From Hooters Hostess to Global Business Leader
How to become the boss of your peers, plus my favorite books I read this year
The toddler gives climbers at Smith Rock a thumbs up last weekend
Hello there,
I’ve been doing my best to indulge in what some people call “Dead Week” because the expectations to achieve anything are so low.
It takes some effort, but I’ve managed to ignore that “productive” voice in my head and chase my whimsy. (Which includes many glasses of eggnog!)
For the hoards of people only here for my list of favorite books, scroll on down to the bottom! (What? I gotta fool myself sometimes otherwise I wouldn’t share all my discoveries!)
This week I’ve got some practical leadership lessons from Kat Cole, wondrous footage from the peaks of the Himalayas, and my aforementioned book list.
The Empathy Strategy for Business Growth
Kat Cole didn’t just go from hostess at Hooters to leading their international expansions. At 32 she became president at Cinnabon and now runs Athletic Greens. Her roll-up-the-sleeves approach keeps her businesses connected to the customers.
As a high school senior, she was promoted from hostess to waitress at Hooters. And in her first year of college, she worked in every role at the company from line cook to bartender.
With that experience and knowledge, she was quickly promoted to store manager, but another opportunity came her way. The general manager of her store invited her to help open the first franchise location in Australia.
Kat Cole executed the store roll-out so well that she kept getting invited to new country expansions. At age 20 she was failing her college classes because she was never there; she had opened restaurants on three separate continents and decided to drop out to focus on work.
Throughout her career, Kat Cole would get promoted amongst her peers and go from colleague to boss. She offers practical advice on making the transition. One example came from her promotion to restaurant manager.
When Kat told her friend-now-direct-report that she needed to consistently fill the salt shaker, she got the excuse, “Well, you didn’t use to do it right every time.”
Instead of pretending to have an impeccable resume, the new manager admitted her faults and said, “That’s true, but from now on I’m going to fill the salt shaker up every time and you need to as well.” Kat encourages leaders to acknowledge their shortcomings to their team to build trust.
In other roles she spearheaded efforts, including the launch of Cinnabon cereal, convincing franchise owners the value of brand building. One of her earlier leadership stories stands out.
Kat Cole accepted the role of president of Cinnabon in 2010 amidst a recession and immediately spent 30 days working in shops and mall stands. She experienced all the roles from serving customers to rolling dough and taking out trash, meanwhile asking employees, managers, and franchise owners her most important three questions:
What do we throw away? This includes processes, training materials, and consumer experiences.
When do we say no? The things we're not doing, rooted in the customer and the employee experience
What’s the one thing you would do differently to make the business better?
She learned that customers threw away half-finished Cinnabons because of their grandiose size! Then she heard that customers asked for smaller portions and the employees had to tell them, “No, we dont sell that.” And employees consistently suggested that they sell more snackable and portable options.
With all signs pointing to a miniature bun (for half the price), Kat focused exclusively on that initiative, facing countless objections and complaints. And her recipe for implementing a change offers a practical approach.
First, you find the “coalition of the willing.” Who are the people already on board? And when you empower them to help implement the change, they become champions of the cause.
After that, Kat says, you shine a light on them to let them tell the story.
What this reminds me is to get close to the problem to identify the most important element to solve. And then take a compassionate approach to working with others.
“I never thought I knew what I was doing, never. Not once did I think, yes, I’m going to do that because I know what I’m doing. What I thought was, I can figure it out.” — Kat Cole, The Knowledge Project Podcast
Worthy & Remarkable
A portable plug-in heater - Cozypod - raises $150k from the makers of a portable travel fan and features ceramic heat tech (like a mug that plugs into the wall?!)
The repeat climb of the Shining Mountain in the Indian Himalayas showcases the toughness of 70’s climbers and the young guns trying to follow in their footsteps
“I tested one-star camping” by Ryan Trahan is that 20-minute feel-good video everyone needs this season
One Thing from Me
I read fewer books than usual and that’s a good thing!
Reading often serves as my “productive procrastination” from projects or activities that might have gotten stuck. That means reading less signals that I stepped up to bat for more swings. And that’s ultimately the secret to hitting home runs.
I’m tempted to also share a list of all the books I gave up on part way through to save you the time. Instead I’ll politely say, “They were not for me. Not right now.”
Because hey, who knows? I didn’t like coffee the first time I tried it but now I call it the gasoline of life. Er, um, wait. Maybe that’s not very mouthwatering either?
Top Non-Fiction
Quit by Annie Duke - actionable insights and stories to teach better decision-making, particularly around walking away
Masters of Change by Brad Stulberg - embrace rugged flexibility because we all face change, even just the inevitability of getting older
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant - inspiring examples of finding talent among the privileged and lots of emphasis on character skills
Top Autobiographies
Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman - a fascinating story with lots of insights into the differences between males and females in sport
Life Lived Wild by Rick Ridgeway - full of wonderful stories and photos, particularly the history of The Seven Summits with Richard Bass and Frank Wells
This Is Not A T-shirt by Bobby Hundreds - the building of a streetwear brand that at its peak was nearly purchased by Tommy Hilfiger
Top Fiction
The Priority of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - an intriguing fictional world with a fresh take on dragons and a female-protagonist plot
The Son by Phillip Meyer - badass western novel following three generations of Texas ranchers
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff - fascinating characters in a story of ambitious young go-getters moving to New York to chase creative success
And one parting thought before the new year arrives
Sometimes it’s worth sticking with a book even if it requires a bit of patience and… dare I say boredom?! You never know what it might lead to.
In the words of Walter Benjamin, "Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience."
Auld Lang Syning Off,
Jono
PS - the litte-known wisdom of Cole’s Law (a little dad humor to end the year on)