Results for “Ron Shaich”

One of the most powerful business skills is the ability to listen, not just act. As entrepreneurs and business leaders, if we're going to focus on what truly matters, it starts with understanding what matters.

Too often, organizations become like frogs in boiling water—gradually losing their competitiveness because everyone is afraid to take risks. The short-term pain of taking a risk seems more daunting than the long-term consequences, even though the long-term pain could be the loss of competitive advantage and, ultimately, the entire value of the enterprise.

As a large company CEO, I believe one of the most critical roles is driving innovation and transformation. In fact, the CEO has to be the 'Discoverer in Chief.' Over time, a divide often forms between the discovery people and the delivery people. The language of discovery is imaginative and poetic—'imagine if,' 'what if we tried this?'—while the language of delivery is pragmatic and data-driven—'prove it to me,' 'show me the numbers.'

Being an entrepreneur, or even running a large organization, is like being a society builder. The system is bigger than any individual. You can take the same person, place them in different environments—like the old Soviet Union versus the UK or the US—and get completely different outcomes. It's about the system.

If you don't love the act of doing, you'll never find happiness. If your motivation is glory or money, you're bound to be disappointed. If you're more excited about lunch with investment bankers or the Harvard Club than dealing with the day-to-day realities—like working with bakers or being deeply involved in the entity—you'll end up unhappy.

I believe that the entrepreneurial life, even when running a large company, is a dual experience of joy and pain—two sides of the same coin. The joy lies in putting yourself out there and leading an organisation in a specific direction, but with that comes the burden of responsibility.

Being an entrepreneur, or even running a large organization, is like being a society builder. The system is bigger than any individual. When you build a business, you're architecting and constructing something substantial.

Transformation is about understanding how the market is evolving and positioning your organization for the future that's unfolding. It's about ensuring that you're there when that future arrives.