5 CEO Lessons from 'Shoe Dog' - Nike's making - Phil Knight

1. Crazy Idea To Reality: “So that morning in 1962 I told myself: Let everyone else call your idea crazy . . . just keep going. Don’t stop. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop. " - Phil Knight, Shoe Dog

Phil writes about how he loved running - went on a backpacking trip around the world - liked Japanese cameras - figured Japanese shoes would also be better - came back to the US - started a running shoe import business - out of his parents' home. Kept building till it was an empire and a revolution. This 'crazy idea' came to him on a run but he believed in it and worked like crazy to make this idea a reality. He envisioned the future. Once he started the race, he didn't stop - there was no 'finish line' for him.

2. Teamwork: “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”― Phil Knight , Shoe Dog

Phil recounts how he hired 5 people as his core team - all of them sedentary people - barring one, no one liked to run or exercise - however, they were masters of their field - be it finance; negotiation; sales; design or warehouse inventory. They all also believed in Phil and his vision - to have a sports company that will change the world and empower people. So they took ownership and did things - Phil never had to tell them how to do the job.

3. Values : “What if there were a way, without being an athlete, to feel what athletes feel? To play all the time, instead of working?

Why was selling shoes so different? Because, I realized, it wasn’t selling. I believed in running. I believed that if people got out and ran a few miles every day, the world would be a better place, and I believed these shoes were better to run in.

People, sensing my belief, wanted some of that belief for themselves. Belief, I decided. Belief is irresistible. Sometimes.” Phil Knight, Shoe Dog

Nike is not a company - it's not a business - it's a movement - it's a rebellion - it's a cause. Across the world. It gets it's name from the Greek Goddess of victory, Athena. That is the cause that beat Adidas and Puma and Converse in the 1970's US. Nike was deliberately aligned to Phil's value for excellence and pushing oneself beyond one's limits - like a true athlete. If your business is just about making money, it won't make an impact - it won't make history. What do you stand for? What do your employees take pride in?

4. Go All In - " The art of competing, I’d learned from track, was the art of forgetting, and I now reminded myself of that fact. You must forget your limits. You must forget your doubts, your pain, your past. "

For the first decade, all the money Phil's company, 'Blue Ribbon' made was channelised back into the company - Phil worked at PWC full time to pay his bills and by night and weekends, he built the company. He bet every moment of his life on it - he bet his closest friends' money on it - his family's future on it. Even in the face of FBI raids or bank pressure or sweatshops in Taiwan closing, Phil and his team and his vision kept going. In for the long run.

5. Growth - “Life is growth. You grow or you die. I refused to even consider ordering less inventory. Grow or die, that’s what I believed, no matter the situation.” ― Phil Knight, Shoe Dog

How much can someone study? Phil was an MBA from Stanford - yet he went for an accountancy course - then kept studying and reading on every country he did business in - studied the upcoming trends - researched on athletes - studied negotiation strategies in Japanese and then Mandarin on flights - he kept growing - with his company's growth. How many of us can make this commitment over close to two decades? This is the stuff legends are made of.

Read the book. #ShoeDog. You will get up and go for a run. Even if you are not a runner.