[{"_1":2,"_3":-5,"_4":-5},"loaderData",{"_5":6,"_7":8},"actionData","errors","root",{"_138":-5,"_139":-5,"_140":141,"_142":143,"_144":145},"routes/clips.$id.$slug",{"_9":10,"_11":12},"clip",{"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":-5,"_18":19,"_20":-5,"_21":22,"_23":24,"_25":26,"_27":28,"_29":30,"_31":32,"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_44":45,"_46":-5,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":-5},"canonicalUrl","https://howleaderslead.com/clips/1466/dont-let-your-team-make-excuses","id",1466,"title","Don't let your team make excuses","subtitle","transcript","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.680\ngo to a higher height.\n\n2\n00:00:01.680 --> 00:00:04.640\n- Coming out of COVID at Chipotle,\n\n3\n00:00:04.640 --> 00:00:07.480\nI can speak specifically to Chipotle on this one,\n\n4\n00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:09.440\nwe had navigated it fairly well.\n\n5\n00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:11.960\nWe'd come out of it okay, but you wanna know something?\n\n6\n00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:14.800\nWe were not operating up to our standard.\n\n7\n00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:15.640\nIt was that simple.\n\n8\n00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:18.420\nLike I'd go into restaurants, we'd be out of chips.\n\n9\n00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:20.640\nI would go into a restaurant near closing,\n\n10\n00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.560\nwe'd be out of chicken, rice.\n\n11\n00:00:22.560 --> 00:00:25.320\nAnd we were still performing,\n\n12\n00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:27.400\nbut we weren't performing where we needed to be.\n\n13\n00:00:27.400 --> 00:00:29.680\nAnd one of the key metrics we have here is throughput.\n\n14\n00:00:29.680 --> 00:00:33.400\nLike how many transactions can you get done in 15 minutes?\n\n15\n00:00:33.400 --> 00:00:35.400\nAnd that was another place where we were way off\n\n16\n00:00:35.400 --> 00:00:36.560\nof where we should have been\n\n17\n00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:38.000\nand what we're capable of doing.\n\n18\n00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.520\nAnd I literally, is this kind of a funny thing?\n\n19\n00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:42.000\nYou'll appreciate this, David.\n\n20\n00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:44.480\nI went to our team director meeting and I said,\n\n21\n00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:48.320\nhey gang, I am here to tell you we are not succeeding.\n\n22\n00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.600\nI get a report every day that shows me\n\n23\n00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:52.560\nhow many restaurants don't have chips.\n\n24\n00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:54.680\nI was like, we collectively should be embarrassed\n\n25\n00:00:54.680 --> 00:00:57.840\nthat we have a report telling us when we're out of chips.\n\n26\n00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.080\nLike we're a Mexican restaurant.\n\n27\n00:01:00.080 --> 00:01:01.400\nWhen was the last time you went to a restaurant\n\n28\n00:01:01.400 --> 00:01:03.520\nand they didn't have chips, right?\n\n29\n00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.800\nAnd so fast forward a year later,\n\n30\n00:01:05.800 --> 00:01:08.480\nI had that same TD group here and I said,\n\n31\n00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:10.600\nwell gang, you know, the good news is\n\n32\n00:01:10.600 --> 00:01:12.520\nyou got your shit in order, okay?\n\n33\n00:01:12.520 --> 00:01:15.200\nI'm not gonna talk to you about how we don't have chips\n\n34\n00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:17.280\nand we've hit what our standard is.\n\n35\n00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:21.840\nWe have our food in place, we have our performance in place.\n\n36\n00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.240\nWe still have opportunities to be better on throughput,\n\n37\n00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:27.040\nbut from a culinary, a people standpoint,\n\n38\n00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:29.480\nwe are so much better than we were a year ago.\n\n39\n00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:31.640\nAnd this was talking to an audience of people\n\n40\n00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:33.680\nthat were all really good operators.\n\n41\n00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.480\nIt was just like, we had made way too many excuses\n\n42\n00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.880\nfor too long and COVID gave us the ability\n\n43\n00:01:38.880 --> 00:01:41.280\nto provide those excuses and it's like,\n\n44\n00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:42.920\nhey, it's time to put those aside.\n\n45\n00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:44.840\nLet's get back to the standard of excellence\n\n46\n00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:46.040\nthat we know we can hit.\n\n47\n00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:47.760\nAnd I'll tell you what,\n\n48\n00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:50.080\nthe guys were super energized.\n\n49\n00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:52.680\nThey took it to hard and, you know, to their credit,\n\n50\n00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:54.640\nI think we're performing much closer\n\n51\n00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:55.720\nto what we're capable of doing.\n\n52\n00:01:55.720 --> 00:01:58.480\nWe still have some opportunity, but it's never easy to do,\n\n53\n00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:00.240\nbut every once in a while,\n\n54\n00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:01.800\nthey respect you for recognizing\n\n55\n00:02:01.800 --> 00:02:03.320\nwe're not hitting the number.\n","pretty_transcript","start_time",1153379,"end_time",1274939,"keywords","Performance, underperforming, confrontation, standards, quality, excuses, chipotle, qsr, food, fast food, hospitality","slug","dont-let-your-team-make-excuses","origin","cms","mux_playback_id","YgAKna2TuFyvKlHk1IRklcLht3fWq02BhPPHvLx8K7vM","mux_asset_id","RN54gN97bDaYhxdCNhq6g1NwVj1SDqB63eGGJo01KpjA","leader_id",162,"episode_id",311,"updated_at","2025-02-26T19:42:23.000000Z","meta_title","meta_description","og_image_media_id","web_url","https://www.howleaderslead.com/clips/1466/dont-let-your-team-make-excuses","og_image_url","leader",{"_13":36,"_101":102,"_103":104,"_105":106,"_25":107,"_108":109,"_62":110,"_59":111,"_112":113,"_69":114,"_39":115,"_116":-5,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_117":118,"_89":119,"_44":120,"_121":122,"_123":124,"_46":-5,"_125":126,"_127":128,"_93":129,"_51":-5},"episode",{"_13":38,"_15":52,"_27":53,"_17":54,"_55":56,"_18":57,"_20":58,"_59":60,"_61":-5,"_62":60,"_63":-5,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":-5,"_69":-5,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":-5,"_35":36,"_39":75,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_76":77,"_78":79,"_80":81,"_82":83,"_84":-5,"_85":-5,"_86":87,"_88":-5,"_89":-5,"_46":-5,"_90":91,"_92":-5,"_93":-5,"_51":-5},"og_image_media","Follow through on the right ideas","follow-through-on-the-right-ideas","Learn how to surface great ideas and then create a process to follow through on the right ones. See what it takes to get a new team to believe in you as a leader. Plus, one unusual way to tell if it’s time for a job change.","summary","

Happy New Year! Our guest today as we kick off 2024 is Brian Niccol, CEO of Chipotle.

Chipotle has just wrapped up a banner year with Brian at the helm. They’re posting record growth and revenue, all while doing innovative stuff with their marketing and menu.

But as you’ll hear today, it’s not just about big ideas. Brian knows how to focus on the RIGHT ideas and then create the kind of structure, execution, and team motivation to really make ‘em happen.

And with Chipotle doing better than ever, it’s clear that he’s found a recipe for success … and you’ll get a ton of value when you hear how he leads.

