


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Celebrate Your Power Points; ZAPPOS core belief “Do More with Less” emphasizes

improvement, efficiency and urgency. Strengthening self-awareness edifies the source

of intrinsic power; a deeper understanding of power provides the breadth to expand its

value. ZAPPOS commitment to employee empowerment could easily pivot on the five

sources of power.

Position Power

Personal Power

Task Power

Relationship Power

Knowledge Power

Fowler et al argue that“ the sole advantage of power is the ability to do more good”

which aligns with the ZAPPOS family culture, further more is offered by Fowler et al

that everyone has some measure of each of these powers within them; however

unbalanced this promulgation may be.

Collaborate for Success; ZAPPOS candidly acknowledges in their core value, “Build

Open and Honest Relationships with Communication”, that communication is the most

vulnerable sphere within any organization. The interconnectedness that underscores

ZAPPOS credo would be enhanced to an even higher level if individuals engaged in

supportive leadership (SL) training. SL foundation concentrates on the emotional and

behavioral elements of leadership which complements as well as elevates core value #6.

ZAPPOS is undeniably a HPO; innately habituated to the mechanisms that promote

exceptional growth, knowledge, self-awareness, by fusing these recommended methods


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to their passion, vision and mission they will advance to a higher level of an already

HPO.


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Coaching

According to Blanchard, all industry sectors will be experiencing a leadership shortage

sometime in the near future. “The development of new leaders is becoming an important focus

for executives and senior managers. More and more, coaching is being recognized as one of the

key competencies that effectively develops future leaders.” (Blanchard, 2010, p. 2) Blanchard

describes successful coaching as “deliberate, purposeful, and fully aligned with team and

organizational ob jectives…” (Blanchard, 2010, p.150) Zappos clearly incorporates this

successful coaching mindset by staying attuned to its cultural values in all aspects of the

business, from the hiring process, to initial training and then pipelining employees into upper

level positions throughout an employee’s longevity.

Blanchard highlights five applications of coaching, including:

Performance coaching (when an employee is not meeting performance standards)

Development coaching (when an employee is ready to move to the next level)

Career coaching (when an employee is ready to move to a new career role)

Coaching to support learning (to follow up with training an employee has recently

engaged in)

Creating an internal coaching culture (when leaders utilize coaching to assist their

employee base)

(Blanchard, 2010, p. 151)

Hiring the Right People and Initial Training

Zappos engages in each of these five applications through its core value: “Pursue Growth

and Learning”. To begin with, individuals are hired with the mindset that “the best expertise


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they can bring is expertise at learning and adapting and figuring new things out- helping the

company grow, and in the process, they will also be growing themselves.” (About Zappos Core

Value #5) Zappos takes extra care to hire people who are the right fit for their company and

even offers $4000 for new employees to leave after training (those that take the offer are not

allowed to apply at Zappos again).

Once hired, an employee goes through a “pipeline and culture” training process, so that

they are able to deliver “WOW” experiences both internally and externally to all customers.

Training for new hires includes:

Four-week new hire training (including answering phones) Zappos History

Zappos Culture

Science of Happiness 101

Tribal Leadership

1-week Kentucky Boot Camp

Public Speaking

Delivering Happiness

Intermediate-Level Competency with Microsoft Office

(Hsieh, “Training, Mentorship at the Core of Our Employee Pipeline Strategy”)

Hiring for the right “fit” and then providing the new hire training means that people are

educated right in the beginning about what work at Zappos involves, setting the tone for

performance coaching.

Continuous Improvement

To address the idea of development and career coaching, Zappos has an “Insight Team”

made up of 12 people including the CEO, a “Mage of Mayhem”, a “Goals Coach” and a “Culture

Evangelist”, all designed to bring out the best in employees and the business. The goals coach is


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a full time position whose purpose is to help an employee achieve any 30 day goal they have,

whether personal or professional. The top three goals that this person helps employees to

achieve include:

1. Career Development

2. Weight Loss

3.

