Imagine standing on a stage in front of hundreds of business executives, telling them that the secret to making billions of dollars isn’t a complex spreadsheet or cutting costs.
Instead, it’s something much simpler: genuine care.
At the recent NZAIMS leadership conference, Zion Armstrong shared his incredible journey. He went from a troubled teenager running from the police in New Zealand to becoming the President and CEO of Adidas North America. Along the way, he proved that when you take care of your people, the profits will follow.
Here is what every leader can learn from his unforgettable talk.
1. The Coach Who Changed Everything
Zion grew up in South Auckland with nine family members. When he was 14, he made a bad choice, borrowed a car that wasn’t his, and ended up being chased by police dogs.
A few weeks later, a local police chief and track coach named Ross Dallow knocked on his door. Instead of locking Zion up, Ross saw his raw speed and took him under his wing. Ross kept him off the streets, taught him discipline, and helped him become a champion runner who represented New Zealand on the world stage.
The Lesson for Leaders: Every organisation has “unpolished gems”—people who might seem frustrating at first but have massive potential. A great leader looks past the rough edges and guides them with empathy and support. One good leader can completely change a person’s life.
2. Setting Up the Team to Win
When Zion took over Adidas North America in 2014, the brand was in trouble. They were losing money, employees were quitting, and they were even falling behind smaller brands like Skechers.
To turn things around, Zion knew he had to completely change how they operated. He shared a slide during his presentation. It shows his simple formula for success:
- Authenticate Sport & Culture: Instead of acting like a European soccer company, Adidas had to become part of American culture. Zion signed a massive $56 million deal with the NFL and partnered with 200 top players, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
- Open Source: Zion flew the top global bosses from Germany to Portland, Oregon. He locked them in a room until they agreed to work as one single team and communicate openly.
- Be Bold / Disrupt: When the owner of Dick’s Sporting Goods gave Zion a brutal, angry lecture about why Adidas was failing at retail, Zion didn’t let his ego get in the way. He listened to the feedback and built a special team just to fix the problem. Adidas’s market share with that retailer jumped from 3% to 20%.
Everything connects back to one foundation: Genuine Care.
3. Putting People First Makes More Money
Before his time in the US, Zion was sent to fix a struggling part of the business in South Korea. The corporate culture was toxic. Employees were exhausted from working late, drinking heavily, and striking constantly.
Zion threw out the old corporate rules and made some radical changes:
- He simplified the workers’ union contracts so they were easy to understand.
- He gave the union leader a big office and equal status to show respect.
- He changed the bonus system. Instead of focusing only on sales, 25% of everyone’s bonus was tied to personal fitness goals, like walking or running marathons.
The result? Employees became healthy, happy, and highly motivated. Profits didn’t just go up—revenue tripled from €250 million to €750 million in just five years.
4. Doing the Right Thing in a Crisis
The ultimate test of Zion’s leadership came during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Standing in the New York City flagship store while sirens wailed outside, he knew his workers were terrified.
Zion decided to shut down all 165 US retail stores immediately to keep his 12,500 employees safe. The global board of directors was furious. They screamed at him because closing the stores meant losing a billion-dollar stream of money. Zion stood his ground and asked them, “If this was your son or daughter, what would you do?”
The corporate office threatened to fire him, but they eventually realized he was right. Because Zion protected his workforce when things were scary, 100% of his employees returned to work when the stores finally reopened. While other companies struggled to find workers, Adidas scaled up instantly because the team trusted their leader.
5. Knowing When to Walk Away
Zion reached the absolute top of the corporate world, helping grow Adidas’s North America value from $3 billion to $6 billion. But his most important lesson came from his family.
Because of pandemic travel restrictions, Zion’s children were stuck back home in New Zealand while he worked in the US. During a short visit home, his nine-year-old son looked at him and said, “You’re just a stranger now, dad.”
Zion realized that no job title or massive paycheck was worth missing his children’s lives. He flew back to Germany, turned down a huge new contract extension, and resigned that night.
On his very last day at the office, the team surprised him by putting up the famous Māori proverb all over the campus: “He tangata, he tangata”—It is the people, it is the people.
The Quick Takeaway for Leaders
Zion Armstrong’s career proves that business success isn’t just about numbers; it’s about humans. If you want your business to win, you need to:
- Drop the ego and listen to tough feedback from your partners and teams.
- Protect your people during hard times, even if it costs money in the short term.
- Remember your personal values. Never sacrifice your family or your well-being for a corporate title.
shem banbury 
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