Nike business leadership despite covid19: how and why

 

Nike reported last week of an amazing recovery despite covid-19. the stock has jumped 12% and digital sales have risen 82%.

Today Nike is one of the leading brands in the world. Phil Knight created Nike from scratch, embarking on a crazy entrepreneurial roller coaster journey. He started selling shoes behind his car, and today many sports icons proudly wear them. Not to mention the 10 million people around the world who bought his shoes.

 In his book, Shoe Dog, Phil Knight tells about the lessons he learned in his entrepreneurial life:

1.      Get started before you are ready. When Phil graduated from college, Adidas and Puma were already huge companies and Nike was just a crazy idea in his mind. He saw that Japanese cars became very popular in America, and his idea was that Japanese shoes could also be very popular in America. Then, on his vacation, he stopped in Japan. When he barely graduated from college, he entered a Japanese company and sat down in the conference room at Onitsuka company and its management. The company thought Phil represented an American-based company. When asked what company he represents, Phil says "blue ribbon." It was the first name that popped into his mind, as he thought about the blue ribbon, he won in sports during his school days. Surprisingly, Onitsuka saw an opportunity in America. They agreed that he would sell their shoes in America and Phil started selling from the trunk of his vehicle.

2.      Rapid Failure: Wisdom is an asset "Life shrinks or expands concerning human courage." In those early years, Phil's mantra became "fail fast." If the blue ribbon was supposed to fail, he wanted it to fail quickly so that he would have enough time to use the lessons produced in his next project.

3.      Look for a conversation, not a career. Eventually, Nike did make Phil very rich. But if money was his main motive, he would never have survived the first years, which yielded very little income and he had to work, in addition, in an accounting firm to make a living. Instead, Phil saw in the exciting journey of growing a business the reason for doing so. It made him feel alive and he chose people who felt like him towards running and growing a business. And used Arnold Schwanzinger's sentence "Excitement is the difference between life and existence."

4.      Life is growth. You grow or you die. Phil spent all his money on Nike expansion, once shipping is over, he used all the profits to order a new one. Even when rapid growth has caused many problems for banks. He decided to do it because for him you grew up or you died.

5.      Life is interesting when it’s challenging. Phil had to overcome many challenges including his relationship with Onitsuka that fell apart and he had to find a production solution. If there is no difficulty in overcoming, then you will get bored. Most people avoid challenges and discomfort and then wonder why they feel bored and unfulfilled.

6.      Do not tell people how to do things. Phil allows people to solve problems on their own. In the past, some of his

employees said he took this strategy too far when he did not reply to many of their letters and memos. It made them want to pull out hair. But it worked for him and brought them to peaks every time again.

7.      It's easy to sell something when you believe so.  Phil realized that people are smart. They can feel when you truly believe in your product. You should always provide the highest quality product you can because making sales and getting word to mouth recommendations will be much easier.

8.      Your business name or logo is not important. Phil did not like the Nike name and logo at first, but it did not affect Nike's success. Nike has grown because of its leadership,  amazing employees, marketing, product design, etc. All other parts of the business have made the company what it is today. So, don’t get too stuck in your business name or logo. This is not the thing that will make you successful or fail.

9.      Unity is what we are all looking for. Like books, sport also gives people a sense that they have lived other lives, of participating in other people's victories, and of unity between people. Phil believes that unity is what everyone is really looking for. Everyone in the world wants to feel part of something bigger.