Management of personal finance/budgeting

(Schubnell, “The Life Coach at Zappo’s”)

Zappos also offers training to employees in new skill sets, which result in pay bumps.

Interestingly, the company does not offer annual raises to staff- they need to obtain new skill sets

in order to get pay increases. CEO Tony Hsieh explains, “Our philosophy at Zappos is different.

Rather than focusing on individuals as assets, we instead focus on building as our asset a pipeline

of people in every single department with varying levels of skills and experience, ranging from

entry level all the way up through senior management and leadership positions. Our vision is for

almost all of our hires to be entry level, but for the company to provide all the training and

mentorship necessary so that any employee has the opportunity to become a senior leader within

the company within five to seven years.” (Hsieh, 2010)

Clearly, the company is focused on career development for its staff, and has a pipeline

training strategy in place for each of its departments, all starting with making sure the employee

is the “right fit”. These activities tie into a number of the 144 Ways to Walk the Talk , including:

Develop and maintain technical knowledge

Commit to quality and continuous improvement Commit to self-development

Coach others

Support organizational values

Empower others


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What the Employees Say

Chelsea S, employee of Zappos since 2007, had this to say about the coaching culture:

“The Zappos Culture has allowed me to grow at my own pace as well as to be myself. Within a

little over two years, I have learned various skill sets, been a Specialist on a specialty team, and

have been give the opportunity to be a Senior Rep. I don’t know of any companies that allow

you to step into the role of a lead position and see if it’s something you would want to purse in

the future.” (Zappos Culture Book, 2010, p. 28)

Denise M, employee since 2009, gives a bit of insight about the development and career

coaching works for her. “Other places leave you stuck in one position and hire new people for

upper level jobs. Here they want us to learn the upper level jobs and do them. We have classes

all the time, and we can learn about everything from history and happiness to public speaking

and Power Point.” (Zappos Culture Book, 2010, p. 35)

Beyond the Current Employee Strategy

The company is extending its pipeline training to college freshmen, offering internships

and additional training, so that by the time they graduate, they are “ready” for the Zappos work

experience. Hsieh explains, “Once our entire eleven-year pipeline is built (from four years prior

to joining Zappos all the way through seven years after joining Zappos), we'll have a substantial

long-term competitive advantage over everyone else. Combined with our ongoing efforts to grow

our brand and our culture, we believe that our BCP (Brand, Culture, Pipeline) strategy will

provide the platform necessary for Zappos to be a long-term enduring and growing business.”

Interestingly, the company is offering “Zappos Insights” training program to outside

companies and executives for a fee, including a two day quarterly boot camp, meetings with

Zappos top management to discuss how the program works in “real life”, use of templates that


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can be adapted within their own company and an online subscription to their Insights Core

Curriculum and blog.

Individuals who can’t afford the Boot Camp can choose shorter, less expensive versions of the

training at the Gold and Silver levels. All include the Core Curriculum online, which

incorporates the following modules:

Core Values

Hiring and Firing

Training for Leaders and Longevity

Customer Service

Empowerment and Engagement Inspiring Purpose

Leadership

According to Market Watch, Zappos “considers itself a living lab” because of its external

training programs and because they allow anyone to tour the company, speaking with any

employee about their personal experience in working at Zappos. Essentially, Zappos is taking its

internal coaching programs and making them available to other companies and individuals

interested in duplicating the Zappos experience. This company is not only growing its own

internal leaders, but helping to address the coming leadership shortage noted by Blanchard

through its external training programs.

The only concern this researcher has about Zappos’ foray into corporate training is that

the company may begin to lose focus on its core business and thus lose the power of their brand.

At its core, Zappos is still an online retailer. If Zappos pumps more time and energy into service

training that does not directly benefit its core business, will its core business lose its value?


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Zappo’s Leadership: Developing a Point of View

Chapter 15 of Blanchard’s Leading at a Higher Level explores the topic of how a leader

determines their point of view on leadership and how to communicate this point of view to their

followers. Several of these same principles are to be found in 144 Ways to Walk the Talk by

Harvey and Lucia. Here, we will explore how these common concepts and principles for

developing and communicating a vision are utilized to great success by the leader of the greatly

successful and popular on-line shoe retailer Zappos, Tony Hsieh.

