Helping leaders emerge

Our family met Ari Weinzweig on a recent visit to University of Michigan while we were eating at his restaurant (he was the water boy, refilling our glasses!). Humble, approachable, and kind – we had no idea that Ari was the founding partner, along with Paul Saginaw, of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses with + 600 employees. He even handed my son his business card and offered to help him if he needed anything. I was inspired by Ari’s focus on community values, artistic creative expression, prolific writings, and business success.

Check out two inspiring videos by clicking on the links below to learn more about Zingerman’s philosophy on business and community leadership, generosity, joy, and making a difference

Key themes

  • While vision, values, equality, customer service, marketing, and making money are all important, they believe that what we believe makes a big difference
  • An organization’s purpose is to serve the people who are part of it – not the other way around
  • Being a good human being is good business
  • Generosity is self-perpetuating
  • Little things matter the most
  • It is a life long challenge to manage ourselves effectively
  • Work hard at learning