????首先，他在店鋪里轉(zhuǎn)悠的時候，總是不停地撿垃圾：小包裝袋、回形針、煙頭，以及沒有準確擊中垃圾桶的皺紙杯。我最初注意到這一點時，以為他是想以身垂范，讓我個人明白某個道理（畢竟，我是位助理店員）。但很明顯他不只是在我面前撿垃圾，他一直都這樣做，毫不做作，不事張揚。我從未聽他說："難道不能把垃圾放入垃圾簍么？"他只是把垃圾撿起來，放入簍中。此外，總能發(fā)現(xiàn)他在整理店中的東西：彈彈枕頭、扶正相框、還原酒吧凳，蹲下來弄平搖搖晃晃的桌子。

????有一天，商鋪后面的對講機響了："斯科特?韋斯（作者的名字——譯注），到前面去搬貨。"我回想起我的初中校規(guī)，當然沒有疾步?jīng)_向前臺；可是當我按時趕到那里時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)叔叔正跟隨一位女士走出店鋪，手里拿著一只茶幾。"哦！"他從未提起過這件事——他只是做了。

????雖然這是一個高檔家具店，但埃德叔叔卻異常節(jié)儉。他從不會省工省料，但憎惡浪費。"斯科特，沒必要用那么多泡沫包裝一盞燈。來，我示范給你看。"在家里，他洗完手后會把紙巾放在臺面上晾曬干："紙巾又沒臟，只是濕了。"好吧，說他節(jié)儉是有點輕描淡寫了。

????家具店里有80位員工，埃德知道他們每個人的名字。他也認識店員的家人。不管他在何時何地碰到其中的任何一位，他總會跟他們進行一番真切的溝通——不是那種假裝熱情的寒暄。"你兒子啥時候畢業(yè)？""你怎么修好那個劃痕的？哇，看起來很完美。"他總是面帶微笑，興趣盎然的眼神似乎是在說："你對我很重要。"

????在競爭激烈、利潤微薄、參與者眾多的零售行業(yè)，埃德希望用沃爾瑪式（Wal-Mart）的超低預(yù)算，推廣布魯明戴爾百貨店（Bloomingdale's）的名牌產(chǎn)品。展廳必須美觀大方，一塵不染——要與品牌相匹配。客戶服務(wù)是至關(guān)重要的一環(huán)。為了獲得成功，每位員工都必須有這種心態(tài)。

????我逐漸意識到埃德正在創(chuàng)造一種公司文化，盡管我們當時還未采用這種說法。置身硅谷的我們時常淹沒在各種"新新"方式之中，我們常常忘記了，我們只是在重新發(fā)現(xiàn)一些可追溯至涉及商業(yè)根本的樸素教訓(xùn)。

????不管你喜歡與否，每個人都在看領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的所作所為。他做什么事？說什么話？不說什么話？他如何反應(yīng)？他的行為被組織上下模仿，放大。CEO和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層最終是用其行為，而不是人力資源部推出的一系列政策，塑造出公司文化。受埃德的啟發(fā)，我在這里列舉幾條我相信會讓所有初創(chuàng)企業(yè)CEO受益的經(jīng)驗：

?????時常自然、安靜地展示出這樣的態(tài)度，沒有你不能做的瑣事：吃完工作餐之后打掃會議室，親自攜帶笨重的展品去參加貿(mào)易展覽，替換水冷器，擦拭溢水。當每個人都變得更勤快了，你就可以節(jié)省5%的開銷。

?????做好自己的日程安排，雇傭助理的時間拖得越長越好。因為一旦你這么做，突然之間，每個人似乎都需要一位助理。如果每個人都能做好自身的日程安排，一位優(yōu)秀的辦公室經(jīng)理人所管理的員工數(shù)量可上升至50位。

?????撰寫詳盡、周到且坦誠的復(fù)審報告，并按時完成。如果你不認真對待復(fù)審工作，沒有人會把它當回事。

?????記住所有人的名字，并嘗試著了解他們——如果員工數(shù)量在500人以下，沒有理由不這么做。對我來說，這一點的確很難，因為我的記性很差，一直都很差。辦法總是人想出來的：當初我接手思科公司（Cisco）的900名員工的時候，我們根據(jù)徽章數(shù)據(jù)庫的資料印制了許多抽認卡。

????? 提前準備，竭力做好員工的面試工作——不要即興表演。

????? 行事節(jié)儉時要引人注目：坐二等艙，住廉價酒店，在食堂就餐。

?????反應(yīng)要快到令人難以置信，要隨時可聯(lián)絡(luò)到，要準時。

????上述建議僅僅是針對如何讓CEO變得更加平易近人而言。平易近人是領(lǐng)導(dǎo)最難能可貴，也是最重要的特質(zhì)之一。員工是否可以很輕松地表達與領(lǐng)導(dǎo)相左的意見？出現(xiàn)某種差錯時，他們是否會如實相告？依我的經(jīng)驗看，CEO和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的行事風(fēng)格越正規(guī)，他們就變得越難以接觸。這跟是否穿牛仔褲無關(guān)——而跟行為舉止有關(guān)。我叔叔店鋪的氛圍是非常正式的：他系著一條領(lǐng)帶，每個人都稱呼他"卡林先生"。盡管如此，他還是能以極其友善的態(tài)度，對每個人的了解程度，以及事必躬親的行動意愿，克服了這種外在的正式感。無論你采用何種方式創(chuàng)造出這種"可接近性"，它絕對有助于你創(chuàng)造一個讓員工暢所欲言，挑戰(zhàn)現(xiàn)狀，充滿創(chuàng)新氣息的工作氛圍。

