The Way I Work: Blake Mycoskie of Toms Shoes
Blake Mycoskie, founder of Toms Shoes, built a lifestylebusiness based on social entrepreneurship.
Blake Mycoskie doesn't like to sit still. A serialentrepreneur, Mycoskie got the idea for his latest company, TomsShoes, while on vacation in Argentina. After spending time inseveral villages in which children didn't own shoes, he created acompany -- originally dubbed Shoes for Tomorrow -- in which helpingthose kids, and others like them, is part of the business plan. Forevery pair of shoes Toms sells, it donates a new pair to a child ina developing country. In the four years since its founding, the LosAngeles-based company, which has 72 employees, has given away600,000 pairs of shoes. The company's canvas slip-on shoes -- thesame type it often donates -- now sell for $45 to $85 a pair inupscale retailers such as Nordstrom and Bergdorf Goodman.
The more Toms grows, the less time Mycoskie seems to spendin the office. He delegates the day-to-day operation of the companyto his management team. That frees him up to spend much of his timetraveling -- spreading the Toms gospel, delivering shoes tochildren in Africa and South America, and taking fairly lengthyvacations. When he is not on the road, Mycoskie, 33, reconnectswith employees in quick, focused meetings and in relaxed afternoonson his sailboat.
My schedule varies depending on what city I wake up in. Thesedays, I'm home in L.A. about five or six days a month, and the restof the time I'm on the road.
I live on a boat in Marina del Rey. When I wake up on the boat,it's very relaxed. I usually get up at 8:30, have a Clif Bar forbreakfast, and spend a few hours thinking and writing before goingin to the office. Almost every morning I write in my journal. I'vebeen keeping it for a long time -- I've filled more than 50 books.I write about what's going on in my personal and spiritual life orwhat's going on at work. It helps me keep things in perspective,especially when things get crazy or I get stressed or we haveobstacles. When I go back a month later and read what I wasfeeling, I realize that it wasn't that big of a deal -- we gotthrough it. And that helps me prepare for the next time that I dealwith difficult stuff.
Lately, my wake-up call has been around 4:45 a.m., so that I cancatch early flights. Often, I'm traveling around the country tospeak at companies and universities about our business model. Ilove teaching people about what we do. My goal is to inspire thenext generation of entrepreneurs and company leaders to thinkdifferently about how they incorporate giving into their businessmodels. Plus, many of the people who hear me speak eventuallypurchase a pair of Toms, share the story with others, or supportour campaigns like One Day Without Shoes, which has people gobarefoot for one day a year to raise awareness about the childrenwe serve. I also travel to meet with organizations like CARE andthe World Health Organization. Then I'll go to Ethiopia for threeweeks to give away 3,000 pairs of shoes to kids.
I don't get jet lagged that much. I'm so used to traveling andbeing in different places every day that I can sleep anywhere. Iread quite a bit when I'm on the road. I've read a lot of businessbiographies. I dropped out of college when I was a sophomore, sothose were my education in business. I've probably read 40 to 50 ofthem -- on Michael Eisner, David Geffen, Howard Schultz. TedTurner's autobiography is really interesting, and so is SamWalton's. I read that one very early in my career. The great thingabout biographies is the subjects have already been successful, sothey're not insecure about their failures. Howard Schultz doesn'tmind talking about all the dumb things he did when he startedStarbucks. Reading about those mistakes taught me a lot.
I also use plane rides to catch up on e-mail. I go through theseperiods when I won't respond to e-mail for three or four days, andthen I'll get on a plane and write 300 e-mails. People who workwith me have gotten used to it. And they know when I've landed,because suddenly they'll get a bunch of e-mails from me on a Fridayat 10 p.m. My staff members call it the "Toms bomb."
When I'm traveling, I usually send one e-mail a week to thewhole staff. I try to stay connected to everyone through letters.Some people call them little manifestoes. I'm a very open person,so I really tell the staff what I'm struggling with and what I'mhappy about. I tell them what I think the future of Toms is. I wantthem to understand what I'm thinking. It's like I'm writing to abest friend.
Anything that really inspires me and that I think is relevant toour overall mission, I try to share with them. Sometimes, I'll tellthem about an amazing article I read in a magazine -- about anissue we should challenge ourselves to think about. When I was gonea few months ago, I was reading a lot of Emerson, so I startedsending the staff a lot of my favorite Emerson quotes and poems.When I got back, I printed all of the Emerson e-mails and put themin a binder, so everyone could read it throughout the year.
