Trader Joe\u2019s was in a festive mood this morning. There were balloons and flowers everywhere and the employees were in costume. Alas, I arrived too early to sample the chocolate-dipped strawberries. I\u2019m a raving TJ\u2019s fan and not just because I love their food: I\u2019m fascinated by the atmosphere. The other day, I was checking out and I asked the always-cheerful man helping me how he was. \u201cFantastic!\u201d he replied. I pointed out that he always seemed to be fantastic and he said, \u201cHaving open heart surgery will do that.\u201d Then he shared a bit about his philosophy of optimism.<\/p>\n
Two other entrepreneurs that I love are Tom & Ray, the Car Talk<\/em> guys. As I was heading home from the post office this morning, they were talking to a woman who called in for advice on buying used cars for her college-aged sons. She mentioned that she was also going back to college. Later in the conversation, they asked what she was going to study and she said business. Immediately, Tom lectured her about her decision saying, \u201cBut you\u2019re an artist. You\u2019ll be bored to death. After a week you\u2019ll want to gnaw your leg off. Don\u2019t do something just because you think it will make more money.\u201d<\/p>\n My kind of guys.<\/p>\n They\u2019re not the only self-bossers that I\u2019m crazy about. My new love is Zappo\u2019s founder Tony Hsieh who just made Fast Company\u2019s<\/em> list of the 50 most innovative companies in the world. Here\u2019s a look at the foundation on which this company is built, in Hsieh\u2019s own words:<\/p>\n At Zappos, we have 10 core values that act as a formalized definition of our company culture. Our core values weren’t formed by a few people from senior management that sat around in a room at a company offsite. Instead, we invited every employee at Zappos to participate in the process, and here’s the final list\u00a0 we collectively came up with:<\/em> 1) Deliver WOW Through Service<\/em> 2) Embrace and Drive Change<\/em><\/p>\n 3) Create Fun and A Little Weirdness<\/em><\/p>\n 4) Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded<\/em><\/p>\n 5) Pursue Growth and Learning<\/em><\/p>\n 6) Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication<\/em><\/p>\n 7) Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit<\/em><\/p>\n 8) Do More With Less<\/em><\/p>\n 9) Be Passionate and Determined<\/em><\/p>\n 10) Be Humble<\/em><\/p>\n The cool thing about the Zappos core values is that\u00a0 I’ve used them as my own personal values as well. So it makes tweeting really easy for me… Whether I tweet about something personal or something related to Zappos, if I’m living my life through these 10 core values, it all goes towards building the Zappos brand while shaping me personally as well.<\/em> I urge you to add to your Valentine weekend celebration by viewing this Zappos\u2019 video on What is Love?<\/a><\/em>\u00a0.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s My Turn piece in Newsweek<\/em> is by Ann Banks and is called Stop Me if You\u2019ve Heard This One.<\/a><\/em> She\u2019s talkiing about traditional storytelling (as opposed to the way I talk about it in the Compelling Storytelling<\/strong> seminar), but it\u2019s a wonderful reminder of the power of storytelling. She ends by saying, \u201cWe need again to imagine a future that is meaningful in the face of difficult circumstances. Listening to each other\u2019s stories may grant us a sense of common purpose that money can\u2019t buy.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been wondering how I\u2019ll explain to my grandchildren what it was like to take pictures before digital photography. Thanks to Bill Geist, I realize there\u2019s a much longer list of things to show them that are new to our world. Last week on CBS Sunday Morning<\/em>, he did a delightful piece in honor of the show\u2019s 30th anniversary. Geist introduces his toddler granddaugther to everyday things that didn\u2019t exist 30 years ago. Take a look.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always liked Rick Steves\u2019 philosophy about travel being an opportunity to be a voluntary ambassador of world peace so I was happy to read that he received a Citizen Diplomat Award this week..\u00a0<\/p>\n He wrote about the experience on his blog and said, \u201c<\/span>NCIV promotes citizen diplomacy with nearly 100 community organizations throughout the United States. Working for the US Department of State, their mission is to welcome and enrich the experience of people (mostly education, business, and political leaders) who visit our country…There\u2019s always something uplifting about getting committed, caring people with the same passion together in the same room. I enjoyed giving my Travel as a Political Act<\/em> talk, and they seemed to gobble up the ideas. Even though I may have been preaching to the choir, there is a powerful, intangible value in such a pep rally (for me, as well as for my audience).\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>\n<\/p>\n