You’ll also learn:

How to get people to believe in you as a leader
Three steps to follow to lead a successful turnaround
One way to tell if it’s time for a job change
How to properly vet great ideas
Tips for tackling tough performance-related conversations

","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.420\nWelcome to How Leaders Lead, where every week you get to listen in while I\n\n2\n00:00:07.420 --> 00:00:08.200\ninterview some\n\n3\n00:00:08.200 --> 00:00:10.140\nof the very best leaders in the world.\n\n4\n00:00:10.140 --> 00:00:13.320\nI break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have\n\n5\n00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:13.920\nsomething\n\n6\n00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:17.780\nsimple you can apply as you develop into a better leader.\n\n7\n00:00:17.780 --> 00:00:20.680\nThat's what this podcast is all about.\n\n8\n00:00:20.680 --> 00:00:23.520\nWelcome to our first episode of 2024.\n\n9\n00:00:23.520 --> 00:00:28.000\nI'm excited about the year ahead and honored to kick things off today with none\n\n10\n00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:28.560\nother than\n\n11\n00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:33.320\nBrian Nickel, the chief executive officer of Chipotle.\n\n12\n00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:36.120\nNow Brian and I actually go way back.\n\n13\n00:00:36.120 --> 00:00:42.200\nBelieve it or not, I hired Brian as a marketer at Pizza Hut when I was running\n\n14\n00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:43.680\nyoung brands.\n\n15\n00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:50.430\nI'd heard he was a rising star with big ideas and I knew I wanted him on my\n\n16\n00:00:50.430 --> 00:00:51.000\nteam.\n\n17\n00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:55.820\nThese days, it's clear he's still passionate about finding those great ideas\n\n18\n00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:56.160\nbecause as\n\n19\n00:00:56.160 --> 00:01:00.450\nyou probably know, Chipotle does some really innovative stuff with their\n\n20\n00:01:00.450 --> 00:01:01.360\nmarketing and\n\n21\n00:01:01.360 --> 00:01:04.760\ntheir menu and everything that they touch.\n\n22\n00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:09.520\nBut as you'll hear today, there's more to it than just big ideas.\n\n23\n00:01:09.520 --> 00:01:13.850\nBrian knows how to focus on the right ideas and then create the kind of\n\n24\n00:01:13.850 --> 00:01:15.480\nstructure, execution\n\n25\n00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:19.200\nand team motivation to really make them happen.\n\n26\n00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:24.220\nAnd with Chipotle doing better than ever, it's clear that he's found a recipe\n\n27\n00:01:24.220 --> 00:01:25.240\nfor success.\n\n28\n00:01:25.240 --> 00:01:29.920\nAnd I know you're going to get a ton of value when you hear how he leads.\n\n29\n00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:37.480\nHere's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Brian Nickel.\n\n30\n00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:43.870\nYou know, I know there's not too many people that work any harder than you,\n\n31\n00:01:43.870 --> 00:01:45.120\nBrian, but I\n\n32\n00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:49.980\nheard through the grapevine that you and Jim Hope just won a major in amateur\n\n33\n00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:50.960\ngolf, the\n\n34\n00:01:50.960 --> 00:01:53.280\nCyprus Point member guests.\n\n35\n00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:54.640\nThat had to be a thrill for you.\n\n36\n00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:58.170\nI thought about giving up golf after winning because I'm not sure it gets any\n\n37\n00:01:58.170 --> 00:01:58.760\nbetter.\n\n38\n00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:00.680\nAnd I finally found the right partner, it seems like.\n\n39\n00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:02.120\nHe carried me all the way home.\n\n40\n00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:04.400\nSo it was a lot of fun.\n\n41\n00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.920\nI tried to convince my wife to put the trophy on the dining room table, but it\n\n42\n00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:08.360\nended up\n\n43\n00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:10.920\ngetting a pretty good spot in my office, which is great.\n\n44\n00:02:10.920 --> 00:02:12.560\nYou've always been a great team player.\n\n45\n00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:14.520\nGive people credit when credit is due.\n\n46\n00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:16.560\nSo giving Jim that not is great.\n\n47\n00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:18.520\nWhen I talked to him, he said you carried him.\n\n48\n00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:20.560\nSo you no wonder you guys were such a great team.\n\n49\n00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:25.440\nYou know, Chipotle, I don't know if there's a more cool brand in the world.\n\n50\n00:02:25.440 --> 00:02:26.440\nI mean, it's a great brand.\n\n51\n00:02:26.440 --> 00:02:30.440\nYou just, you know, we're doing this right after Halloween and you had the Bur\n\n52\n00:02:30.440 --> 00:02:31.560\nrito Halloween\n\n53\n00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:32.560\npromotion.\n\n54\n00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:36.400\nYou know, you're always creating a ton of energy for your customers and your\n\n55\n00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:36.960\npeople.\n\n56\n00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:40.280\nDo you have any daily rituals that get you fired up and ready to go?\n\n57\n00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.880\nYeah, look, you know, one of the things we always talk about here is we want to\n\n58\n00:02:43.880 --> 00:02:44.360\nbe very\n\n59\n00:02:44.360 --> 00:02:47.760\nmuch in touch with what young people are doing.\n\n60\n00:02:47.760 --> 00:02:51.640\nAnd the best way I can do that is I broke down and got a Snapchat account,\n\n61\n00:02:51.640 --> 00:02:52.600\npartly because\n\n62\n00:02:52.600 --> 00:02:54.640\nI wanted to communicate with my kids.\n\n63\n00:02:54.640 --> 00:02:59.020\nBut you know, I stay active on the key social media channels and that's really\n\n64\n00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:00.680\nTikTok, Snapchat,\n\n65\n00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:02.040\nInstagram.\n\n66\n00:03:02.040 --> 00:03:05.200\nAnd we're just looking partly to see what's going on out there.\n\n67\n00:03:05.200 --> 00:03:09.620\nAnd as part of our ELT meetings, we do this thing where we all talk about like,\n\n68\n00:03:09.620 --> 00:03:10.080\nhey, what\n\n69\n00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:11.680\ndid you see over the weekend?\n\n70\n00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.520\nWhat did you see this past week?\n\n71\n00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:14.960\nWhat are your kids talking about?\n\n72\n00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.120\nWhat are your kids' friends talking about?\n\n73\n00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.450\nAnd it's kind of funny because on the one hand, it started out as a little bit\n\n74\n00:03:20.450 --> 00:03:21.040\nof a joke of\n\n75\n00:03:21.040 --> 00:03:23.800\nlike, gosh, we're all getting so much older, our kids, blah, blah.\n\n76\n00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:27.850\nAnd it's actually turned into something that as a ritual, one, we enjoy doing\n\n77\n00:03:27.850 --> 00:03:28.240\nit.\n\n78\n00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.290\nAnd two, it gives us some insight into what are the things we can do to keep\n\n79\n00:03:31.290 --> 00:03:31.760\nChipotle\n\n80\n00:03:31.760 --> 00:03:34.160\nfresh, keep Chipotle connected.\n\n81\n00:03:34.160 --> 00:03:37.920\nAnd I think it's been proving to be a pretty powerful practice that we have.\n\n82\n00:03:37.920 --> 00:03:41.290\nYou know, ELT, I think for all of you listening out there means executive\n\n83\n00:03:41.290 --> 00:03:42.360\nleadership team.\n\n84\n00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.360\nAnd you have always been such a talent magnet.\n\n85\n00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:47.760\nI mean, you've always brought in really great people.\n\n86\n00:03:47.760 --> 00:03:49.040\nWhat do you think is your secret?\n\n87\n00:03:49.040 --> 00:03:52.300\nAnd what do you do maybe that's a little different than other people to recruit\n\n88\n00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:53.000\nthe very best\n\n89\n00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.360\npeople and retain them?