Blanchard’s point of view, according to chapter 15 is that to create a great organization,

leaders have to make sure everyone’s aiming at the right target and vision. The stated goal o

chapter 15 is to help a leader develop their own point of view and prepare a leader to teach

others. The focus, according in Blanchard, is to focus on serving, rather than being served.

Chapter 15 laid out 8 Main Elements of a Leadership Point of View:

1. Who are the influences, or key people, in your life who have had a positive or negative

impact on your life?

2.

What key events in your life have had an impact on how you lead others? How did these

events impact your thinking about leadership?

3. Think about your life’s purpose: Why are you here and what do you want to accomplish?

4. What are your core values that will guide your behavior as you attempt to live your life

“on purpose”?

5. Given what you’ve learned from past influences, life events, your life purpose and core

values, what is your leadership point of view – your beliefs – about leading and

motivating people?

6. What can people expect from you?


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7. What do you expect from your people?

8. How will you set an example for your people? (Blanchard, 2010)

Similar to and building on these core values, Harvey and Lucia provide several examples

of how to build and communicate a vision, including:

81. Provide everyone with a copy of your mission, vision, and values (or your organization’s

equivalents). Adopt the mindset that these guidelines are as important as your work values –

and treat them accordingly. (Harvey and Lucia, page, 31)

89. Adopt the mindset that your employees don’t work for you – you work for them. Refer to

your team members as: the people I work for. (Harvey and Lucia, page 33)

Zappos’ core values are directly linked to the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Elements of

Leadership vision outlined by Blanchard:

- Think about your life’s purpose. Why are you here, and what do you want to

accomplish? Hsieh has described his viewpoint as “Generally, I associate drama with

negative emotions, and I want to experience positive emotions…” Hsieh is also writing a

book called “Delivering Happiness”. (Jacobs, 2009) Based on his descriptions of what he

wants out of life, it is possible to describe Hsieh’s life purpose as experiencing and

delivering to others happiness positive emotions through his work.

- What are your core val ues that will guide your behavior as you attempt to live life “on

purpose”? Hsieh has defined these values in his 10 Core Values for Zappos. This is also

what is recommended by Harvey and Lucia; provide everyone with a copy of your

mission, vision, and val ues…


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Having read Chapter 15 of Leading at a Higher Level , as well as 144 Ways to Walk the

Talk , the values and elements which Blanchard has identified in creating and communicating a

leadership vision have clearly been utilized by Tony Hsieh and Zappos.com. As a result of

communicating to the employees of Zappos what they can expect to receive from and give to the

company, Zappos has attracted and maintained a dedicated work force as well as a reputation as

an outstanding customer service company. Zappos has risen to become the most popular on-line

shoe retailer, and it stands to reasons these keys for success could be carried over into any

venture, even the public service sector such as the military, as Blanchard describes in a case

study at the end of the chapter, drawing on the story and experience of a Navy SEAL Officer. In

short, a vision may determine the success of failure of a venture.


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Culture

In this section we will evaluate why Zappos' culture is one of the major contributing

factors that makes it an HPO. What exactly is an organization's culture? In chapter 13 of

Leading at a Higher Level, Ken Blanchard defines culture as "the context in which all practices

exist. It is the organization's personality; it's 'how things are done around here.' When we talk

about an organization's culture, we are referring to the values, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and

practices of the organizational members." (Blanchard 2011, p.241)

In Michelli's book, The Zappos Experience, he discusses the Zappos culture in great

detail. His opening statement in chapter 2 is "While the Zappos culture is enviably strong today,

the journey to its well-defined values was not exactly linear. The way the leaders at Zappos

developed their culture and defined their values should offer hope, insight, and encouragement to

those who lack a written set of values or feel there is a gap between their purported corporate

values and the actual culture of their business." (Michelli 2012, p.27) This statement is exactly

in line with what Blanchard discussed in his chapter 13 about how most low performing

organizations have that gap between their intended values and the actual values that are enacted

on a day-to-day basis.

