Every business owner wants their business to thrive. When starting a business, the owner(s) are usually involved in every aspect of the business and exert a terrific amount of control. As the business scales, however, that same Command and Control mentality can cripple the business. While it is essential to always inspect what you expect, top down leadership does little to empower or grow the team.
That change in mentality in business, away from constant control, was heavily influenced by Peter Drucker’s management philosophies being implemented in the 1960-1970s.
Trust & Inspire leader
Stephen M.R. Covey says, “The beliefs of a Trust & Inspire leader are.. like a lens; they enhance our vision. They bring people and things into focus. They help us see the world in a new way. And with that clear vision, we are better able to perform, serve, contribute, and learn. We see people not only as they truly are, but as what they could be.”
Mr. Covey says, “Each of us can become a Trust & Inspire leader through understanding and acting on the following 5 Fundamental Beliefs:"
1) “People have greatness inside them…so my job as a leader is to unleash their potential, not control them.”
2) “People are whole people…so my job as a teacher is to inspire, not merely motivate”
3) “There is enough for everyone…so my job as a leader is to elevate caring above competing.”
4) “Leadership is stewardship…so my job as a leader is to put service above self-interest.”
5) “Enduring influence is creating from the inside out…so my job as a leader is to go first.” (Stephen M.R. Covey, “Trust & Inspire”, 2022, p. 81)
A Trust and Inspire leader models trust, honesty, respect, and are accountable. They ask questions, (asking others for their opinion), and listen to understand their thoughts. It’s about inspiring, motivating, empowering, and developing their employee’s potential. It’s all about recognizing people’s potential, connecting with them, caring about them, complimenting their contributions, and helping them grow and improve to be their best selves. Trust and Inspire leaders develop people! They value others. They create a culture of caring.
They also hold others accountable. When it comes to leadership, to be unclear is to be unkind. People want to grow and they tend to thrive when given feedback. The great leaders are not afraid to offer course correction when things are not going well. (I’m sure you can think of a boss who had a tough conversation with you at some time in your life…it may have been unpleasant at that time, but it helped you grow).
Campbell’s Soup Company:
In 2001, Campbell Soup Company was in trouble. Stock prices had fallen, performance had hit rock bottom, and morale inside the company was collapsing. To stabilize the organization, the board hired Douglas Conant as President and CEO.
Within days of arriving, Conant realized the company’s biggest problem was not its products—it was its culture. The workplace atmosphere had become toxic. Distrust was high, engagement was low, and talented people were leaving the company in droves.
Conant later observed:
“You can’t expect a company to perform at high levels unless people are personally engaged. And they won’t be personally engaged unless they believe their leader is personally engaged in trying to make their lives better.”
He understood that organizational performance is inseparable from leadership style. If leaders create fear, disengagement follows. But if leaders create trust and respect, performance improves.
When Conant first walked through the doors of the corporate headquarters, he noticed rusty barbed wire surrounding the campus—a physical symbol of the emotional barriers that existed within the organization. Suspicion and frustration had replaced pride and collaboration.
Conant set out to reverse the culture.
Instead of a traditional top-down command-and-control structure, he vowed to build an inverted pyramid, where leadership exists to support the people doing the work. Employees would no longer be treated as expendable labor but as the company’s most valuable asset.
He formalized this commitment through what became known as “The Campbell Promise.” The pledge was simple but powerful: every person in the organization would be treated with dignity, respect, and integrity.
Conant believed that toxic culture usually begins with toxic leadership. If the environment is broken, leadership must change first. During his first three years as CEO, he replaced 300 of the company’s 350 senior leaders—an unprecedented move in the food industry. Half were promoted from within and half were hired externally, all chosen for their ability to lead with humility and respect.
But Conant didn’t attempt to change the culture from behind a desk.
He wore a pedometer, laced up his walking shoes, and spent hours each day walking through offices and production facilities—from corporate headquarters in New Jersey to plants across Europe and Asia. His goal was to log 10,000 steps a day while engaging directly with employees.
These daily interactions allowed him to ask questions, listen, and stay connected to the realities of the organization. He called these interactions “touchpoints.”
Conant also practiced a simple but powerful habit: handwritten recognition. Each day he wrote about twenty notes thanking employees for their contributions.
Doug Conant explained:
“I was trained to find the busted number in a spreadsheet and identify what’s going wrong. Most cultures don’t do a good job celebrating contributions. So I developed the practice of writing notes to our employees.”
Over ten years, he wrote more than 30,000 handwritten notes—even though the company had only about 20,000 employees. Around the world, employees proudly displayed those notes in their cubicles and offices.
The impact was profound. Employees valued those handwritten messages far more than a routine email because they represented authentic recognition from leadership.
As the workplace atmosphere improved, something remarkable happened: innovation returned.
