Nike的品牌形象令人羡慕，标志性的LOGO全球知名，已经和体育运动捆绑在一起，作为数字和设计领域的创新者越发受到追捧。Nike能够维持这种品牌声誉的一个重要原因是因为拥有一支献身、投入的员工队伍。那么Nike是如何做到这一点的呢？
快公司的奥斯汀・卡尔（Austin Carr）走访了Nike总部，撰写一篇有关2013年最创新公司的文章，揭示了Nike是如何把员工变成公司理念的坚定支持者的。
在奥斯汀面前，Nike员工可能是有点演过了，但他们看上去的确是在传播公司理念。“员工提到公司格言时仿佛像是在说圣经十诫一样。有十多个人曾经告诉过我，完全是自发的，‘去做一个海绵（be a sponge）’，‘有身体就是运动员（If you have a body, you’re an athlete.）’”奥斯汀在文章中写到。
Nike对公司的历史和逸事了如指掌，并且让雇员们也做到这一点。比如Nike在创意厨房（Innovation Kitchen，Nike总部园区的米亚・哈姆大楼一层）的中间放置了一辆沃伦贝格（Winnebago）休旅车作为会议室，相传当年公司创始人之一的菲尔・耐特（Phil Knight）就是在同型号的一辆车旁边卖出Nike的第一双鞋子。联合创始人比尔・鲍尔曼在制作橡皮鞋底时弄坏的华芙饼烙锅像博物馆展品一样被保存至今。
这一切都帮助访客更好地了解耐克公司的价值观、历史和分享的文化。意外的是，也加重了公司的神秘色彩。
LinkedIn网站的杰夫・韦纳（Jeff Weiner）认为，保密措施给公司文化带来很大的负面作用，会导致员工的积怨和消息的泄密。Nike则很好地利用了其优点，项目的保密措施和排他性是公司内部文化的一部分，员工的工作有价值所以才需要保密。
Nike公司培训总监尼尔森・法里斯（Nelson Farris）在接受《财富》杂志采访时表示，“弄清楚你想要职业生涯怎样发展，什么时候可以发现需要的资源，接着向Nike提要求就可以了，”他说。正是这种做法能够为公司带来非常忠诚的员工。该篇文章还提到，对耐克员工来说，把公司LOGO纹在腿上的现象并不少见。
这种神秘色彩和创新特质也广泛存在于Nike的营销和公共形象当中。Nike的品牌注入了每一次的市场推广和产品发布，转化为一种公众的渴望，渴望成为秘密的一部分。产品系列的展示越是在小范围进行，人们就越渴望获得更多。Nike从乔布斯那里学到的可不是一点皮毛。
Nike has an enviable brand, the iconic "swoosh" is known worldwide, it's deeply associated with athletes and sports, and is increasingly admired as a digital and design innovator.
One of the most important parts of maintaining that reputation is building an extremely committed workforce.
Fast Company's Austin Carr got an extended look inside Nike Headquarters as part of a story naming it the most innovative company of 2013, and reveals what the company does to make believers out of its employees.
Though they may have been showing off for a journalist a bit, employees do appear to preach the company's values. "Workers quote the company's maxims like the Ten Commandments. More than a dozen tell me, independently and unprompted, 'Be a sponge' and 'If you have a body, you're an athlete,'" Austin writes.
The company is intensely aware of its own history and story, and works to keep employees conscious of it. The company keeps a Winnebago to use as a conference room in the middle of its Innovation Kitchen because cofounder Phil Knight, according to legend, first sold shoes out of a similar vehicle. The waffle iron that co-founder Bill Bowerman destroyed while attempting to make rubber soles is kept on campus like a museum piece.
That helps embed a sense of value, history, and shared culture in what employees are doing. So, oddly enough, does an emphasis on secrecy and mystery.
LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner argues that secrecy has a profoundly negative effect on corporate culture, leading to resentment and leaks. Nike has found a way to turn it to their advantage. The attitude of secrecy and exclusivity around projects becomes part of an internal story, that their work has value that's worthy of being kept under wraps.
At Fortune, Nelson Farris, Nike's head of corporate education, describes what the company expects from its employees. "Figure out where you want your career to go, and when you see something that would help you get there, ask us for it," he said. That attitude helps create intensely loyal employees. According to that piece, it's not unusual for employees to tattoo a "swoosh" onto their legs.
The attitude of mystery and innovation features prominently in Nike's marketing and public image as well. Culture is strongest when there's little disconnect between what the public expects and what happens within a company. That way, employees are inclined deliver what people have come to want.
