Here you go:

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com, probably wasn’t thinking of building an executive coaching career when he Zappos was in its infancy, but he sure developed a great strategy for building a winning team. I recently had the opportunity to tour the corporate offices in Las Vegas. Had I not seen the culture with my own eyes, it would have been hard to believe that this was the same company that grew from $0 to $1.2 billion in 10 years.

Executive Coaching Career Secrets That I Stole From Zappos

Tony says that the key to Zappos success was in culture of the organization, and part of that was culture was to give great service to everyone. This includes customers, employees and vendors. When you walk into Zappos, it’s obvious that something is very different. People are happy, genuinely happy. One employee told me that his daily mission is to pass on happiness to others. He said when he does that he goes home knowing that the difference he made in someone’s life will be passed to someone else; like the ripple effect of a rock in a pond.

Zappos’ 10 Core Values

Zappos does more than pay lip service to its core values. The employees actually live them. One of the core values, “Pursue Growth and Learning,” is encouraged by an onsite library and an onsite coach. The coaching isn’t limited to executive or career coaching, but can be about any goals employees wish to pursue. One of the most unusual values I’ve seen in my executive coaching career is, “Create Fun and a Little Weirdness.” There didn’t appear to be a dress code, one area was carpeted with artificial turf, and employees decorated their desks from anywhere from Christmas paper covering every surface to a jungle theme with vines hanging from the ceiling.

What can you take home and use in your executive coaching career? Zappos clearly has proven that when employees are treated really well, they pay it forward. As Tony says in his book, “Delivering Happiness,” creating a culture of happiness within your organization is the key to profits, passion, and purpose. But happiness isn’t found in getting great benefits from your boss, as many managers think. This is a low form of bribery. All the ice cream, company picnics, and other perks typically delivered to employees only produce temporary happiness. That happiness disappears the moment the perk is consumed or the party is over. The way to lasting happiness is helping employees find their higher purpose.

If you are really serious about an executive coaching career, I highly recommend reading Tony’s book, “Delivering Happiness” as well as the “Zappos 2010 Culture Book” if you can get your hands on it. Both of these books provide insights into a different world than we typically see in corporate America.

By the way… you’re invited to claim your FREE step-by-step “Master Coach Blueprint” video toolkit. Just go HERE now to get your master coach blueprint videos.

Colette Seymann
JTS Advisors Designated Accountability Coach