Campbell’s employees began developing new retail display systems, such as gravity-feed shelving and clearly labeled soup racks now used in stores worldwide. They also introduced new product innovations, including soups designed specifically for microwave preparation.
Conant often said that the true transformation at Campbell’s was not about products—it was about people.
“The magic was on the inside.”
By 2009, the results were clear. Under Conant’s leadership, Campbell’s financial performance outpaced both the S&P 500and the S&P Food Products Index. Sales and earnings were rising, and employee engagement had reached world-class levels.
At the center of the turnaround was Conant’s simple leadership framework for everyday interactions: “Listen, Frame, Advance.”
His three-step “Touchpoints” approach worked like this:
1. Listen
Listen intently to understand what is really happening and what people need. Listening demonstrates respect and shows employees that their voices matter.
2. Frame
Clarify the issue so everyone involved has a shared understanding of the challenge.
3. Advance
Agree on the next step and who is responsible for taking action.
This approach changed the communication dynamic from “It’s all about me” to “It’s all about us.”
Every year Campbell’s surveyed employees to measure whether leaders were living the company’s leadership model—one centered on trust, respect, and engagement. Leaders who could not or would not adapt to this culture were replaced with those committed to a more civil and collaborative approach.
The transformation of Campbell’s Soup demonstrates a timeless leadership principle:
The atmosphere of a workplace is created by the behavior of its leaders.
When leaders cultivate civility, trust, and respect, employees engage more deeply, innovation accelerates, and performance follows.
Culture is not changed by slogans on the wall.
It is changed one interaction at a time.
How do you treat people? You treat them with curtesy and respect, and ask them questions.
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen:
When Cheryl Bachelder became the new CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen “she walked into a mess”. (Stephen M.R. Covey) In 7 years she was the 5th CEO. She said, “I walked into a burning building.”
In her book, Dare to Serve, "profits had fallen, the number of customers had declined, morale and performance were down, product development was sagging. Its stock had gone from “$34 per share down to $11 on the day had walked through the door.”
“The relationship between the company and its franchisees as Cheryl described it, was “on the rocks.” Her franchisees “didn’t trust the company, and the company didn’t trust them. No one had trust and no one was thriving.”
Cheryl Bachelder’s top priority as CEO “was to establish trust with franchisees, modeling the belief that leaders go first. She asked her team to think about whether they were partners the franchisees could trust.” (pp.120- 121)
She focused “on her relationship with her franchisees. She and her team demonstrated humility, courage, and vulnerability by listening deeply to and empathizing with the needs and concerns of their franchisees. In her first thirty days, she recalls, “the most important thing I did was keep my mouth shut, and I went on the road for a listening tour.”
Who did she meet with?
“She met with and listened to franchise owners, restaurant general managers, and Popeyes customers. And let them all tell her what was wrong.”
She said, “the answers were usually in the room; everybody knew what was wrong. Nobody was fixing it.”
Cheryl Bachelder “listened and responded with authenticity, showing her character and desire to help franchisees succeed.” She then “fixed it” by implementing “solutions to every problem she heard. She recognized that in addition to building a high-trust relationship with the home office, what the franchisees needed to see from her and the company were results. She needed to demonstrate to everyone a way forward” by performing.”
“She even told Wall Street the exact thing she had told her board: that her franchisees, not her shareholders, were her first priority.” This was “a courageous statement from a CEO to her investors and board. And in the end, she met the needs of all stakeholders, including shareholders.”
After eight years, “unit sales per restaurant grew by 45 percent. Restaurant profitability soared, doubling in terms of real dollars. Popeyes’ market share overall grew from 14 to 27 percent. The stock price went from $11 to $79 at the end of Cheryl’s ten years as CEO, when the company was acquired by Restaurant Brands International.” (Covey, p.120)
Cheryl said, “The franchisees… a favorite of lenders… a favorite of investors…and a case study in serving up superior performance results. The secret to Popeyes’ turnaround per performance? We dared to serve.”
Cheryl Bachelder, CEO of Popeyes, “Leadership is not about your ambition. It is about bringing out the ambitions of your team…The leader must have both the courage to take people to a daring destination and the humility to selflessly serve others on the journey.”
Here are three thought-provoking questions that invite reflection on the stories of Campbell’s Soup Company and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen?
1. How does seeing people as “whole human beings” rather than roles or titles fundamentally change motivation, loyalty, and long-term performance?
(What happens to culture when leaders lead with empathy instead of authority?)
2. If trust and inspiration can transform failing companies, what fears or beliefs most often stop leaders from choosing this approach—and what does it cost them when they don’t?
3. What can listening to your franchisees, employees, and stakeholders do for you? What questions should you ask? How can I help? (Send handwritten notes to employees celebrating their successes and contributions.)
-- Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker or video speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com