\n\n90\n00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:56.720\nThat's a number one priority for me.\n\n91\n00:03:56.720 --> 00:04:00.070\nI actually, I learned that when I was working for you a while ago, you know,\n\n92\n00:04:00.070 --> 00:04:00.560\nyour only\n\n93\n00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:07.080\nas good as the talent that we can be attracting and energizing every day.\n\n94\n00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:11.320\nAnd one of the things I say to everybody is, look, we are a place for ideas.\n\n95\n00:04:11.320 --> 00:04:14.560\nAnd if you want to come to a place and you're willing to press your test, your\n\n96\n00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:15.240\nideas, we're\n\n97\n00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:18.520\ngoing to give you a shot with those ideas to make it to market.\n\n98\n00:04:18.520 --> 00:04:21.960\nWe use a disciplined approach with it as stage gate process.\n\n99\n00:04:21.960 --> 00:04:25.620\nBut I think what gets these guys excited is their ideas more often than not\n\n100\n00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:26.200\nmake it,\n\n101\n00:04:26.200 --> 00:04:29.890\nyou know, whether it's in the digital space with, you know, it was a couple of\n\n102\n00:04:29.890 --> 00:04:30.600\nyears ago,\n\n103\n00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:34.890\nwe were experimenting with the metaverse to where we are today with how we use\n\n104\n00:04:34.890 --> 00:04:35.600\nour rewards\n\n105\n00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:40.310\nprogram to better engage with people or most recently we're doing a food\n\n106\n00:04:40.310 --> 00:04:41.160\nprogram called\n\n107\n00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:46.170\nCarnier Sada. These were all ideas that came from folks in our organization,\n\n108\n00:04:46.170 --> 00:04:46.240\nput it through\n\n109\n00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:49.000\nthe stage gate process and then saw it to market.\n\n110\n00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.460\nAnd when I talk to like Kirk Garner, the gentleman that runs all of our tech,\n\n111\n00:04:52.460 --> 00:04:52.720\nwe get\n\n112\n00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:56.410\na lot of people applying for these jobs because they want to bring their ideas\n\n113\n00:04:56.410 --> 00:04:57.160\nto market.\n\n114\n00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.890\nAnd when they find out that we're a place that embraces the ideas, we'll press\n\n115\n00:05:00.890 --> 00:05:01.280\nyour\n\n116\n00:05:01.280 --> 00:05:04.520\ntest. If it works, we're going to put more fuel to the fire.\n\n117\n00:05:04.520 --> 00:05:06.320\nAnd that's kind of the approach we've been taking.\n\n118\n00:05:06.320 --> 00:05:10.560\nAs CEO, what do you enjoy spending your time on the most?\n\n119\n00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:14.840\nTwo things. One, our people are super important to me. One of the things that's\n\n120\n00:05:14.840 --> 00:05:15.200\npretty unique\n\n121\n00:05:15.200 --> 00:05:19.660\nabout our company is we actually own all 3000 restaurants. So we've got over\n\n122\n00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:21.680\n100,000 employees.\n\n123\n00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:24.970\nAnd I'll tell you what, I love seeing people get promoted. I love seeing people\n\n124\n00:05:24.970 --> 00:05:25.440\nachieve\n\n125\n00:05:25.440 --> 00:05:29.230\nsuccess and then having the opportunity to talk about that success. That is\n\n126\n00:05:29.230 --> 00:05:29.920\nsuper energizing\n\n127\n00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.280\nto me. 94% of our promotions will be from within.\n\n128\n00:05:34.280 --> 00:05:38.810\nAnd we're going to promote people almost every day. And it's really exciting to\n\n129\n00:05:38.810 --> 00:05:39.360\nsee people\n\n130\n00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:42.570\nachieve their ambitions. And then when they realized they've achieved something\n\n131\n00:05:42.570 --> 00:05:42.720\n, they\n\n132\n00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.640\ncould strive for the next thing. And that's super engaging.\n\n133\n00:05:46.640 --> 00:05:49.590\nThe other thing that gets me really excited is, look, I love our food. As a\n\n134\n00:05:49.590 --> 00:05:49.960\nmatter of fact,\n\n135\n00:05:49.960 --> 00:05:53.480\ntoday for lunch, we all had Chipotle. And I'll tell you what, when we do the\n\n136\n00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:53.960\nculinary\n\n137\n00:05:53.960 --> 00:05:57.400\nright, I just get fired up, David. It's like, I'll take more queso, I'll take\n\n138\n00:05:57.400 --> 00:05:58.520\nmore chicken.\n\n139\n00:05:58.520 --> 00:06:01.700\nThe older I get, I got to watch how much queso I take in. But I'm fired up\n\n140\n00:06:01.700 --> 00:06:02.480\nabout our people\n\n141\n00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:04.080\nand I'm fired up about our food.\n\n142\n00:06:04.080 --> 00:06:07.900\nOur advertising is very good and you showcase your people. How do you decide\n\n143\n00:06:07.900 --> 00:06:08.600\nwho gets to\n\n144\n00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:12.890\ngo on those commercials? Is it a part of a recognition program or is it just\n\n145\n00:06:12.890 --> 00:06:13.480\nyou look\n\n146\n00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:14.960\nfor the best actors?\n\n147\n00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:18.860\nWell, we do have a lot of actors, that's for sure. Actually, what we did, the\n\n148\n00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:19.320\nvery first\n\n149\n00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:24.000\ntime we did this, we put it out to folks like, hey, send us in these videos of\n\n150\n00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:24.640\nwhat you like\n\n151\n00:06:24.640 --> 00:06:28.300\nworking about at Chipotle. And they didn't even know that we were potentially\n\n152\n00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:28.600\ngoing to\n\n153\n00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:33.230\nturn around and select them for the ads. And so it became a big surprise after\n\n154\n00:06:33.230 --> 00:06:33.520\nwe did\n\n155\n00:06:33.520 --> 00:06:37.010\nthat the first time though, people caught on like, okay, they're looking for\n\n156\n00:06:37.010 --> 00:06:37.680\nour employees\n\n157\n00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.550\nto be in ads. And I'll tell you, this is where you find out just how many\n\n158\n00:06:41.550 --> 00:06:42.320\ntalented people\n\n159\n00:06:42.320 --> 00:06:46.380\nyou have in your organization at all levels. And you'll see in some of the ads,\n\n160\n00:06:46.380 --> 00:06:46.880\nDavid,\n\n161\n00:06:46.880 --> 00:06:50.450\nsome are general managers, some are field leaders, which are people that\n\n162\n00:06:50.450 --> 00:06:51.080\noversee 7,\n\n163\n00:06:51.080 --> 00:06:55.820\n8 restaurants. Some are team directors, they oversee 40, 50 restaurants.\n\n164\n00:06:55.820 --> 00:06:56.360\nBasically, they\n\n165\n00:06:56.360 --> 00:07:01.220\nsubmit in what they find special about Chipotle. We got this great director,\n\n166\n00:07:01.220 --> 00:07:01.840\nEarl Morris,\n\n167\n00:07:01.840 --> 00:07:06.140\nhe's kind of a documentarian. And he brings out the best in these folks. So we\n\n168\n00:07:06.140 --> 00:07:06.440\n're pretty\n\n169\n00:07:06.440 --> 00:07:09.820\nblessed to have as many wonderful people as we have. Brian, we're going to dive\n\n170\n00:07:09.820 --> 00:07:10.320\ndeep in\n\n171\n00:07:10.320 --> 00:07:14.540\nhow you're leading at Chipotle. But for a second, I want to take you back. What\n\n172\n00:07:14.540 --> 00:07:14.600\n's the\n\n173\n00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:18.660\nstory from your childhood that's shaped the kind of leader you are today? My\n\n174\n00:07:18.660 --> 00:07:20.080\nmom and dad,\n\n175\n00:07:20.080 --> 00:07:24.390\ngreat people, they always instilled in me. Look, if there's something you want\n\n176\n00:07:24.390 --> 00:07:24.600\nto go\n\n177\n00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:29.220\nachieve, figure out the best way to prepare yourself for it, give the best\n\n178\n00:07:29.220 --> 00:07:29.960\neffort you\n\n179\n00:07:29.960 --> 00:07:34.080\npossibly can, and then you can be satisfied with the outcome. And then the\n\n180\n00:07:34.080 --> 00:07:34.360\nother thing\n\n181\n00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:39.360\nthat they told me was, look, you may not know everything and seek out folks\n\n182\n00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:40.240\nthat might know\n\n183\n00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:44.950\nmore about that topic than you and help them get better. And when I was younger\n\n184\n00:07:44.950 --> 00:07:45.200\n, it was\n\n185\n00:07:45.200 --> 00:07:48.800\nall really more centered on sports. So I was always trying to find like, and\n\n186\n00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:49.040\nwhen I was\n\n187\n00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.840\ntrying out for the baseball team, I wondered who was, I thought the best\n\n188\n00:07:52.840 --> 00:07:53.320\npitcher. And I\n\n189\n00:07:53.320 --> 00:07:57.060\nwanted to end up on that team because I figured that's how I get better as a\n\n190\n00:07:57.060 --> 00:07:57.800\npitcher.