Keith Richards explores the importance of a strong company culture and purpose in building a strong restaurant and franchise business with unusually high team member retention. He and his wife Amy founded fresh-casual restaurant Taziki's in 1998, which now has 90 locations in 15 US states. More recently, they have started a second restaurant business, Greek Street. Keith served as President from May 1998 until December 2012, and then served as the Chief Franchise Officer from June 2012 till 2017. Keith has returned to manage the flagship market in Birmingham, AL, and continues to lead their culinary R+D and the HOPE project, Taziki's signature charity. Before creating Taziki’s, Keith Richards worked under the direction of Frank Stitt at Highlands Bar and Grill- which won the elusive 2018 James Beard Foundation Award for the most outstanding restaurant in America. Today, Keith and Amy and their two sets of twins live in…

It is often said that wisdom comes with age. It has been my observation that age sometimes comes alone. Not everyone grows up on the preferred timetable. An employee can be old (as in wise) when young. An employee can be young (as in immature) when old. Take the time to consider the ideas of your youngest employees. When necessary, do not hesitate to mentor the employee who is older than you. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

Nate Pizzini, Asst GM of Kennedy Valve Co. in Elmira, New York has spent 2020 leading a manufacturing plant through an unprecedented modern pandemic. What has he learned along the way? Where did he have to pivot?  What did he do right from the start? Who have been his partners along the way? What changes made during the pandemic will likely be permanent? Which leadership skills  has he leaned on most heavily? EPISODE RESOURCES: Connect with Nate on LinkedIn Read Nate's Bio Kennedy Valve Co website CDC's Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication Manual  Wharton Magazine : "Applying Crisis Management Lessons to Covid-19" Books Referenced by Nate: The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni Dare to Lead by Brené Brown Good to Great by Jim Collins Built to…

A self-confidant leader inspires confidence in others. Be confident about what you know, but humble about what you don’t. Leaders don’t have all the answers; there is almost always something unknown. Employees are more comfortable when working for a confident leader, but appreciate the humility of someone who can say, “I don’t know.” ─ Deb Miller─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

By Ken Chapman, Ph.D. Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc. Dr. Thomas Edison’s fame had become international. He was advised to have scientists come to his lab and help him understand scientifically why some of his inventions had worked. Edison didn’t see much use in this, but being open-minded, he consented to the idea. As a result, a brilliant research scientist from Germany came to Edison’s lab to explain to him the principles behind some of Edison’s innovations. While the scientist was visiting his lab, Edison handed the man a globe that had been twisted into a gourd-like shape and said, “Give me the cubic content of this.” Weeks passed and eventually Edison sought out the man to ask him why he hadn’t replied. The scientist began to give him a lengthy explanation about the difficulties of solving such a problem with higher mathematics. Edison then picked up the globe, took…

Leaders know: Nothing in heaven and earth is hidden from a fool (i.e. know-it-all), except himself. –Bernard

By Ken Chapman, Ph. D. Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc. As you have begun to discover throughout this process, the wellspring of personal motivation comes from within yourself. In the very strictest sense, no one can truly motivate another person. A leader can guide another individual toward self-motivation through creating working conditions which satisfy individual needs and wants while meeting organizational goals, but true motivation really comes from within the individual. James Cribbin wrote in his book, Effective Leadership: “To get people to do mediocre work, one needs only ‘drive’ people. To elicit top performance, one must get them to drive themselves . . .” At one time in the not too distant past, many leaders assumed that if they measured how much their reports produced and used this information as the primary document for leading their reports, they had adequately fulfilled their responsibility. Such information, however, measures the effects…

People can be illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Not everyone reaches for the high end of human behavior. Leaders help people reach for the high ground anyway. ─Ken Chapman─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

Life is long enough if you know what to do with it — so said Seneca. To paraphrase: Leaders know the day is long enough if you know what to do with it. Time management is priority management. Wise leaders don’t try to do everything. They do what is particularly important on a particular day. ─Ken Chapman─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

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