Podcast #157 – Nick Sarillo, ‘A Slice of the Pie’ – Leadership Lessons from a Pizza Chain

Joining me for episode #157 is Nick Sarillo, founder of Nick's Pizza & Pub and author of the new book (out September 13) called A Slice of the Pie: How to Build a Big Little Business. I had a chance to meet Nick and visit one of his restaurants in 2010 after I blogged about an Inc. magazine article about their culture and their approach to operations.

It was great talking to Nick about his new book and what I call the “Like Lean” mindsets and approaches that remind me of the challenges and opportunities that organizations face with Lean Manufacturing or Lean Healthcare. I hope you'll take a listen.

For a link to this episode, refer people to  www.leanblog.org/157/.

Some questions, key topics and thoughts:

• Was it just intuitive to you that getting everybody oriented around that purpose was important? How do you get others to share the sense of purpose?
• Talk about what you see the “main job” of a manager to be…
• Describe the process of “trust and track” and why it's better than fear-based management and “command and control?” Why do you think fear-based management is, sadly, so common in so many industries and companies of all sizes?
• Can you talk about the role of transparency in your daily management and the impact it has on your employees?
• How does Nick find managers who are “coaches, not cops”?
• What's the difference between purpose, values, vision, and mission?
• Why is trust so important in an organization?
• Why does clarity have to exist around purpose in an organization?
• Does the younger generation have a higher expectation of leadership today?
• What are “ops cards” and how are they like standardized work?

For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS  or via Apple Podcasts.

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the “Lean Line” at (817) 993-0630 or contact me via Skype id “mgraban”. Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

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