A lot of our young entrepreneur friends dream of the day when they’ll have a secretary. Someone to take notes, make appointments and of course, answer phone calls. Our friends view a secretary as a status symbol, but they may reconsider after hearing these words of wisdom from Jim Sinegal, CEO of Costco:

His philosophy is simple, he said. “We have said from the very beginning: ‘We’re going to be a company that’s on a first-name basis with everyone,’” he said.

That also includes answering his own phone. “If a customer’s calling and they have a gripe, don’t you think they kind of enjoy the fact that I picked up the phone and talked to them?” he said.

[link via 37signals]