A short interview excerpt from a YouTube video where James Laughlin asks Zion Armstrong about leadership priorities while serving as President of Adidas North America. Zion identifies 'culture' as his number one responsibility, prompting discussion about why culture matters in leadership roles.
So you're sitting as president of Adidas North America. What do you think when you look back, what was your number one responsibility in that role?
Culture.
Why do you say that?
Any book is going to tell you it's about strategy and then the execution of the strategy. And you have to have fantastic product, you have to have great talent. All of that's true. End of the day, you can have that. But if your culture isn't one that people want to be in and really enjoy, then you don't go home feeling fulfilled. Or you can see it on their faces that they don't like being there and they're just going through the motion. And trust me, when I got to the States, we were in a world of trouble. We were bleeding. We were number five in footwear. People were leaving us left, right and center. And no disrespect to the prior team, the prior president just wasn't getting the support that the American team needed.