????斯科特?韋斯是公司安德森霍洛維茨（AndreessenHorowitz）的普通合伙人。他曾參與創(chuàng)建IronPort系統(tǒng)公司，并擔(dān)任CEO一職，該公司于2007年被思科公司收購。

????譯者：任文科

????In 1950, my uncle Ed Kalin opened a small designer furniture store. After years of hard work, he saved up and opened a larger one. Growing up working there, I'd observed him doing things that, at first, were hard for me to understand.

????First of all, when he walked around the store, he was constantly picking up trash. Little wrappers, paperclips, cigarette butts and the squashed paper cup that didn't quite hit the trash can. When I first noticed it, I thought he was trying to drive home a point to me personally -- after all, I was the assistant janitor -- but it became clear he wasn't just picking up trash in front of me, he did it all the time, naturally and quietly. You never heard him say, "Can't they make it into the wastebasket?" He just picked it up and put it in. He was also always straightening: fluffing pillows, righting picture frames, sliding back bar stools and getting down on his knees to level a rickety table.

????One day, the intercom rang out in the back of the warehouse, "Scott Weiss, to the front for a carry out." Recalling my work ethic in junior high school, I certainly didn't sprint to get there; I arrived just in time to see my uncle following a lady out with an end table in his hands. "Doh!" He never mentioned it -- he just did it.

????Although this was a high-end furniture store, uncle Ed was also unusually thrifty. He didn't cut corners on quality but abhorred waste. "Scott, you don't need to use that much bubble wrap for a lamp. Here, let me show you." At home, he would set paper towels on the counter to dry after washing his hands: "They're not dirty, just wet." OK, thrifty was an understatement.

????There were 80 employees at the furniture store and Ed knew every one of them by name. He knew their families. And whenever he passed anyone, anywhere, he'd have an authentic interaction with them -- not a glad-handling schmooze. "When does your son graduate?" "How were you able to fix that scratch? Wow, looks perfect." Always with a smile and interested eyes that communicated, "You matter to me."

????In a competitive, low-margin, high-hustle retail business, Ed wanted to project Bloomingdale's with a Wal-Mart (WMT) budget. The showroom had to be beautiful, spotless—just perfect to look the part. Customer service was paramount. In order to be successful, every employee had to have this mentality.

????Although we didn't call it that then, I've come to believe that Ed was creating a company culture. We often get wrapped up in Silicon Valley with the "new-new" way that we can forget many times we're simply rediscovering well-worn lessons that date back to the beginnings of commerce.

????Like it or not, everyone watches the leader. What does he do? What does he say? What does he not say? How does he react? His behavior is mimicked and amplified throughout the organization. The CEO and the leadership team ultimately set the company culture with their behaviors versus a set of policies rolled out by the HR department. Inspired by Ed, here are a few takeaways that I believe apply to all startup CEOs:

????? Naturally and quietly demonstrate, on a regular basis, that no chore is beneath you: clean up after a conference room lunch, carry the heavy crap to a trade show, replace the water cooler, wipe up the spill. When everyone pitches in a little, you can strip out 5% in overhead.

????? Do your own calendaring and wait as long as possible to hire an assistant because once you do, everybody suddenly needs one. One great office manager can scale to 50 employees if everyone calendars themselves.

????? Write thorough, thoughtful, candid reviews and be on time with the process. If you don't take it seriously, nobody will.

????? Get to know everyone by name and something about them -- no excuses up to 500 people. This was really hard for me because I have a terrible memory, always have. Get creative: we printed out flashcards from the badge database when I inherited 900 employees at Cisco (CSCO).

????? Prepare ahead and interview candidates hard -- don't wing it.

????? Be noticeably thrifty: fly coach, stay in cheap hotels, eat in diners.

????? Be unbelievably responsive, available and punctual.

????Some of the suggestions above are simply about making a CEO more approachable -- one of the hardest and most important attributes for a leader to exude. Are people comfortable disagreeing with him? Will they tell him when something is wrong? In my experience, the more formal the CEO is, the more formal the leadership team is and thus they all become less approachable. And it's not just about wearing jeans -- it's about behavior. My uncle's store was a very formal environment: he wore a tie and everyone addressed him as "Mr. Kalin." That said, he was able to overcome this outward formality with fanatic friendliness, a familiarity with everyone and a willingness to get his hands dirty. Approachability, however you create it, is absolutely critical to creating an innovation environment where employees speak up and challenge the status quo.

????Scott Weiss is a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is the former co-founder and CEO of IronPort Systems, which was acquired by Cisco in 2007.