Creating and sustaining hope in the workplace can transform how you and your employees approach your jobs every single day. This series is based on what St. Augustine wrote about in his classic Christian work, “Faith, Hope and Charity.” The first essay in this series dealt with the importance of belief in the workplace. Part […]
This is not an essay on religion in the workplace. Nor is it about values or guiding principles, though these certainly overlap and underlie all of what I’m addressing here. This piece is about belief, in the singular sense of the word. It’s about what we—each of us as individuals—believe about the work, people, products […]
In the past year or so, I’ve been asked to speak on the subject of innovation about 14 times.As the economic screws tighten, it seems like the pressure increases to invent the culinary equivalent of the next iPhone. People from the press, business schools and bigger companies keep asking me to predict tomorrow’s big breadwinners […]
At Zingerman’s, we are often asked, “How did you build this great group of people? How do you get people to care and have such a good time at work? Basically, they are asking what the secret of our culture is. And, of course, there is no secret; there are a thousand things to make […]
High achievers, those focused on ways to improve an organization, may not be as appreciative as they should be. I’ve spent the past 15 years trying to turn my overachieving nature inside out and become good at appreciation. True appreciation can create an organizational culture in which appreciation and positive energy are the norms rather […]
How can you apply the principles of good work at the stove to the work you do with staff? It’s a challenge. People drawn to the lively, loveable chaos of the food business have an aversion to too much structure. It’s natural; we like the freedom of the food world because we don’t have to […]
This essay is about effective leadership. But not the out-front, high-energy, heroic, final-step type of work that wins recognition in magazines about management. Instead it’s about an element of effectiveness that comes from the unglamorous, behind the scenes, stick to the systems stuff that’s just as important, but rarely gets headlines. It’s not about the […]
The guiding model for effective management at Zingerman’s is what we call Servant Leadership, which details that leaders are obligated to provide great service to the organization and, more specifically, to the staff. Stewardship is one of two important approaches to making Servant Leadership effective. (The other is our Entrepreneurial Approach.) The concept for Stewardship […]
There is no single, “right” way to be a leader. Finding the style and routine that’s suited to you, and to the particulars of your environment, is not easy. Even when you find one that works in one phase of your business, it may be less effective as your company grows. What follows is one […]
I first met Geri Larkin in the early ’80s, not long after we opened the Deli. She was a consultant with Deloite & Touche, and has since left the world of high-powered consulting to become a Buddhist monk. Fortunately, she contributed a number of exceptional books on business and, speaking personally, left me with a […]
Editor’s Note: The previous article in this series, The Entrepreneurial Approach to Management, presented why an Entrepreneurial Approach to employee management will benefit your business. In the second of this two-part series, you will learn how to put this approach into practice. The Entrepreneurial Approach to Management is the opposite of the bureaucratic methods of […]
Not many in leadership roles are looking to add extra responsibilities. It’s a challenge just to keep up. Nevertheless, it is vital to find a way to actively and regularly teach classes for staff. Teaching classes within (and outside of) our organization is one of the most valuable uses of my time. In fact, we’ve […]
