Situational Background

Bom Kim, founder of Coupang, models customer obsession, frugal speed, and hands-on problem solving. He prizes reliability, simple promises, and relentless elimination of friction. Kim communicates plainly, learns from misses, and favours long-term value over theatrics. Distinctive for disciplined urgency and respect for the customer’s time, he shows how service standards and everyday improvement travel across any industry.

Practical Leadership Principles

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1) Promise less, deliver more.

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Trust compounds through reliability.

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Behaviours to model:

• Make one clear promise customers can test.
• Publish the metric that proves it.
• Remedy failures quickly and visibly.

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2) Frugal speed.

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Move fast without waste.

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Behaviours to model:

• Ship smallest viable fixes weekly.
• Reuse solutions before building new.
• Track cost per improvement.

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3) Learn in public.

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Candour accelerates progress.

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Behaviours to model:

• Share misses and fixes in short notes.
• Invite tough questions; answer directly.
• Keep a rolling “what changed” log.

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Call to action

State one promise you’ll keep this month, release the smallest improvement that supports it, and publish the proof metric weekly.

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