Margaret Reynolds Interview with Dan T. Cathy, President and Chief Operating Officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc. What is it like to have a father for a leadership role model?It is certainly a unique relationship; there are not many businesses that are able to survive a transition from one generation to the next. Dad is 89 and still very active in …
Middle class is as American as apple pie. “Just surviving” is the goal of many businesses today. Being comfortable, “doing as well or better than most folks” is just fine. Unless you have the desire to be world class. I do. So here is what it takes. A friend of mine, Rick Sutcliffe, invited our …
Too many times the tail is wagging the dog. The business is pushing the executive team around, and the solutions are either “work faster” or “identify a problem and fix it”. It is not uncommon for the problem to actually be a symptom…not the real issue. So what happens next??? The merry-go-round continues, one change …
There is a growing conversation that the majority of the leaders in the future will be women. It is not a gender bias, but rather an observable and documentable fact that women are emerging as the more prepared and more aligned demographic with the growth sectors of the economy. It is not a revolution, but …
What is the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t? Attitude. The first step to success is believing you can. As Mark Emkes, recently retired CEO of Bridgestone Americas, said in a recent interview, “if you don’t think you will hit the baseball, you won’t.” The great thing about attitude is, it is …
I am a strategic thinker and make a living helping people make strategic decisions that improve future performance. It is a very enjoyable and rewarding career. Admittedly, to most people, what I do is a mystery, hard to explain and even more difficult to do. It is all in what you are used to. I …
In a few weeks, I will be interviewing Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-fil-A. In their corporate communications, they talk about their “raving fans”. They have even registered the phrase. I was asking a friend of mine who is in marketing at Southwest Airlines whether they have a “raving fans” marketing plan, and she …
Have you met anyone who enjoys being a road warrior? George Clooney in Up in the Air aside, most people don’t really enjoy slogging from airport to airport and hotel to hotel. Air travel is unreliable with constant delays. Security is tight with restrictions that make it difficult to get basic supplies on board. And …
Have you ever wondered where common sense comes into play in decision making? I once encountered an executive who believed that if he could just explain to his customers why he has to charge what he does to make a profit they would understand. In a role reversal exercise, when he was the customer, he …
This is part 2 of a two-part blog. To read part 1, click here. The number one goal is to understand the importance of leadership and spend time leading the organization, not just running it. In my thirty years of business management experience, there is a list of leadership “sins” committed every day by well-intentioned …
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