\n\n191\n00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:00.750\nI didn't articulate it this way when I was younger, but I was like, hey, if I\n\n192\n00:08:00.750 --> 00:08:01.160\ncan play\n\n193\n00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:05.350\nwith, at the time, it was like Scotty Lawrence. I know Scotty and I will be\n\n194\n00:08:05.350 --> 00:08:06.560\nmuch better pitchers\n\n195\n00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:11.440\ntogether than if we're on different teams. And I kind of just took that through\n\n196\n00:08:11.440 --> 00:08:12.080\nmy whole\n\n197\n00:08:12.080 --> 00:08:16.810\nlife. And when I got to college, I did the same thing. I was like, look, I want\n\n198\n00:08:16.810 --> 00:08:17.040\nto be\n\n199\n00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:21.800\non the best project team. Like, if I can be around people that I think will\n\n200\n00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:22.360\npush me or\n\n201\n00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:25.970\npull me along, then I'll just get that much better. And I think that's\n\n202\n00:08:25.970 --> 00:08:26.600\nsomething I've\n\n203\n00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:30.400\nalways just taken with me. And hopefully I still do it today.\n\n204\n00:08:30.400 --> 00:08:33.890\nYou know, speaking of being the best, you are really one of the best marketers\n\n205\n00:08:33.890 --> 00:08:34.400\nI've ever\n\n206\n00:08:34.400 --> 00:08:39.940\nworked with. And I know you came up at Proctor and Gamble. And at one point, I\n\n207\n00:08:39.940 --> 00:08:40.840\nremember you\n\n208\n00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:46.710\ntelling me you were a handed a challenge of making mouthwash portable. Tell us\n\n209\n00:08:46.710 --> 00:08:46.960\nabout\n\n210\n00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:49.640\nthat. And how did that stretch you as a leader?\n\n211\n00:08:49.640 --> 00:08:53.440\nBoy, you got a great memory, Dave. That's good. That's really good. Yeah, I was\n\n212\n00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:53.920\nan assistant\n\n213\n00:08:53.920 --> 00:08:58.030\nbrand manager on Scope. I don't know if you remember, there was at the time,\n\n214\n00:08:58.030 --> 00:08:58.200\nremember\n\n215\n00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:02.600\nthe pieces of paper for mouthwash? It was like, oh, yeah, you put them in your\n\n216\n00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:02.800\ntongue.\n\n217\n00:09:02.800 --> 00:09:07.600\nYeah. And you know, you also had altoids kind of just taking off to where that\n\n218\n00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:07.900\nreally\n\n219\n00:09:07.900 --> 00:09:11.130\nstrong mints. Actually, they had a great selling life. He was like a curiously\n\n220\n00:09:11.130 --> 00:09:11.440\nstrong\n\n221\n00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:15.120\nmints. You know, so Scope was stuck in people's bathrooms. And we're like, well\n\n222\n00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:15.280\n, how do\n\n223\n00:09:15.280 --> 00:09:18.810\nwe get scope to be portable so people could use it more? Well, there was this\n\n224\n00:09:18.810 --> 00:09:19.440\ntechnology\n\n225\n00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:24.010\nthat folks had and was like in a little ball, you remember the gum like squirt\n\n226\n00:09:24.010 --> 00:09:24.680\nwhen you chew\n\n227\n00:09:24.680 --> 00:09:30.230\non it burst out? And that's what this was. This was in a little membrane. And\n\n228\n00:09:30.230 --> 00:09:30.600\nwe had\n\n229\n00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:34.560\na great name was called Microscopes. But you know, one of the things I learned\n\n230\n00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:34.840\nis you\n\n231\n00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:39.850\ncan't just sometimes market past with the product experiences. And the only b\n\n232\n00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:40.160\nummer in\n\n233\n00:09:40.160 --> 00:09:43.960\nthat product was after the scope squirted out, there was a little residue left\n\n234\n00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:44.720\nin your mouth.\n\n235\n00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:49.020\nEven though you had great breath, you had a weird taste in your mouth. So one\n\n236\n00:09:49.020 --> 00:09:49.440\nof those\n\n237\n00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:53.670\nthings where I was like, I thought I found like this killer project from the\n\n238\n00:09:53.670 --> 00:09:54.280\npast. And\n\n239\n00:09:54.280 --> 00:09:58.590\nI kind of walked past some of the things that held it back. But you know,\n\n240\n00:09:58.590 --> 00:09:59.360\nfortunately,\n\n241\n00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:02.110\nit was one of those things that we learned quickly that it wasn't going\n\n242\n00:10:02.110 --> 00:10:03.440\nanywhere. Now,\n\n243\n00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.580\nI'm sure there's a lot smarter guys that have figured out how to make scope\n\n244\n00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:07.240\nwork outside\n\n245\n00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:08.240\nthe bathroom.\n\n246\n00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:12.350\nWell, you know, I remember when we were trying to recruit people at young\n\n247\n00:10:12.350 --> 00:10:13.160\nbrands, you know,\n\n248\n00:10:13.160 --> 00:10:17.170\nI was asking around like, who are the top people at Proctor? And your day\n\n249\n00:10:17.170 --> 00:10:17.760\nalways came\n\n250\n00:10:17.760 --> 00:10:23.540\nup as a rising star. And I was really happy to see you come to Pizza Hut, which\n\n251\n00:10:23.540 --> 00:10:24.160\nis where\n\n252\n00:10:24.160 --> 00:10:29.540\nyou really started out. But what made you leave a Proctor and Gamble, which is\n\n253\n00:10:29.540 --> 00:10:29.640\nthe\n\n254\n00:10:29.640 --> 00:10:34.330\npremier package goods company in the world, and go to a brand like pizza, which\n\n255\n00:10:34.330 --> 00:10:34.720\nis, you\n\n256\n00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.520\nknow, the leader in the pizza industry. But you know, it's not Proctor and\n\n257\n00:10:37.520 --> 00:10:38.200\nGamble in terms\n\n258\n00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:39.400\nof prestige.\n\n259\n00:10:39.400 --> 00:10:43.110\nIt was one of those things where I feel very fortunate. I had my first\n\n260\n00:10:43.110 --> 00:10:44.040\nopportunities at\n\n261\n00:10:44.040 --> 00:10:48.490\nP&G, some of the best people I got to work for work with. But I'll tell you\n\n262\n00:10:48.490 --> 00:10:48.880\nwhat, David,\n\n263\n00:10:48.880 --> 00:10:52.500\nit was because I met somebody like yourself. You know, when I got to the\n\n264\n00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:53.640\ninterviewing process\n\n265\n00:10:53.640 --> 00:10:57.650\nand I met you, you know, one of the things that I got excited about was you're\n\n266\n00:10:57.650 --> 00:10:58.120\nlike,\n\n267\n00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.950\nlook, I'm going to give you a shot. I think you actually said is, I hope you're\n\n268\n00:11:01.950 --> 00:11:02.280\nas good\n\n269\n00:11:02.280 --> 00:11:05.010\nas you say you are. I think that might have been the line. I think that might\n\n270\n00:11:05.010 --> 00:11:05.280\nhave been\n\n271\n00:11:05.280 --> 00:11:08.900\nthe line you use with me. And I was like, you know what? I like that challenge.\n\n272\n00:11:08.900 --> 00:11:09.160\nI think\n\n273\n00:11:09.160 --> 00:11:12.800\nI am. I think actually I've got even more in the tank. Look, you opened the\n\n274\n00:11:12.800 --> 00:11:13.800\ndoor for me\n\n275\n00:11:13.800 --> 00:11:18.830\nto test out how good I really could be early in my career. And I probably\n\n276\n00:11:18.830 --> 00:11:19.640\nwouldn't be in\n\n277\n00:11:19.640 --> 00:11:23.590\nthis job, frankly, right now if I didn't make that move then, and I found a\n\n278\n00:11:23.590 --> 00:11:24.280\nleader like\n\n279\n00:11:24.280 --> 00:11:28.360\nyourself that was willing to give me some opportunities throughout my time at\n\n280\n00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:28.760\nyoung.\n\n281\n00:11:28.760 --> 00:11:33.690\nI mean, frankly, you, Scott Burger and a couple guys leaned into me to give me\n\n282\n00:11:33.690 --> 00:11:35.120\nsome big opportunities.