Shane Parrish

They tell their friends.

Coaches recommend Blue Ribbon.

The company develops a reputation.

These guys know what they're talking about.

They shoot straight.

As Blue Ribbon grows, Knight starts hiring.

And the people he hires are not what you'd expect.

His first real employee is Jeff Johnson, a runner and former competitor.

Johnson is obsessive.

He writes Knight long, rambling letters about everything from shoe design to the meaning of life.

And Knight almost never writes back.

Johnson keeps writing anyway.

It's like Phil knows that he wants his approval and Knight never gives it to him.

Then there's Bob Woodle, a runner who became paralyzed from the waist down after a freak accident.

And Phil hires him without hesitation.

And Woodle turns out to be one of the most resourceful people in the company.

And then there's Hayes and Strasser, one by one the oddballs and misfits who didn't quite fit anywhere else, but at Blue Ribbon, they fit.

And here's what's remarkable about this.

Knight doesn't just manage, though, not in any traditional sense.

He develops a management style based entirely on trust, though some would probably call it neglect.