In the beginning, the Zappos leadership team did not explicitly define their core values

when they started the business. Instead the leadership team implicitly demonstrated what the

values were. This is demonstrative of Harvey and Lucia’s behavior principle #12 from 144

Ways to Walk the Talk: “Make sure you WALK THE TALK. Earn the right to hold others to

high standards by meeting them yourself” ( Harvey and Lucia, p. 9). One of the leadership

team's goals was to create a work environment where people could have fun and experience a

sense of community. They firmly believed "people who play together stay together" and that


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When Zappos was in the beginning stages and after they acquired their first warehouse in

Kentucky in order to serve their customers with premier service, the initial characteristics of their

culture continued to evolve. The first employee who was responsible for the oversight of the

warehouse explained, “Determining what we think is right for the customer, setting a course in

that direction, diving in, making mistakes, and learning from those mistakes represents a lot of

how Zappos was created. We went through the development of our own processes at the

Fulfillment Center and figured things out as we went.” (Michelli 2012, p.13)

As the Zappos culture continued to evolve the leaders recognized the Zappos cultural

identity was headed toward one of service. Zappos leaders asked themselves these four

questions, which align with Blanchard's findings, in order to stay on track to culture

identification:

1. Do you have explicit corporate values? If so, do those values reflect a blend of your

founding principles and the evolving demands of the marketplace? Or are they static and

immutable?

2.

What do your customers value? How do your corporate values match up with the wants,

needs, and desires of your customers? (This is conducive with Harvey and Lucia’s #20:

Build business partnerships with your customers by under-promising, over-delivering,

and following-up to ensure they are satisfied. Solicit their input on how your products

and services can be improved” (p. 11).

3. Since values can be both explicit (stated) and implicit (unstated), do your corporate

actions align with your stated values? If not, what do the major decisions of your

business suggest about your company's real values?

4. How willing are you to consider revising your stated values to match your demonstrated

actions or revising your actions to match your stated values? What might those revisions

look like? (Michelli 2012, p. 31)


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Zappos’ CEO, Tony Hsieh, refers to his company’s values and culture as being

synonymous with the Zappos brand. He also knows it takes far more than words to produce a

culture that is values-driven. “The best way to know the Zappos culture is to take a tour or

interact with our people. Values are not what we do on paper; they’re what people do and how

they f eel doing it.” (Michelli, p. 16) In 2004, Zappos produced its first culture book where they

solicited uncensored feedback from their employees regarding the culture at Zappos. The

following are employee testimonials from the 2010 version of that book:

Alicia J. writes: “The Zappos Culture is born from Ten Core Values that are key to living life,

not just working here. So many companies talk about core values and mission statements at

orientation, but few follow through. Zappos lives and breathes its core values”.

Andrea B. writes: “The Zappos Culture runs deep in all the Zappos employees. It’s a way of life

for most of us, with principles and beliefs that we all apply to daily life, not just work. It’s

almost like an infectious disease”.

One common characteristic that Blanchard has found in the organizations which he

considers high performing is that "the culture serves their people, customers, and stakeholders

equally." (Blanchard, 2011 p. 243) Zappos’ leadership clearly understood the importance of

feelings in determining behavior. These leaders continually attempt to translate their values into

feelings of trust for all stakeholders to include vendors, employees, and customers. An example

of this trust is in Michelli’s book on page 16. One of the Customer Loyalty Team (CLT)

members stated that the trust experienced by the customers also reflects the trust extended to

staff. She states, “Our leaders put such a great level of trust in us to do the right thing without

hemming us in through scripts or unnecessary rules. They also encourage us to grow and have


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fun with our peers. Because of the way we are treated, Zappos gets the best from us, and so do

our customers. Obviously, some people will violate trust, and you can manage that when it

happens, but that doesn’t justify distrusting. You get so much in return when trust is extended-

you get wow”. This is a solid representation of Harvey and Lucia’s # 93: Share authority. Let

each team member be the “owner” of something meaningful - like a process, a database, a piece

of equipment, a room in your facility, etc. Having real (and recognized) authority changes the

scope and perception of a respon sibility that is already part of the job description” (p. 34).

