Leading outside the lines: How to Mobilize the (in)Formal Organization, Energize Your Team, and Get Better Results

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When the Balance Shifts

 

 

 

 

Let’s think about your customer, the do-it-yourselfer,” Bernie Marcus would tell his class of The Home Depot trainees, according to Chris Roush in his book, Inside Home Depot. Bernie goes on to describe how the customer drives for several miles to reach the store and has to park a long way from the entrance. He wanders the aisles searching for a specific nut, but when he gets to where he’s bought the item before, he can’t find what he wants. ”You just screwed the customer!” Bernie says.¹

When Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank founded The Home Depot they fervently desired to serve their customers, not screw them. And they believed the best way not to screw customers was to not screw their employees—as the two ...