by Bob Gershberg, CEO/Managing Partner, Wray Executive Search
A great management team will generate exponential impact in leading and rallying the troops around a clear strategic vision. They are fully aligned and acutely aware of the skills and capabilities across the team. They are well positioned to maintain a broad read on the true state of the organization. To function as a high performing team, they must be aligned on strategy and be relentless in the drive for excellence.
There is no way to succeed without appreciating your team members’ unique strengths. Teams are made of individuals with contrasting temperaments, talents, and skills. Building a successful team is about balancing people’s tendencies toward autonomy and social connection. Doing so successfully allows for creative tension, unlocks motivation, and promotes teams which adapt creatively to new challenges. Capitalize on qualities employees value the most—trust, freedom, and play—in order to build a high-performing and innovative organization.
Featuring Geovannie Concepcion, President & CEO of The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille
by Rebecca Patt, Senior Vice President of Development, Wray Executive Search
The Greene Turtle is a sports bar & grille franchise concept with 44 units, founded in 1976, based in Columbia, MD.
Tell us about your career trajectory since graduating DePaul University in 2008 and how you became CEO of Greene Turtle?
My road into the hospitality industry was a winding one. I graduated with a degree in accounting and my first job after graduating from DePaul in 2008 was at Lehman Brothers. That initial experience definitely colored my view of the world and I think plays a large part in what attracts me to turnaround work. After Lehman I spent several years working in the hedge fund and private equity space. While working in private equity the opportunity presented itself to join the operating team for Famous Dave’s. I’ve always had a desire to help build an operating business and working on the management team allowed me to do that.
Implications of the Wave of Complicated Accounting Changes
by John Gordon, Principal & Founder, Pacific Management Consulting Group
I grew up as a general manager, area manager and then as a junior headquarters finance staffer in the late 1970s and early 1980s with two midwestern chain restaurant companies. We had a fully sorted unit, area and corporate P&L, a theoretical food cost system, a labor chart and a sophisticated POS system as early as 1979. For some reason, the midwestern chains were very numbers and controls intense. From that point, the industry’s accounting and analytical culture has grown more complicated every few years.
Imagine how some restaurant numbers reader’s heads must be spinning now with some of the loaded on accounting developments of the last few years.
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
~ John F. Kennedy
When Leaders Have the Courage to Confront the Unacceptable
by David Lee, Founder and Principal, HumanNature@work
“Jeremy hasn’t called out Courtney on it and the rest of the management team thinks he’s a wimp because of it. He has no idea that they’ve lost respect for him because of that.”
Thinking of Upgrading Talent by Hiring a Superstar?
by Tom Rollert, Vice President, Wray Executive Search
Our clients are always eager to bring superstars on board. Now that we have entered an entered an era of record low unemployment the perception is that bringing those superstars in from the outside is more difficult than ever. However, attracting passive candidates to better opportunities has always been the reason Wray Executive Search exists, and those superstars are still available for the right opportunity. Throughout the last 45 years we have learned from our clients’ experiences, and we have summarized five key lessons to help optimize the upgrading process:
Identify your current and future internal stars first.
Align your hiring decisions with your need for current and future talent.
Temper your expectations; high performance isn’t always portable.
Don’t let eagerness short circuit your selection process.