\n\n283\n00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:39.450\nAnd, you know, that's what I was excited about. I mean, P&G was a great place,\n\n284\n00:11:39.450 --> 00:11:39.640\nbut it was\n\n285\n00:11:39.640 --> 00:11:41.690\none of those things where I had gotten to the point where it was a little bit\n\n286\n00:11:41.690 --> 00:11:42.040\nof I had\n\n287\n00:11:42.040 --> 00:11:46.580\nto play the waiting game. And, you know, I was probably young and naive. And I\n\n288\n00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:46.880\nwas like,\n\n289\n00:11:46.880 --> 00:11:50.740\nI don't need to wait. Like, give me the next challenge and, you know, look like\n\n290\n00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:51.160\nI came\n\n291\n00:11:51.160 --> 00:11:53.640\nacross a leader like yourself. They was like, Oh, I got a challenge for you.\n\n292\n00:11:53.640 --> 00:11:53.920\nYou know,\n\n293\n00:11:53.920 --> 00:11:54.920\ncome on over.\n\n294\n00:11:54.920 --> 00:11:57.530\nWell, you did a great job at Pizza Hut and you were really in line to become\n\n295\n00:11:57.530 --> 00:11:58.160\nthe president\n\n296\n00:11:58.160 --> 00:12:01.330\nof Pizza Hut. And we had a problem at Taco Bell and you were already the\n\n297\n00:12:01.330 --> 00:12:02.120\ngeneral manager\n\n298\n00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:06.350\nof Pizza Hut. And, you know, it was pretty clear you were next up. And I came\n\n299\n00:12:06.350 --> 00:12:06.840\nto you\n\n300\n00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:10.560\nand said, you know, Brian, I'm wondering if you go out to Taco Bell and run\n\n301\n00:12:10.560 --> 00:12:11.160\nmarketing\n\n302\n00:12:11.160 --> 00:12:15.860\nfor us. You know, it was a step down in the organization, but you said, throw\n\n303\n00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:16.840\nme in, coach.\n\n304\n00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:21.890\nWhat was in your mindset as a leader that would make you do something like that\n\n305\n00:12:21.890 --> 00:12:21.960\n?\n\n306\n00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:27.730\nMy ambition was to ultimately be, you know, a CEO of a company. But I was like,\n\n307\n00:12:27.730 --> 00:12:28.160\na lot\n\n308\n00:12:28.160 --> 00:12:32.110\nof people had told me early on in my career, don't expect it to be a linear\n\n309\n00:12:32.110 --> 00:12:32.920\npath and take\n\n310\n00:12:32.920 --> 00:12:35.970\nthe opportunities when people present them to you. If you think it's an\n\n311\n00:12:35.970 --> 00:12:36.520\nopportunity,\n\n312\n00:12:36.520 --> 00:12:40.540\nyou can make a big impact on. And I think I told you, David, like, I would love\n\n313\n00:12:40.540 --> 00:12:40.840\nto get\n\n314\n00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:45.470\nmy hands on that brand. I thought it was, and I still believe it is a great\n\n315\n00:12:45.470 --> 00:12:46.560\nbrand. Serves\n\n316\n00:12:46.560 --> 00:12:50.690\na very unique purpose. I was flattered that you'd asked me to go do it. So I\n\n317\n00:12:50.690 --> 00:12:51.200\nwas excited\n\n318\n00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:55.430\nabout, Hey, you know what, I prefer to go be the general manager of president,\n\n319\n00:12:55.430 --> 00:12:55.800\nTaco\n\n320\n00:12:55.800 --> 00:12:59.440\nBell right on the gate. But if this is the path, I have to go down. I'll go\n\n321\n00:12:59.440 --> 00:12:59.800\ndown that\n\n322\n00:12:59.800 --> 00:13:04.460\npath. And I was truly excited because I felt like I could make a big impact and\n\n323\n00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:04.920\nmake a\n\n324\n00:13:04.920 --> 00:13:05.920\ndifference.\n\n325\n00:13:05.920 --> 00:13:09.340\nWhen wasn't that you had this aha moment when you said to yourself, you know, I\n\n326\n00:13:09.340 --> 00:13:09.920\nreally want\n\n327\n00:13:09.920 --> 00:13:11.760\nto be the head of a company.\n\n328\n00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:16.380\nWhen I was at Proctor and Gamble and I got promoted to brand manager, I liked\n\n329\n00:13:16.380 --> 00:13:16.960\nthe idea\n\n330\n00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:20.750\nof being able to work cross functionally. Well, I also learned there too. It's\n\n331\n00:13:20.750 --> 00:13:21.240\nlike, look,\n\n332\n00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:25.120\nI'm in the right place. I want to be in a consumer facing business because I\n\n333\n00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:25.320\nlove trying\n\n334\n00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:29.240\nto figure out what motivates people to buy my item. How do I make them fall in\n\n335\n00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:29.560\nlove with\n\n336\n00:13:29.560 --> 00:13:32.980\nmy item? And I think you had a great line. It's like, what have a perception\n\n337\n00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:33.240\nbelief\n\n338\n00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:36.860\nfor you trying to build change or reinforce? I wish I would have picked that up\n\n339\n00:13:36.860 --> 00:13:37.080\nearlier\n\n340\n00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:41.280\nin my career because I didn't have it so elegantly figured out on how it's\n\n341\n00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:42.280\ngoing to tackle these\n\n342\n00:13:42.280 --> 00:13:45.900\nissues. But it was probably when I first became a brand manager. My first brand\n\n343\n00:13:45.900 --> 00:13:46.640\nmanager assignment\n\n344\n00:13:46.640 --> 00:13:50.850\nwas on thermicare, which was a new product. And I just fell in love with the\n\n345\n00:13:50.850 --> 00:13:51.760\nidea of working\n\n346\n00:13:51.760 --> 00:13:56.890\non a team, leading a team, and trying to figure out what is the unique reason\n\n347\n00:13:56.890 --> 00:13:57.840\nwhy my business\n\n348\n00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:01.600\nshould exist and have the right to earn people's business over and over again.\n\n349\n00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:02.800\nAnd that just\n\n350\n00:14:02.800 --> 00:14:06.640\nreally turned me on. You've always been a person that was on the fast track.\n\n351\n00:14:06.640 --> 00:14:06.880\nBut what\n\n352\n00:14:06.880 --> 00:14:11.740\nwas the biggest bump you had along the way? You know, that first brand manager\n\n353\n00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:12.360\nassignment\n\n354\n00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:16.880\non thermicare was a lot of learning. You know, it was a smaller initiative that\n\n355\n00:14:16.880 --> 00:14:17.080\nhad\n\n356\n00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:23.090\nstruggled. When we launched it, it did OK. It didn't do great. It did OK. And,\n\n357\n00:14:23.090 --> 00:14:23.240\nyou know,\n\n358\n00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.570\nit was the first time I had done something where I was like, man, this isn't\n\n359\n00:14:25.570 --> 00:14:26.240\ngoing great.\n\n360\n00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.020\nIt's just going OK. Luckily, you know, I was surrounded by some really great\n\n361\n00:14:30.020 --> 00:14:30.560\npeople at\n\n362\n00:14:30.560 --> 00:14:33.900\nthe time, the general manager of the category was Tom Boleyn. And I remember\n\n363\n00:14:33.900 --> 00:14:34.680\ntalking through\n\n364\n00:14:34.680 --> 00:14:38.820\nit with him and he made me realize I wasn't in on it alone. This is a\n\n365\n00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:39.680\ncollective effort\n\n366\n00:14:39.680 --> 00:14:42.880\nthat we're going after it. You're perceived as the leader here. But as part of\n\n367\n00:14:42.880 --> 00:14:43.560\nthe leader,\n\n368\n00:14:43.560 --> 00:14:46.900\nyou got to recognize what's working, what's not working, and then figure out\n\n369\n00:14:46.900 --> 00:14:47.480\nhow we make\n\n370\n00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:51.020\nthe best out of the situation we have at hand. And that was probably the first\n\n371\n00:14:51.020 --> 00:14:51.400\none where\n\n372\n00:14:51.400 --> 00:14:55.960\nbumped into me that the second time it was really tough was I was at Pizza Hut.\n\n373\n00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:56.160\nAnd,\n\n374\n00:14:56.160 --> 00:15:01.220\nyou know, that's when the whole kind of world seemed like it was ending in 2008\n\n375\n00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:03.000\n, 2009.\n\n376\n00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:05.700\nIt was really tough because it was going to be the first time we weren't going\n\n377\n00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:06.000\nto make\n\n378\n00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:10.130\nour plan. I took a lot of pride in making the plan. I wanted to not only make\n\n379\n00:15:10.130 --> 00:15:10.520\nit. I\n\n380\n00:15:10.520 --> 00:15:13.800\nwanted to exceed it. That was tough. And actually, that was another example.