Several times a year, I lead shoe drops in different parts ofthe world. I'll go with a group of 10 to 15 people -- Toms staffmembers and volunteers -- to hand out shoes. After an employee iswith us for a year, he or she gets to go on a shoe drop. We'regiving away shoes in 28 countries now. The shoes not only help kidsgo to school, but they prevent life-threatening diseases. We'rehelping to prevent hookworm in Guatemala. In Ethiopia, we'repreventing podoconiosis, a disease that can cause the feet and legsto swell to dangerous proportions. Kids get it from walkingbarefoot on volcanic soil. We're getting more involved in gettingthe best doctors and clinics there, so we can take it to the nextlevel of prevention.
When I go on shoe drops, I meet with our partners: nonprofitsand other organizations involved in public health. They help usgive away shoes all year long. We partner with organizations thatare already in the community, because they really know what thekids need. They tell me what's working, what they need more helpwith.
When we're in these countries, we are in the field at least oncea day hand-placing shoes on kids' feet. It's really important forus to go back and do that. It's a renewable energy source for me.Seeing the smiles on those kids' faces makes me excited to continueon.
When I'm traveling, I check in with the office occasionally, butI'm not the day-to-day manager. The reason I can travel so much isthat I've put together a strong team of about 10 people who prettymuch lead the company while I am gone. Candice Wolfswinkel is mychief of staff and the keeper of the culture. Candice has been withme from the beginning, and she tells me what the vibe is like inthe office. That's really important to me, because when I'm gone, Ican write a letter, but I don't get the feeling of the office.
I'm on the phone a lot with my assistant Megan Memmott, whohandles my schedule and requests for meetings. She will evenrespond to my e-mails for me if something's a high priority. I havean amazing CFO, Jeff Watts, and I'll check in with him twice aweek. I talk to my sales managers on a weekly basis. I also call myyounger brother Tyler a lot -- he's head of corporate sales. We'reeight years apart, so we weren't that close growing up. But when hecame out to L.A. in 2006, he started interning at Toms, and sincethen, we've grown a lot closer. Since I'm gone so much, it's nicehaving family in the office. I can just call Tyler up and say, "OK,what's the real deal?" and he'll tell me.
When I return to the office, I make sure to hold an all-staffmeeting. We all gather on one side of our warehouse. It's a chancefor me to tell everyone what I've been doing, where I've been, andusually I have something pretty exciting to share. It's nice tocome home and reconnect with my Toms family that way.
When I am in the office, there's a certain energy. Maybe becauseI'm such an anomaly now. There's all this excitement, and everyonewants to grab me. I have very focused meetings and sign off onthings. I like making decisions, but I'm not big on sitting aroundand talking about ideas. I get bored really quickly inbrainstorming meetings. I like it when the creative team hasalready thought of 10 ideas, and then we can just pick one. Iprefer to be involved in the first meeting -- to put my thumbprinton, say, a big marketing initiative or a new design -- and the lastmeeting.
June and July are slow travel months for me, so I'm in L.A.working in the office four or five days a week. It's a very openoffice environment. I sit next to the customer service people in acubicle, just like everyone else. I like to stand up, walk over topeople, and find out what they're working on. I bounce around fromdepartment to department. Sometimes it's disruptive, I think, butit's just the way I build things.
I usually work until 7 or 8 p.m. In the summertime, I leaveearly and go sailing almost every day. A lot of times, I'll inviteemployees to go with me, or I'll bring friends. It's my way ofstaying connected with my social group in L.A. I'm out theresailing and entertaining people and having a good time.
I'm a pretty social person, so almost every night when I'm intown, I also have some type of dinner or event scheduled. A lot oftimes, I'll have dinner with one of my employees. For instance, ifI haven't had the chance to catch up with my CFO that day, we'll goto dinner. I'm not a late-night person. After 10 p.m., I'm fallingasleep. If I'm out at that time, I'll be the one falling asleep atdinner.
For two or three months of the year, I kind of do my own thing.That's one of my dirty little secrets: I take a lot of time off. Iwent surfing for a month in Costa Rica last November. I went toUruguay and spent some time there. I'm going to Colorado for threeweeks to go fly-fishing. Getting away from work helps me sustain mypassion. And I do my best thinking when I'm on vacation. I'm notjust sitting on the beach drinking piña coladas. I'm exploring andmeeting new people. I'm getting inspired.
Traveling as much as I do, I get lonely sometimes. I havefriends now in cities all over the world, so I get to be social,but it's hard to have the deep meaningful relationships, especiallyan intimate one. With my guy friends, I can show up once a monthand go to dinner with them and they're happy. But that doesn't workso well with a girlfriend. Right now, that's a sacrifice I'mmaking. I do want to have a family -- I'm from a big family. In ayear, I think I'll make some different life choices, but I'm justnot ready yet.
Contemporary Management McGraw Hill Education 11th ed.
- How would you describe Blake Mycoskie's leadership style?
- Would you say that he's a charismatic leader? Why?
- What sources of power does he have?
- How does he motivate his followers?
