CEO Style

By Patricia Dailey, Editor-in-Chief -- Restaurants & Institutions, 7/1/2004

The 400 chain brands that made the financial cut for this issue of R&I are fronted by roughly an equal number of suits—either CEOs or presidents. For some of them, the title fits as well as Grace Kelly’s gloves and is worn with nearly as much style and élan. Others, though, disconnected and confused about what it means to lead for the future, flounder and flop around, taking companies on bumpy trips that send panicked investors running for the nearest exit strategy.

Aimless, uninspired leadership often instigates calls for change and along those lines a game of restaurant musical chairs has been in active play. Chains one, two and three, for starters, which combined represent more than $67 billion in sales, have had large orders of leadership tumult this year, prompted unexpectedly by death in the case of McDonald’s Jim Cantalupo, and quite predictably by disappointing revenues at KFC and Burger King.

Look for oceans of red ink at any point further down in the Top 400 list and recent management shifts may have taken place there as well. Each time a CEO falls from grace and into the vast abyss of misplaced power, a Greek chorus erupts, these industry-watchers’ whispered voices attempting to explain why the ax fell at that particular moment and what it all means for the company and the broader restaurant landscape.

With a finer eye perhaps than anyone else, Peter Drucker, the eminence grise and guru of management consulting, can see through the muck and clutter, simplifying what too often is overanalyzed and made unnecessarily ponderous. With straight-to-the-bone clarity buffeted by 65 years of observational insight, Drucker recites what best leads to success in the hot seat.

Many of what are thought to be traditional leadership traits—charisma, vision and financial acumen among them—aren’t required but instead fall into the nice-to-have category, according to Drucker. In last month’s Harvard Business Review, he outlined with tidy, tightly focused precision the eight practices that are most instrumental to effective leadership:
· They ask what needs to be done.
· Then they ask what is right for the enterprise.
· They develop action plans.
· They take responsibility for decisions.
· They also take responsibility for communicating.
· They focus on opportunities instead of challenges.
· Their meetings are productive.
· They think and say “I” instead of “we.”

It’s a basic and elementally simple list, and within the austere requirements lies assurance that strong leadership—at any company and any level within it—is attainable. Conversely, the actions—or lack of—also help illuminate and explain issues that have factored into a recent rash of top executives suddenly seeking “other opportunities.”

Effectiveness, according to Drucker, is measured by getting things done. Some leaders are naturally graced with the ability to identify priorities and accomplish them. The rest need not make a hasty retreat, though. As with other disciplines, that style can be learned, Drucker says, practiced and put into play.