The First Hire That Built Nike

A note to young leaders.

Hire believers, not employees.

In 1965, Nike founder Phil Knight had a chance encounter with Jeff Johnson – a social worker who was an avid runner and – by most accounts – slightly unhinged.

Knight mailed Johnson a free pair of running shoes. He loved them and started selling them part-time, out of the boot of his car.

Within ten months, Johnson had sold 3,250 pairs – a number Knight called “completely impossible”.

Then the letters began.

First they were two pages. Then four. Then eight. They arrive every few days, then daily – “tumbling through the mail slot like a waterfall.”

Johnson writes about how many shoes he sold that day, that week, which high-schoolers wore them, whether he should expand to Arizona, whether he should place ads. Why hasn’t Knight responded? Please respond. Why won’t you respond?

Overwhelmed, Knight starts wondering if Johnson is too hard to work with. He tries to scare him off by telling him the truth – the company is broke, cash flow is negative and they’re struggling to survive.

Johnson responds by asking for a full-time job. As Knight later put it: “I tell the man the company is sinking like the Titanic, and he responds by begging for a berth in first class.”

Johnson went on to become Nike’s first star hire.

We spend too much time looking for the right degree and the right experience – and not nearly enough time looking for belief.

Are the people in your team fanatic believers in your company’s product or service? Or are they just turning up to collect a cheque?

One true believer will do more for your company than ten employees.