\n\n381\n00:15:13.800 --> 00:15:14.160\nYou know, I don't\n\n382\n00:15:14.160 --> 00:15:16.860\nknow if you remember this, David, but you came up to me put your arm around me\n\n383\n00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:17.320\nand you said,\n\n384\n00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:20.990\nHey, look, I know this wasn't the year you wanted. And I know you believe you\n\n385\n00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:21.360\ncan do\n\n386\n00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:24.690\nbetter than this. But, you know, I got your back. It's like, you're going to\n\n387\n00:15:24.690 --> 00:15:25.280\nget through\n\n388\n00:15:25.280 --> 00:15:28.710\nthis. You're not in it alone. And that meant a lot to me. You know, those are\n\n389\n00:15:28.710 --> 00:15:29.160\nkind of\n\n390\n00:15:29.160 --> 00:15:32.360\ntwo critical moments where I've kind of remembered like, even when it's not\n\n391\n00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:32.880\ngoing right, you've\n\n392\n00:15:32.880 --> 00:15:34.820\ngot to remember to put your arm around somebody and say, Hey, we're going to\n\n393\n00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:36.400\nget through it.\n\n394\n00:15:36.400 --> 00:15:40.960\nYou know, Brian, when you move into a new position and then you have a new team\n\n395\n00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:41.440\n, how\n\n396\n00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:45.460\ndo you get people to believe in you as a leader? What's your process for that?\n\n397\n00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:46.000\nAnd what would\n\n398\n00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:47.880\nyou recommend to others?\n\n399\n00:15:47.880 --> 00:15:51.560\nThat's one that I've had the opportunity to do a couple times now. And, you\n\n400\n00:15:51.560 --> 00:15:51.800\nknow, the\n\n401\n00:15:51.800 --> 00:15:56.030\nfirst thing is take the time to understand who these people are. Before you\n\n402\n00:15:56.030 --> 00:15:56.400\nstart telling\n\n403\n00:15:56.400 --> 00:16:00.480\nthem what you want them to go do or what you believe we need to go do, I\n\n404\n00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:01.000\ninvested the\n\n405\n00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:04.740\ntime to find out who they are. What do they believe? What do they think isn't\n\n406\n00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:06.840\nworking,\n\n407\n00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:10.500\nnot working? And, you know, listen. And then once I took that knowledge, you\n\n408\n00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:11.040\nknow, I came\n\n409\n00:16:11.040 --> 00:16:14.310\nback and said, all right, gang, you know, I've had the opportunity to meet\n\n410\n00:16:14.310 --> 00:16:15.120\neverybody.\n\n411\n00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.950\nAnd here's the one thing. If you're here, it's because I want you on the team.\n\n412\n00:16:18.950 --> 00:16:18.980\nIf I\n\n413\n00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:21.660\nhad asked you to leave, it's because, you know, you're weren't going to be the\n\n414\n00:16:21.660 --> 00:16:22.320\nright fit for\n\n415\n00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:26.430\nthis team. But I've decided you're the right person for this team. I believe in\n\n416\n00:16:26.430 --> 00:16:26.840\nyou. Hopefully\n\n417\n00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:32.320\nyou believe in me. Let's lock arms and do this. The other thing that I find is\n\n418\n00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:32.760\nyou got to\n\n419\n00:16:32.760 --> 00:16:36.610\ntake and these are been cases where I've walked in and it's a little messy,\n\n420\n00:16:36.610 --> 00:16:37.960\nright? Like, maybe\n\n421\n00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:42.480\nit's not going great. And there's a lot of projects people are working on. How\n\n422\n00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:42.600\ndo I\n\n423\n00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:46.040\npick the one or two things that I know we as a collective team can make a\n\n424\n00:16:46.040 --> 00:16:47.080\ndifference right\n\n425\n00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:52.690\naway? And at Chipotle, that was digital ordering. We went all in on making\n\n426\n00:16:52.690 --> 00:16:53.800\nthese digital make\n\n427\n00:16:53.800 --> 00:16:58.070\nlines, mobile pickup shelves. And that was like the one thing that we went\n\n428\n00:16:58.070 --> 00:16:58.840\nafter. The other\n\n429\n00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:03.310\none thing we went after is we're going to execute operations and culinary with\n\n430\n00:17:03.310 --> 00:17:04.320\nperfection. It's\n\n431\n00:17:04.320 --> 00:17:07.570\nlike, these are the two things we're going to do. At the same time, we hired\n\n432\n00:17:07.570 --> 00:17:08.080\nsome other\n\n433\n00:17:08.080 --> 00:17:12.000\npeople and I said, look, from a marketing standpoint, I want us to be relevant.\n\n434\n00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:12.200\nI want\n\n435\n00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:15.100\nus to be on our front foot. And I want us to be talking about what makes people\n\n436\n00:17:15.100 --> 00:17:15.360\nlove\n\n437\n00:17:15.360 --> 00:17:19.490\nus. And it's like just getting very specific. Like, what are the one or two\n\n438\n00:17:19.490 --> 00:17:19.960\nthings I need\n\n439\n00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:24.480\nout of each of you as leaders? And then collectively sharing the obligation to\n\n440\n00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:25.800\nachieve those things\n\n441\n00:17:25.800 --> 00:17:34.320\nis what I've done. And it appears to be effective.\n\n442\n00:17:34.320 --> 00:17:37.860\nTalking to Brian is clear. Every leader needs to know how to create a culture\n\n443\n00:17:37.860 --> 00:17:38.400\nwhere big\n\n444\n00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:44.710\nideas thrive. As the CEO of Snap and the guy responsible for building Snapchat,\n\n445\n00:17:44.710 --> 00:17:45.360\nEvan Spiegel\n\n446\n00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:50.210\nknows a thing or two about big ideas. Evan was one of my very first guests on\n\n447\n00:17:50.210 --> 00:17:50.840\nHow Leaders\n\n448\n00:17:50.840 --> 00:17:55.760\nLead. And I love what he has to say about fostering innovation at Snap.\n\n449\n00:17:55.760 --> 00:18:00.450\nThere's more and more research that shows that we are all inherently very\n\n450\n00:18:00.450 --> 00:18:01.400\ncreative, but that\n\n451\n00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:06.270\nour fear over time overrides that creativity and actually inhibits us from\n\n452\n00:18:06.270 --> 00:18:08.000\nexpressing ourselves,\n\n453\n00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.310\ninhibits us from sharing our new ideas. And so I think a lot of leaders are\n\n454\n00:18:11.310 --> 00:18:12.000\nvery attuned\n\n455\n00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.140\nto this phenomenon and are very focused on trying to make sure people do feel\n\n456\n00:18:16.140 --> 00:18:16.960\ncomfortable\n\n457\n00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.880\nthat they don't feel afraid of expressing their ideas because leaders are\n\n458\n00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:20.320\nalways in\n\n459\n00:18:20.320 --> 00:18:24.780\nsearch of great new ideas. So I do think there's a focus on that. And I think\n\n460\n00:18:24.780 --> 00:18:25.800\nmore and more,\n\n461\n00:18:25.800 --> 00:18:31.160\nespecially as our work lives and our home lives, you know, there's really this\n\n462\n00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:32.680\nfeeling of the\n\n463\n00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:35.970\nneed to bring your whole self to work. And that's something that we really want\n\n464\n00:18:35.970 --> 00:18:36.520\nto support\n\n465\n00:18:36.520 --> 00:18:39.900\nat Snap. And we do through things like Council where people sit together in\n\n466\n00:18:39.900 --> 00:18:40.480\nsmall groups\n\n467\n00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.710\nand take turns sharing how they feel and listening to one another. And I think\n\n468\n00:18:43.710 --> 00:18:44.400\nthat's another\n\n469\n00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:47.390\nthing that helps people feel appreciated for their own unique abilities and\n\n470\n00:18:47.390 --> 00:18:48.120\ntheir own unique\n\n471\n00:18:48.120 --> 00:18:51.920\npoints of view. And that brings out the best in our talent.