To get an even better idea of what Zappos looks like on the inside without reading up or taking a tour of their headquarters in Las Vegas, take a look at their YouTube Channel (where most of the videos are employee generated). At the moment, I can’t think of any other company that is empowering employees to use social media in this way (like Twitter). I already knew about the employee parades, but who knew they had a head shaving day? I think there is obviously a lot to learn about this approach of running a fast growing company with such a high level of transparency and giving employees this much freedom.

I wonder if Tony predicted how much attention and consistently great PR Zappos would get for operating the way they do. Why is it that I have blogged about them not one, or two, but three times now? It’s well known that they hit $1 billion in revenue last year and only recently have they started to actually spend money on TV advertising.

Make sure to read the full Inc. article here. Also check out my other post Happy employees get their own book and Robert Scoble’s recent post summarizing his visit to the company’s headquarters.

In this interview, Tony Hsieh talks about the several ways the company differentiates itself (many of which are widely known but others not). He also goes on to mention that Zappos releases a book every year called The Culture Book that consists of authentic employee responses when they are asked what the Zappos culture means to them. I got a hold of this year’s book by emailing Tony. After browsing the book and reading through some of the responses, you immediately get the feeling that Zappos employees are very proud of working for the company no matter what position they hold (book is organized by departments).

So why put this book together? The answer to that is not clear, but the book says it does get “distributed to employees, prospective employees, business partners, and even some customers.” So that alone should tell you it’s very likely used as an effective way of recruiting new employees and further proving to the business world that Zappos is onto something.

Your employees are happy and they are not afraid to tell their story, why wouldn’t you want everyone to know?

Besides this interview, there is already tons of discussion on what differentiates Zappos as a company and now as a major brand, but I keep finding myself amazed at how seriously they take employee and customer satisfaction and how open they are with sharing their reasons for success. Tony’s presentation from a conference last year on how they got to $1 billion is sales is even available on Slideshare.

When I posted about the Zappos Culture book on Twitter, Julio Fernandez (@SocialJulio) replied with this important question:

Whatever happens, I think the Zappos story is becoming more valuable as time goes on and as they continue growing with very little marketing. Email Tony to get a free copy of The Culture Book (he replied to me within a few hours and I had the book in 2 days) or buy a copy on their site.

In that short section, he briefly explains what Twitter is all about and then mentions one example of how Laura Fitton (@pistachio) built enough trust over time to grow her following to just over 16,000 people. Laura obviously saw huge potential in using Twitter as a tribe building tool early on. While building her own tribe, she also impacted the lives of many others who have now managed to build tribes of their own.

The essential lesson is that every day it gets easier to tighten the relationship you have with the people who chose to follow you.

There are hundreds of other examples of leaders increasing their reach though using different online mediums. The first two that come to mind are Guy Kawasaki, who started with his blog How to Change the World and Gary Vaynerchuck, through his Wine Library TV videos. Godin emphasizes in the book that although these online methods can be very successful, they are still not the only answer in building a tribe of followers.

But never forget: it’s about quality not quantity. You will hear this many times on Twitter and its been discussed over and over. I am sure there are some users (like Tad Chef) with 200 close followers that are getting the same amount of benefit from using Twitter than some who have 2,000 uninterested people following them. 2,000 close followers could take a few days or a few years for some people to attain, but the best thing you can do it just stay patient and continue to lay the foundation. A tribe leader must always focus on gaining the trust of people first no matter what method they are using, online or offline. Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr.

You are supposed to think about a manager you had in the past which really helped you succeed and that you thought was a good leader. If you have trouble thinking of one or you never had a manager like this, then I think you should just answer with the qualities you really believe a good manager should have.

My answer would go something like this:

“I think the most important qualities for a manager to have are compassion and a willingness to help no matter what. A good manager should also be a very good trainer if the are managing employees because I feel that is one of the most important roles of a manager. It is up to them to make sure that the employees are able to do their jobs which should result in everyone being happier overall. A good manager should also realize the importance of positive and negative feedback. Praising someone when they do something right can be a great motivator. I think any manager with these qualities will be successful.”