Blanchard creates a model for a sound culture within organizations. In order to achieve this,

he states three elements must be in place:

1. A foundation of clear performance expectations

2. Behaviorally defined values, and

3. Accountability for demonstrating both (Blanchard 247)

Zappos’ culture clearly reflects all three of these characteristics. The Zappos culture has a solid

foundation based upon these concepts. Blanchard reiterates on p. 256-257 that in order for

organizations to create high performing cultures they must also share 5 critical success factors

which are all clearly demonstrated by Zappos as well. They are as follows:

1. The senior leadership team must demonstrate commitment to the long-term process. The

senior team must be the champions of change.

2. Values must be defined in behavioral terms. When behavioral terms are used then they

are measurable.

3. Accountability for delivering promised performance and demonstrating valued behaviors

is paramount. Consequences must be applied both ways; negative consequences must be

administered when performance is sub-standard and positive consequences must be

administered when standards are met or superseded.


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4. It is vital that all staff are involved in and buy into the culture transformation at every

phase. Everyone in the organization must have input into defining the culture. This will

help solidify their overall commitment and enhance their passion.

5. The elephant must be eaten one bite at a time. The development process must be

strategic. Start small and ensure the process is understood and then branch out to other

parts of the organization.

It is clear from the points made here and throughout the rest of this paper, that the Zappos

culture meets all five of these standards and is truly evident and top priority in everything right

from the initial interview through the delivery of the product to the consumer. It is woven into

the fabric of everything Zappos touches; it is real, malleable, and alive. Zappos' culture is

aligned with Ken Blanchard's interpretation of what a high performing culture looks like and

represents and with Harvey and Lucia’s 144 Ways to Walk the Talk. This is clearly

demonstrated from the emphasis on their values; the way senior leaders model and demonstrate

the desired behavioral attributes, the desire to consistently seek improvements, the passionate

employee accounts of the Zappos culture and the employee participation, acceptance, buy-in and

ownership of the values system.


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Conclusion

As this paper has shown, Zappos is a company like no other. Having explored their

corporate structure, values, leadership attributes, and pipeline strategy, it is clear their unique

corporate culture is what drives their success. With low turnover and a stringent hiring policy,

they create loyalty among their employees through rigorous training. With a firm commitment to

their team, Zappos has consistently hit their goals and lives their ten core values with fervor and

passion.

Although we, as a team, feel that Zappos is amongst the best of high performing

organizations, we humbly offer the following suggestions (highlighted through the paper) for

continuous improvement:

Being cognizant that technology and customer needs will never remain stagnant, be sure

to continuously monitor new technology and communication tools and customer service

trends, as well as continue to poll customers about their wants/needs.

Currently, employees drive their own continuous improvement. Having managers

identify gaps in employee skill sets that limit the company’s current effectiveness may

also help to drive innovation and improvement.

Another training program that Zappos might offer its employees is one in “Supportive

leadership”, concentrating on the behavioral and emotional elements of leadership.

Be careful that continued growth of offering outside corporate training through their

“Insights” program may confuse the customer about the Zappos brand and its core

business as an online retailer. While many companies have grown to encompass many

industries, Zappos will want to think strategically about how it builds out this part of the

company so that customers and employees don’t get confused about the core business is.


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Tech Republic. October 1, 2009. Retrieved from:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-questions-on-customer-service-and-

delivering-happiness-an-interview-with-zappos-ceo-tony-hsieh/1067

Ueng. (October, 5 2009). Zappos: 4 keys to building your brand [Web log message]. Retrieved

from http://resoluteventures.typepad.com/savvys-resolute-adventures/2009/10/zappos-4-

keys-to-building-your-brand.html

Zappos, 2011. Zappos Family Core Values. Retrieved from: http://about.zappos.com/our-unique-

culture/zappos-core-values

Zappos IP, Inc. and its affiliates. (2010). 2010 Culture Book . Las Vegas, NV.

