Chain Leader

Lane Cardwell

Make it Glow
April 7, 2008

When I was starting out at Steak and Ale back in the late '70s (right about the time that food was invented), I used to occasionally bump into a consultant in the hallways. He always seemed to be watching the interplay of the executives doing their day to day work. He was young, cocky and supremely confident in his ability to help us. But help us do what, I wondered? One day I asked my boss, Carl Hays, the executive vice president of operations over Steak and Ale and Bennigan's, that question.

"Tom DeCotiis," he said, "is here to make us better at doing our jobs. We will only be as successful as our ability to lead. For most of us, this is the biggest company we have ever worked for and the most responsibilities that we have ever had. Tom is here to help us develop and polish our leadership skills so that we can help instill the values and vision in others that Norman Brinker has taught us."

He must have been good at what he did because the executives that were knocking around the hallways at the time were Chris Sullivan (Outback), Ron McDougall (Brinker), Hal Smith (Chili's, Chi-Chi's), the late Mike Jenkins (Boston Market, TGI Friday's), Wally Doolin (Buca, TGI Friday's), Dick Rivera (Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse), and many, many others. 

As the team scattered over the years, and began leading their own companies, many went back to Tom for help in Visioneering, the foundation of any organization. Tom doesn't believe in a vision statement, he believes in a "comprehensive description of the elements that determine whether a company will succeed, such as its core values, goals, dreams for the future, fundamental beliefs, guiding principles, promises to each stakeholder, expectations of stakeholders, and the results that signal the company's success."

Tom has a new book out, Make it Glow. For the cost of a moderately priced bottle of wine you can have access to the principles that helped propel Outback Steakhouse into a multi-billion dollar organization, and helped reenergize Red Lobster. While Tom has helped many restaurant organizations over the years, Outback has probably been the most visible, successful implementation of his principles in our industry. It is only fitting that the Outback organization allowed Tom to detail his work with them in this book.

Let me end with the first paragraph from Tom's introduction to the book:

"I love that place" is something that the leaders of every company love to hear, especially when they hear it from their best customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Companies that are loved draw people to them in a way that their competitors can only dream of-they seem to glow. There is a connection between a company that glows and its stakeholders that makes stakeholders fiercely loyal and proud to have the company as part of their lives. The source of this connection is the company's clear vision and reputation for human goodness, flawless execution, and being best-in-class. Glow is shorthand for having earned this reputation. 

If you want to make it grow, first, Make it Glow.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on April 7, 2008 | Comments (0)