\n\n472\n00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:57.210\nGo back and listen to my entire conversation with Evan Spiegel, Episode 3 here\n\n473\n00:18:57.210 --> 00:18:57.840\non How Leaders\n\n474\n00:18:57.840 --> 00:19:05.520\nLead.\n\n475\n00:19:05.520 --> 00:19:10.150\nWhen you share a story where you kind of raise the bar for the team and, you\n\n476\n00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:11.120\nknow, how you\n\n477\n00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:13.840\npush them to go to a higher height.\n\n478\n00:19:13.840 --> 00:19:18.760\nComing out of COVID at Chipotle, I can speak specifically to Chipotle on this\n\n479\n00:19:18.760 --> 00:19:19.600\none, we had\n\n480\n00:19:19.600 --> 00:19:23.160\nnavigated it fairly well. We come out of it okay, but you want to know\n\n481\n00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:24.080\nsomething? We were\n\n482\n00:19:24.080 --> 00:19:28.280\nnot operating up to our standard. It was that simple. Like, I'd go into\n\n483\n00:19:28.280 --> 00:19:29.360\nrestaurants, we'd\n\n484\n00:19:29.360 --> 00:19:33.350\nbe out of chips. I would go into a restaurant near closing, we'd be out of\n\n485\n00:19:33.350 --> 00:19:34.800\nchicken, rice.\n\n486\n00:19:34.800 --> 00:19:38.480\nAnd, you know, we were still performing, but we weren't performing where we\n\n487\n00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:39.000\nneeded to\n\n488\n00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:42.510\nbe. And one of the key metrics we have here is throughput, like how many\n\n489\n00:19:42.510 --> 00:19:43.160\ntransactions\n\n490\n00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:46.880\ncan you get done in 15 minutes? And that was another place where we were way\n\n491\n00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:47.440\noff of where\n\n492\n00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:51.470\nwe should have been and what we're capable of doing. And I literally, this is\n\n493\n00:19:51.470 --> 00:19:51.880\nkind of\n\n494\n00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:55.350\na funny thing, you'll appreciate this, David. I went to our team director\n\n495\n00:19:55.350 --> 00:19:56.120\nmeeting and I\n\n496\n00:19:56.120 --> 00:20:00.950\nsaid, \"Hey, gang, I am here to tell you we are not succeeding. I get a report\n\n497\n00:20:00.950 --> 00:20:01.760\nevery day\n\n498\n00:20:01.760 --> 00:20:04.990\nthat shows me how many restaurants don't have chips.\" I was like, we\n\n499\n00:20:04.990 --> 00:20:05.800\ncollectively should\n\n500\n00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:10.130\nbe embarrassed that we have a report telling us when we're out of chips. Like,\n\n501\n00:20:10.130 --> 00:20:10.320\nwe're a\n\n502\n00:20:10.320 --> 00:20:13.320\nMexican restaurant. When was the last time you went to a restaurant and they\n\n503\n00:20:13.320 --> 00:20:13.800\ndidn't have\n\n504\n00:20:13.800 --> 00:20:19.930\nchips, right? And so, fast forward a year later, I had that same TD group here\n\n505\n00:20:19.930 --> 00:20:20.080\nand I\n\n506\n00:20:20.080 --> 00:20:24.260\nsaid, \"Well, gang, you know, the good news is you got your shit in order, okay?\n\n507\n00:20:24.260 --> 00:20:24.680\nI'm not\n\n508\n00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:28.400\ngoing to talk to you about how we don't have chips.\" And we've hit what our\n\n509\n00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:29.280\nstandard is.\n\n510\n00:20:29.280 --> 00:20:34.260\nWe have our food in place. We have our performance in place. We still have\n\n511\n00:20:34.260 --> 00:20:34.920\nopportunities to be\n\n512\n00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:39.440\nbetter on throughput, but from a culinary, a people standpoint, we are so much\n\n513\n00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:39.920\nbetter\n\n514\n00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:43.710\nthan we were a year ago. And this was talking to an audience of people that\n\n515\n00:20:43.710 --> 00:20:44.360\nwere all really\n\n516\n00:20:44.360 --> 00:20:48.970\ngood operators. It was just like we had made way too many excuses for too long\n\n517\n00:20:48.970 --> 00:20:49.640\nand COVID\n\n518\n00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:53.600\ngave us the ability to provide those excuses. And it's like, \"Hey, it's time to\n\n519\n00:20:53.600 --> 00:20:54.000\nput those\n\n520\n00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:58.240\naside. Let's get back to the standard of excellence that we know we can hit.\"\n\n521\n00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.160\nAnd I'll tell you\n\n522\n00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:03.620\nwhat, the guys were super energized. They took it to heart and, you know, to\n\n523\n00:21:03.620 --> 00:21:04.600\ntheir credit,\n\n524\n00:21:04.600 --> 00:21:07.870\nI think we're performing much closer to what we're capable of doing. We still\n\n525\n00:21:07.870 --> 00:21:08.080\nhave some\n\n526\n00:21:08.080 --> 00:21:12.520\nopportunity, but it's never easy to do, but every once in a while, they respect\n\n527\n00:21:12.520 --> 00:21:12.960\nyou for\n\n528\n00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:14.880\nrecognizing we're not hitting the number.\n\n529\n00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:18.180\nWell, I got to tell you, I like those chips and they're always there when I go\n\n530\n00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:19.000\nto Chipotle.\n\n531\n00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.490\nAnd you did an incredible job at Taco Bell and really got that brand turned\n\n532\n00:21:23.490 --> 00:21:24.000\naround and\n\n533\n00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.330\nmoving forward when you're running marketing, then you ended up being the CEO\n\n534\n00:21:27.330 --> 00:21:28.240\nof Taco Bell.\n\n535\n00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:32.950\nAnd then you were recruited away to become the CEO of Chipotle. And when it was\n\n536\n00:21:32.950 --> 00:21:33.280\nannounced\n\n537\n00:21:33.280 --> 00:21:40.600\nthat you were CEO early in 2018, the stock jumped 12%. How did that make you\n\n538\n00:21:40.600 --> 00:21:40.800\nfeel?\n\n539\n00:21:40.800 --> 00:21:44.870\nWell, on the one hand, it was pretty awesome to see. On the other hand, I'm\n\n540\n00:21:44.870 --> 00:21:45.240\nlike, \"Oh,\n\n541\n00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:50.240\nmy God, here we go. I better deliver.\" So, you know, it was exciting to see.\n\n542\n00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:50.560\nYou always\n\n543\n00:21:50.560 --> 00:21:54.600\nhear feedback like, \"Hey, people are respecting the work that you're doing.\"\n\n544\n00:21:54.600 --> 00:21:55.280\nAnd it was a\n\n545\n00:21:55.280 --> 00:21:59.270\nsignal that, you know, what people recognized the work that I had accomplished.\n\n546\n00:21:59.270 --> 00:21:59.800\nSo, on the\n\n547\n00:21:59.800 --> 00:22:03.320\none hand, I was a huge compliment on the other. I was like, \"Oh, man, I got to\n\n548\n00:22:03.320 --> 00:22:04.520\nget to work.\n\n549\n00:22:04.520 --> 00:22:05.520\nThere's work to be done.\"\n\n550\n00:22:05.520 --> 00:22:06.520\nSo...\n\n551\n00:22:06.520 --> 00:22:11.470\nDid you take some time and reflect when that happened and really map out a plan\n\n552\n00:22:11.470 --> 00:22:12.040\nin terms\n\n553\n00:22:12.040 --> 00:22:17.040\nof what kind of CEO you wanted to be? Because, you know, here you are now, you\n\n554\n00:22:17.040 --> 00:22:17.560\n're heading\n\n555\n00:22:17.560 --> 00:22:22.300\ntowards the Chipotle restaurant supports that are, \"You're going to be the guy.\n\n556\n00:22:22.300 --> 00:22:22.440\nWhat kind\n\n557\n00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:25.040\nof CEO are you trying to be?\"\n\n558\n00:22:25.040 --> 00:22:29.100\nI want to be seen as a CEO that isn't afraid to make the decision when you need\n\n559\n00:22:29.100 --> 00:22:29.600\nto make\n\n560\n00:22:29.600 --> 00:22:34.330\na decision. The other thing I want to be seen as is, hopefully, people believe\n\n561\n00:22:34.330 --> 00:22:35.600\nI am developing\n\n562\n00:22:35.600 --> 00:22:39.640\nour future leaders. In the process of making those decisions, I hope I'm\n\n563\n00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:40.520\nteaching people\n\n564\n00:22:40.520 --> 00:22:46.530\nhow I made those decisions and that then they can step in behind me and make as\n\n565\n00:22:46.530 --> 00:22:47.000\ngood\n\n566\n00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:51.100\na decision, if not a better decision, if I wasn't in the room. And that's what\n\n567\n00:22:51.100 --> 00:22:52.040\nI'm after.