THE NIKE STORY? JUST TELL IT! WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK OF NIKE, THEY THINK OF THE BEST WAY FOR A COMPANY TO CREATE A PROSPEROUS FUTURE IS TO MAKE SURE superstar athletes like \Iichael Jordan, Mia ALL OF ITS EMPLOYEES UNDERSTAND THE COMPANY'S PAST. THAT'S WHY MANY VETERAN Hamm, and Tiger Woods. When Nike's O\rn employees think of their company, they EXECS AT NIKE SPEND TIME TELLING CORPORATE CAMPF IRE STOR IES . BY ERIC RANSDELL think of a retired uniYersity track coach, an Olympic runner whose career ended tragi­ standing its heritage an intrinsic part of its from . When ~ike's leaders tell the story of cally in a 1975 car crash, and a so-so athlete corporate culture. Think of this approach how Coach Bowerman, after deciding that whose achievements as an entrepreneur far as internal branding: The stories that you tell his team needed better running shoes, went outpaced his accomplishments as a runner. about your past shape yo ur future. Which out to his workshop and poured rubber into Most people have heard of Nike CEO Phil is why, these cla ys, Nike has a number of the family wafAe iron, they're not just talk­ Knight, a middle-distance runner who senior executives who spend much of their ing about how >i"ike 's famous "waffle sole'' turned selling shoes out of his car into a tim e se rving as "corporate storytellers" - was born. They're talking about the spirit of footvvear-and-apparel colossus. But few know explain ing the company's heritage to every­ innovation. Likev,:ise, when new hires hear of Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman, Knight's one from vice presidents and sales reps to the tales of Prefontaine's battles to make running coach, or of Steve Prefontaine, the now­ hourly v,:orkers \vho run the cash registers a professional sport and to attain better­ deceased runner who was also coached bv at Nike's stores. ''Our stories are not about performing equipment, they hear stories of BO\verman and whose crusade for better extraordinary business pl ans or financial Nike's commitment to helping athletes. equipment inspired Bo\\·erman and Knight manipulations," explains Nelson Farris, 57, Over th e past- couple of years, Nike has to build the Nike empire. Yet, inside Nike, Nike's director of corporate education and experienced th e roller coaster that lots of those three figures are more relevant to the the company's chief storyteller. ''They're compani es ride: euphoric periods of gro\\·th company's sense of id entity than any of its about people ge tting things done.'' followed by se tbacks and public backlash. superstar spokespeople. And like all great stories, th e ones about But th rough all of th ese ups and dO\\ "TTS, WhY? Because i\ike has made under- \iike offe r archetypes that people can learn winning companies hold on to thei r Yalues. 41, JANUARY :FEBRUAR Y 2000 Illustrat i on by THOMAS FUCHS "OUR STOR IES ARE NOT ABOUT EXTRAORDINARY BUSINESS PLANS OR FINANCIAL MANIPULATIONS. THEY'RE ABOUT SHOE PEOPLE GETTING THINGS DONE." STORIES NIKE SPARES NO EXPENSE WHEN IT COMES to telling the sto ries of Ph il Kn ight, Bill Bowerm an. Steve Pre fontain e, and th e founding of the company. "To survive those downtimes," explains Farris, ''Ekin" (" Nike" spell ed backwards)-Ekins Here·s what goes on these days "vou ha\·e to understand what real teamwork are tech reps known for their Swoosh ankle around the Nike campfire . is-keeping promises, keeping commitments. tattoos - undergoes a nine-day Rookie Camp Not everyone understood this, but both at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Bring Your Heritage to Life Knight and Prefontaine did, because that's A full day is spent in Eugene, vvhere Ekins run The Nike sto re in Eugene, Oregon vvhat BowermJn taught his athletes. As one at the Hapvard field track (where Bowerman opened las t May. Th ink of it as N ike's of our first employees said, 'Not everyone coached) and visit the site of Prefontaine's Smithsonian Institution. A Heritage grew up on the track with Bowerman. They fatal car crash. "\,,Ye're connecting what we're Wall includes everythi ng from the didn't understand what it took to be great.' " doing today back to 0i ike's h eritage," says sho e molds that Bowerman made To fo ster that kind of understanding, the Dennis Reeder, -t5 , Ekins training manage r. w ith hi s fam ily's waffle iron to th e first company launched its corporate-storytelling As Nike gets even bigger, its storytellers pa ir of Nike r un ning sh oes to e11er program. \Vhen the program started, in the feel that thei r mission becomes even m ore cross a finish line. late 1970s, it was an hour-long lesson given critical. "Every company has a history," says to new emplo~·ees when they arrived to sign D ave Pearson, 43, a training manager and Tell Your History by Design their W-2s. Today, orientation lasts two days , storyteller. "But we have a little bit more than Whether it's Bowe rman Drive (which and the story of l\ike's heritage is the first a history. We have a heritage, something leads into the Nike campus]. th e Joe item on the agenda. With the company back that's still relevant today. If we connect Paterno Child Deve lo pment Ce nter on the growth track, Farris envisions a day people to that, chances are that they won't (n amed aft er the Penn Sta te footba ll vvhen the orientation process will last a week view Nike as just another place to work." coach]. or the Bo Jackson fitness and take place at "Nike Uni\·ersity." Ce nter, every aspect of Nike's head­ CONTACT NELSON FARRIS BY EMAIL (NELSON.FARRISlaNIKE.COMI, OR Storytelling isn't just for new hires. Each VISIT NIKE ON THE WEB (WWW.NIKE.COM). quarters re inforces its heritage . Tell Your Story to Your Customers FUNNY BUSINESS CHARL ES BARS OTT I Nike's corporate storytelling does not end with its employees. "Ekins," for example, are responsible fo r telling th e Nike sto ry to salespeople at the Athlete's Foo t, Foo t Locker, and other larg e retailers that carry the Nike product line . Why? "Because when pe ople understand w hy we exist, w hat our fou nda tion is, and who we are tod ay, then they understand that all of our products are still rooted in improving an athlete's performance, .. says Ekins training manager Dennis Reeder. ·· 1t' s no different from how it was when Bill Bow erman was in his workshop, tinkerin g and crafting sho es for his athletes at the University of Oregon ­ on ly now w e·re doing it on a m uch "The young pup not only knows new tricks-he'll do them at a third of your salary." larg er scale ... 46 J A N U A R Y : F E 8 R U A R Y 2 0 0 0 .