Wendy’s held their franchisee convention in Las Vegas last week and Dave Held, Lori Mitchell and I were there! It was a great opportunity to meet so many franchisees face-to-face from across the country. I’m proud to say, Old Trail Printing was honored by Wendy’s Corporate as a 35-year partner. We have been printing, kitting and fulfilling their training materials for decades.
On Monday morning, Wendy’s new CEO, Emil Brolick, gave one of the most inspiring presentations I have ever witnessed. He literally had 3000 people in that room riveted in their seats. I quote from USA Today, “Emil is fed up with the No. 3 burger chain being portrayed as the fallen star of the fast-food industry.” It was so interesting to hear about his plans to once again make Wendy’s an industry innovator. Emil is a big believer in the importance of leadership in an organization and he believes his leadership can make a difference. Again, I quote, “A leader has to bring a vision to an organization, because an organization works best when you have an end in mind. Vision is great, but if you don’t have strategies, people get frustrated quickly. A leader has to define reality and give hope.” Hold on, stop the presses…did I hear him say “have an end in mind!” Why, that is Habit #2 of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin With The End In Mind.” Covey says, “If you don’t make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.” After spending time listening, observing and interacting at the Wendy’s convention, I am confident Wendy’s will once again rise to the top!
At Trojan Litho in Seattle around 1998, the management team was trained on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I found Covey’s 7 Habits useful in not only my business career, but personal life as well. How many times have all of us wanted to drive our point home so badly to someone we are talking to without listening first? I try to remember Habit 5, “Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood.” If we as managers practiced this habit regularly, I’ll bet we would have more effective relationships with our employees. I got to thinking after Emil’s presentation: would the owners at Old Trail Printing be open to learning more about Covey’s 7 Habits? If they are, would they practice what they learn? Well, I have ordered 5 of Covey’s books from Amazon and am preparing our management team for training. I have 2 simple goals for this program: Create an environment where our management team communicates more effectively with each other and give our management team the tools and knowledge to communicate more effectively with our employees. I hope to have this training completed before the end of the year. I am very fortunate our ownership gives me the freedom to take time to “work on the business” as compared to always “working in the business.” I believe this is the way you move companies successfully into the future.
Circling back to Emil Brolick’s presentation, when he finished, all 3,000 people stood up and gave him a standing ovation that seemed to last forever. What an inspiration not only to his employees, but the rest of us who were fortunate to be there. If you are interested in reading USA Today’s interview with Emil, go to:
Written by Jeff Lampert, Director of Marketing and Business Development
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
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