Zappos.com, (2011). Zappos.com, In The Beginning - Let There Be Shoes. Retrieved from:

http://about.zappos.com/zappos-story/in-the-beginning-let-there-be-shoes.

http://about.zappos.com/our-unique-culture/zappos-core-values/pursue-growth-and-

learning

http://www.zapposinsights.com/membership/faqs

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APPENDIX: Personal Learning

Derek Justice

This course and team project has acted as my introduction into collaborative learning at

Roger Williams University. It is truly an eye-opening experience. From the inclusive classroom

setting to the amazing professionalism of my peers, this introductory course has energized my

motivation to learn and contribute.

My initial contribution to this project was the vision section of our paper and PowerPoint.

I used sources from Blanchard, Harvey and Lucia, and multiple online sources to correlate our

learning of HPO’s with Zappos vision and values structure. This activity was by far the easiest

part of the project for me, since my experience in writing research papers is extensive. The

difficult part was collaborating with team members to achieve our group goals for the project.

This meant reducing my own content in my paper in some places and accepting specific

recommendations on my writing, which I found somewhat difficult. Group dynamics also

became an obstacle, forcing our team to find creative ways to solve our differences.

As for my overall project contributions, I will be the main presenter of our group project.

This is a role in which I thrive and can’t wait for our chance to showcase our hard work. The

individual content of each team member is wonderful, but when pieced together, the final

product will be outstanding. And I get to be the one to show it off! But the road to completion

has taught me some very good lessons. First, a team works well when individuals put their

personal objectives behind them and work toward a common goal. Second, good team leaders

are even better followers when it comes to specific recommendations and compromising. Third,

patience is a virtue. All individuals must be given a chance to provide support to the group

without receiving undue pressure or criticism. Fourth and finally, our group rocks! For the short

time we have worked together, we were a High Performing Organization. There were struggles


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and challenges, but we overcame these issues and utilized individual strengths toward a

collective goal.

I am fortunate to have had this experience and the wonderful support of my peers. Their

drive and determination empowered me to be at my best. I have already developed professional

relationships with my team members and hope to work with them again in the future. Thank you

to Dr. Arnold for making this course and group project a positive learning experience. And thank

you even more to my team members for your hard work and amazing contributions to our

project. You have all exceeded my personal expectations and made me proud to be a part of your

team.


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Ryan Maccormack

Looking back on the semester, I would first off like to say that it was indeed a very

important and eye opening class. Especially important were the new concepts I gleaned on the

nature of achieving a high performance organization, or turning around an organization that was

or is faltering. Coming from a military environment, I have often been shown only one way to do

things, one way to lead others and approach a task; the method of command and control. Our

book which we have used throughout the semester for our class discussions and the final paper,

Ken Blanchard’s Leading at a Higher Level introduced the idea that instead of rigid discipline

and control, one of the most important aspects of leading is to develop others, to train, and coach,

and bring them to the point where they can accomplish a task with minimal assistance and

maximum confidence. This does not mean that there is no longer any accountability, or any form

of discipline for failing to abide by the organization’s rules and regulations, but rather that the

first step is no control and intimidation, but developing and learning, with discipline as a last

resort. I have seen that some of the best leaders, in the Army, both NCOs and Officers, were

those that tried the mentor approach first off. Blanchard has given some very important concepts

to apply in my own line of work, and for that I am excited and grateful.

The team which I was assigned to work with on the class project were a very different

sort from those in my unit. They come from a variety of backgrounds, and occupations, and as

such they bring a different set of ideas and values to the project. They were flexible in terms of

when we would turn in our various parts of the project, which I believe made is easier for all of

us, with our lives and schedules so busy. They also never hesitated to lend a helpful suggestion

or some advice if one of use was confused on a particular portion of the assignment, and they

certainly never hesitated to answer a question when any team member had one. So far, our


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assignment is on track, nearing completion, and from all the drafts I have read of it, it will be an

impressive presentation, the culmination of our hard work this semester. In all, it has been a

thoroughly interesting and educational experience, and I look forward to the day we present to

the class. Thanks folks, it’s been a good experience. Best of luck to all of us in the presentation

and the rest of the semester.


