Shane Parrish

She'd been denied opportunity, so she would create opportunity for others.

Another principle guided everything as well.

Help other people get what they want and you'll get what you want.

This was her actual business strategy.

And this makes a lot of sense.

This is reciprocity.

It's go positive and go first in action.

Mary Kay reasoned that if she helped a woman achieve financial independence, flexibility, gave them recognition and success, then her company would succeed as a natural consequence.

And she was 100% correct.

The consultant's success and the company's success were the same thing.

And with those philosophies as a foundation, she designed specific policies.

I'll give you some examples.

Problem one, she'd been repeatedly passed over for promotions in favor of those less qualified.

So her solution to this was a pure meritocracy.

There was no glass ceiling.

There was no subjective evaluations, no politics.

Any consultant who met the clearly defined sales targets could rise to sales director, regardless of age, education, background, race, or connections.

Performance was the only thing that mattered.

Competence mattered.

Here's another problem.