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Have you heard about the extreme sport called expedition mountaineering? It is one of the most dangerous activities you can do – attempting to reach the summits of mountains like Mt. Rainier in Washington or Mt. Everest in the Himalayas. Most extreme sports are done alone, like cliff diving and
I’ve enjoyed the recent news coverage about Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon. Jeff Bezos has proposed that one day soon our packages will be delivered to our doors by Prime Air drones. This vision has been called audacious. Many critics have implied this idea is laughable. Yet at Amazon, there
In our family, words are a constant source of debate. “When you said that you hated the Caesar salad, what did you mean by that?” Really? Do we need to discuss this? But the conversation will continue: “Did you really mean hate, or did you dislike one of the elements
There is a book series for children 8-12 years of age called Skylanders Universe: The Mask of Power. It is a conventional storyline of good versus evil. The good guys are called Skylanders. The bad guys, called Spell Punks, create a mask of power that uses fire, water, technology and
A few years ago, I was with a group of Popeyes assistant restaurant managers and I asked them, “what happens when one of your friends gets promoted to restaurant manager? Does anything change?” Laughter. Of course it does! “They become ‘the boss.’ It’s different.” “Suddenly act like they own the
Last Friday I had the privilege of speaking with a team of leaders – my favorite thing to do. The owner of a local landscaping company asked me to talk with his team about leadership. Eighteen of us gathered in my living room and, over pizza lunch, we talked about
Dick Lynch is the Global Brand Leader at Popeyes. He tells this remarkable story about his first job out of college: “I had always dreamed of a career in advertising, but could only scrape up enough money to attend a small, rather undistinguished Midwestern college. When I graduated with a
When you ask someone – what is the opposite of humility? – the answers come quickly. Arrogance. Egotism. Pride. Superiority. Haughtiness. But when you ask someone – what is humility? – the answers come much more slowly. Meekness. Quietness. Modesty? So what does humility mean at work? And what would
Anyone working on a jigsaw puzzle this summer? Have you ever worked for hours and hours on a jigsaw puzzle – only to find one piece missing? The frustration of not being able to complete the masterpiece intensifies. The satisfaction and joy of seeing the complete picture evaporates. We walk
I get tired of hearing people refer to people practices as “the soft stuff.” Accessing the full potential of your team? That is the hardest thing you will do as a leader. I love to watch sailboat races. It is thrilling to see the boat tilt to the wind, lean
At Popeyes, our third principle is: “We are fact-based and planful.” I know that sounds really boring as a principle, but we have to talk about it because it has revolutionized the way we work and helped us reach our performance goals. In the fall of 2007, the work environment
Somewhere along the way to adulthood, we tend to stop listening and learning from others. In fact, it’s worse than that. We start telling everybody what to do – and call it leadership. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Why is this the case? The first thing that
Yesterday morning I visited a summer day camp for children in Traverse City, Michigan. As the children arrived, they were greeted by a welcomomg tunnel of jumping, singing, high-fiving camp counselors. The kids’ faces lit up with excitement as these counselors enthusiastically celebrated their arrival. This was Day 4 of
Think about a time when one of your close friends disappointed you. They let you down. They acted in a way that was inconsistent with your expectations. Perhaps the behavior was so unexpected, you were surprised and taken aback. You couldn’t comprehend why they would act that way. They
Lately it seems that everyone on the planet is in search of their personal purpose. It’s “trending.” Simon Sinek says Start with Why Jon Gordon offers The Seed: Finding Purpose and Happiness in Your Life and Work There is The Purpose of Your Life: Finding Your Place in the World
I have a core belief about people. I believe each and every person on this earth was created and designed to be special. They have unique gifts and talents. I want to help people reach their full potential. But even with that worldview — the strengths of a team member
We have been talking about the importance of knowing the people we lead. This week we continue this conversation by exploring the benefit of knowing the top priority values of your individual team members. At Popeyes, we ask our team members to explore their values and share their top three
Several times in my career, I’ve been asked to play a “get-to-know-you” game at a business dinner. The game is called Two Truths and a Lie. The way it works? Each person states three things about their life that the rest of the people would not know. Two of them
In the second year of my role at Popeyes, trust with our franchise owners remained low, data for decision-making was still limited and consistent positive sales results were not yet evident. My team and I were sitting in a meeting with skeptical franchise leaders, debating the performance results of the
I am a book junkie. If you visit my home, there are certain rooms, like my home office, that are literally overflowing with books. Even my work office has at least 100 books in it. So it will not surprise you that on this Sunday afternoon, I am scanning the
There is a book titled Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch, by Curt W. Coffman and Kathie Sorensen, Ph.D. The title makes corporate culture sound important, strong, high-impact. Yet in far too many places, building corporate culture is considered a “soft skill.” Squishy, hard to pin down, outright marshmallow material. So
Throughout my career, I’ve been involved in lots of discussions about compensation for business leaders. Perhaps the most common thesis for motivating executives is “make them feel like owners.” That typically leads to a discussion of bonuses and stock awards — that are paid when goals are met. No doubt,
The Inconvenience of Leadership Was it convenient for Winston Churchill to lead England through World War II? Was it convenient for Florence Nightingale to lead the nurses in the Crimean war? Was it convenient for Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the fight for civil rights? Was it convenient for
A few years ago, I went to see the movie Hugo – the story of a young boy, who loses both parents at a young age, and ends up living with a drunken uncle in the clock tower of the Paris train station. The child, Hugo, is fascinated with the
As we end 2015, I want to thank you for following and commenting on my blog posts each week. I am grateful for the dialog we are having about leaders who dare to serve. This year, my favorite blog post came from a pizza lunch shared with a landscaping team
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