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Shawn McCurley

Creating High Performance Organizations has been a great class. I enjoyed reading Ken

Blanchard’s Leading at a Higher Level and Harvey and Lucia’s 144 Ways to Walk the Talk. Our

team projects were also very educational. I feel the team project brought everything we learned

throughout the semester together in a real world organization and I was able to see exactly how a

high performing organization sets itself apart from average organizations. Our team chose to

utilize Zappos as our organization of interest.

I was amazed how each of the areas we were assigned to evaluate were congruent with

Blanchard’s findings in his book. In my opinion Zappos is truly a high performing

organization…from its culture, hiring practices, training, vision, leaders, and many other aspects

that were evaluated. Working on this project has given us the ability to begin to look at an

organization and see it from a much different perspective. As we learned what makes

organizations high performing and how they can increase the triple bottom line, it has given me

the necessary tools and insight into the type of organization I would like to work in. It has also

enabled me to look at existing organizations with more of a critical eye and seek ways to

improve and bring them to the next level.

I was responsible for the section on the Zappos culture and the power point slides

associated with culture. Our team was an interesting mix of people. I think the energy and

enthusiasm was outstanding among the team. It is always interesting to watch a team come

together for the first time and experience the growing pains and cycles that they all go through.

We experienced all the team development stages that Blanchard outlined in his book and once

again when I stepped back and reflected on the process it’s amazing how everything fell in line


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with Blanchard’s findings and development models. It has given me more of a strategic

viewpoint and mindset to the overall project management process.

Lastly, I would like to thank the team for their flexibility and understanding when I was

unable to meet certain deadlines due to personal and professional conflicts. This semester was a

bit turbulent for me and the team’s support was very helpful. The professionalism and teamwork

was inspiring!


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Konni Mergner

My contribution to the paper is the 3rd chapter – “Serving customers at a higher level”. I

also edited and put the final touches on the power point presentation.

Reading through the assignments at the beginning of the course I was questioning if a

team paper could be done with the means we had, the short timeframe and the fact that all team

members are spread locally. I learned that within a group of highly motivated individuals work

can be shared and an excellent result can be delivered. It helped quite a lot to have learned about

leaders and teamwork in a high performing organization. Everyone chipped in to deliver the best

they could for the best possible outcome.


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Kelly Nevins

I have really enjoyed my semester in Creating High Performing Organizations. Through

the readings, class discussions and team project, I feel I have a good blueprint for what a HPO

would look like. The team project helped to drive a lot of the concepts home, from creating a

vision of what the paper and presentation would look like, to identifying team member values

and creating a team culture for getting the project done. My contribution was the chapter on

coaching, and as editor of the paper. It was not easy to play the role of editor, as I know each

person worked hard on their sections and that it can be hard to both offer, and receive advice on

how to strengthen our respective pieces.

As identified in Chapter 10 of Ken Blanchard’s Leading at a Higher Level, our group

definitely went through the five stages of team development. In our orientation phase, we

brainstormed ideas for our topic and settled on Zappos. We agreed on individual assignments

and deadlines. Although never formally stated, we informally selected a leader to mediate the

process as we worked together.

In the dissatisfaction phase, we learned that people had a different understanding of what

had been agreed upon. There was some “storming” that took place, as we identified what values

were most important to us and clarified our goals. Given the passion evident within our group

members, I feel like the storming phase passed fairly quickly and we were able to move into the

integration phase. It became clear of the individual talents each of our team members had, and it

seemed to me we really started operating as a team.

The delivery of this paper and our presentation indicates that we successfully navigated

to the production stage. I would say the quality of our project is high and that there was no


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“one” person who did the lion’s share of work. When we leave this class, the pr oject and our

team will “terminate” and I for one, would like to congratulate our team on doing a great job.

The pro

Zappos as a HPO Final Paper

Documents