\n\n568\n00:22:52.040 --> 00:22:57.990\nYou know, it would really delight me to see people be successful leaving here,\n\n569\n00:22:57.990 --> 00:22:58.200\nnot that\n\n570\n00:22:58.200 --> 00:23:00.900\nI want anybody to leave Chipotle, but if they leave Chipotle and they go\n\n571\n00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:01.640\nsomewhere else,\n\n572\n00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:05.520\nI want to see them be successful and hopefully I had a role in them achieving\n\n573\n00:23:05.520 --> 00:23:06.560\ntheir success.\n\n574\n00:23:06.560 --> 00:23:10.420\nAnd, you know, the other thing I wanted to be seen at too for Chipotle is I\n\n575\n00:23:10.420 --> 00:23:10.680\nwanted to\n\n576\n00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:15.040\nbe seen as somebody that can grow a business. Like, I want to be known as like,\n\n577\n00:23:15.040 --> 00:23:15.440\n\"Hey, I\n\n578\n00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.000\ncan turn this around, but I can also grow it. That's growing people. It's\n\n579\n00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:19.440\ngrowing the\n\n580\n00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:23.690\nbusiness. It's growing the economics.\" Those were the two missions I was after\n\n581\n00:23:23.690 --> 00:23:24.080\nis like,\n\n582\n00:23:24.080 --> 00:23:29.330\nI want to be somebody that gets people set up for success and then demonstrates\n\n583\n00:23:29.330 --> 00:23:29.840\nthat I\n\n584\n00:23:29.840 --> 00:23:32.920\ncan achieve that success in the business that I'm responsible for.\n\n585\n00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:36.280\nYou hadn't worked with Wall Street up to that point, other than making, I'm\n\n586\n00:23:36.280 --> 00:23:37.160\nsure some,\n\n587\n00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:40.730\nyou know, analyst presentations on behalf of Taco Bell, but you weren't the guy\n\n588\n00:23:40.730 --> 00:23:41.320\nin charge\n\n589\n00:23:41.320 --> 00:23:45.820\nof really driving shareholder value. And how did you get up to speed just in\n\n590\n00:23:45.820 --> 00:23:46.720\nterms of,\n\n591\n00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.870\nyou know, working with Wall Street? That was one of those things where\n\n592\n00:23:49.870 --> 00:23:50.480\nfortunately,\n\n593\n00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:54.450\nI had a bit of a network of people that I could reach out to and be like, \"Hey,\n\n594\n00:23:54.450 --> 00:23:54.560\nI'm\n\n595\n00:23:54.560 --> 00:23:59.090\ngetting ready to do my first kind of investor conference. I'm getting ready to\n\n596\n00:23:59.090 --> 00:23:59.760\ndo my first\n\n597\n00:23:59.760 --> 00:24:03.040\nmeeting with these individuals. What do you recommend?\" And we also had some\n\n598\n00:24:03.040 --> 00:24:03.520\nguys on our\n\n599\n00:24:03.520 --> 00:24:07.400\nboard that were pretty good with Wall Street as well. People were very generous\n\n600\n00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:07.720\nwith their\n\n601\n00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:11.770\ntime, David. They were willing to give me their insight into how they managed\n\n602\n00:24:11.770 --> 00:24:12.640\nWall Street.\n\n603\n00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:15.700\nAnd in some cases, some of these folks worked on Wall Street and said, \"Hey,\n\n604\n00:24:15.700 --> 00:24:15.880\nlook, this\n\n605\n00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:20.760\nis what I would love to see from a CEO in these meetings.\" And I had to\n\n606\n00:24:20.760 --> 00:24:22.440\nestablish credibility\n\n607\n00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:25.650\nfirst and foremost. So they're like, \"Make sure you're transparent with people\n\n608\n00:24:25.650 --> 00:24:26.000\non where\n\n609\n00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:30.070\nyou are and where you see yourself going on this journey.\" The first couple\n\n610\n00:24:30.070 --> 00:24:30.560\nmeetings\n\n611\n00:24:30.560 --> 00:24:34.300\nI had, you know, people were like, \"Do you really think Chipotle can get back\n\n612\n00:24:34.300 --> 00:24:35.240\nto $2 million\n\n613\n00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:41.000\nplus unit volumes? Can you get back to mid-20% margins?\" Because at the time,\n\n614\n00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:41.960\nwe were sub-2\n\n615\n00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:46.830\nmillion and margins were kind of more in the mid-teens. And I do. It's not\n\n616\n00:24:46.830 --> 00:24:47.200\ngoing to happen\n\n617\n00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:51.480\ntomorrow, but I believe there's a plan and a process for us to get there. And,\n\n618\n00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:52.000\nyou know,\n\n619\n00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.310\nhere's the four or five things we're going to do to make it happen. And, you\n\n620\n00:24:55.310 --> 00:24:55.640\nknow, like\n\n621\n00:24:55.640 --> 00:25:00.060\nI said, I was very fortunate because what folks told me is don't be in a rush\n\n622\n00:25:00.060 --> 00:25:00.880\nto tell\n\n623\n00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:05.360\nthem everywhere you're going to get to make people understand the process or\n\n624\n00:25:05.360 --> 00:25:06.080\nthe journey\n\n625\n00:25:06.080 --> 00:25:09.750\nthat you're going to have to get to 2.5 million, 3 million. Like today, we're\n\n626\n00:25:09.750 --> 00:25:10.240\nat 3 million\n\n627\n00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:15.800\naverage unit volumes and 27% margins. And, you know, we're going to build close\n\n628\n00:25:15.800 --> 00:25:17.200\nto 250,\n\n629\n00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:21.440\n300 restaurants this year. So we've come a long way, but luckily people were\n\n630\n00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:21.920\nvery generous\n\n631\n00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:25.670\nwith me on their time and saying, \"Hey, pace it out.\" I think you might even\n\n632\n00:25:25.670 --> 00:25:26.040\nsaid, \"Have\n\n633\n00:25:26.040 --> 00:25:28.320\nsome sober selling.\" That might have been one of your lines.\n\n634\n00:25:28.320 --> 00:25:33.530\nYeah, it was, you know, but I got it from somebody else. So, you know, it's\n\n635\n00:25:33.530 --> 00:25:34.400\ngood to pass\n\n636\n00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:38.140\nthat on, you know. And one of your big shareholders is, I understand, is Edgew\n\n637\n00:25:38.140 --> 00:25:38.960\nood, which is run\n\n638\n00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:44.820\nby Alan Braid. He's a big-time growth investor and very, very talented. When\n\n639\n00:25:44.820 --> 00:25:45.680\nyou walk into\n\n640\n00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:51.370\nan office like that, what's your elevator speech on why you should own Chipotle\n\n641\n00:25:51.370 --> 00:25:52.160\nstock?\n\n642\n00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:56.690\nI always start off with the fact that the growth is just beginning. There's\n\n643\n00:25:56.690 --> 00:25:56.800\nkind of\n\n644\n00:25:56.800 --> 00:26:00.050\na funny little line. I'm like, you know, if you could find a company that's\n\n645\n00:26:00.050 --> 00:26:00.440\ngoing to\n\n646\n00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:05.090\nbuild 3,000 restaurants, you know, have $4 or $5 million average unit volumes\n\n647\n00:26:05.090 --> 00:26:05.760\nand call it\n\n648\n00:26:05.760 --> 00:26:09.670\n30% margins. Would you want to invest in that? And, you know, everybody's like,\n\n649\n00:26:09.670 --> 00:26:10.080\n\"Of course.\"\n\n650\n00:26:10.080 --> 00:26:14.120\nI said, \"Well, that's what we're going to do. That's the next 3,000 Chipotle's\n\n651\n00:26:14.120 --> 00:26:14.240\nwe're\n\n652\n00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:19.030\ngoing to build.\" So today we're at 3,000. So I think the next Chipotle is Chip\n\n653\n00:26:19.030 --> 00:26:19.280\notle.\n\n654\n00:26:19.280 --> 00:26:24.260\nAnd it's all driven on this idea of growth and then simplicity of our execution\n\n655\n00:26:24.260 --> 00:26:25.360\n, which is,\n\n656\n00:26:25.360 --> 00:26:30.400\nif we get great throughput, great culinary, great people, there's no stopping\n\n657\n00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:31.440\nthis engine.\n\n658\n00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:35.920\nNow we have to surround it with great digital, great marketing as well. It's\n\n659\n00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:36.400\njust a really\n\n660\n00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:40.780\nsimple idea that, you know, we can double this business by staying focused on\n\n661\n00:26:40.780 --> 00:26:41.680\nwhat makes Chipotle\n\n662\n00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.810\nChipotle. You've alluded to a little of this, but tell us about the business\n\n663\n00:26:45.810 --> 00:26:46.880\nyou inherited\n\n664\n00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:50.560\nand what you have today. You know, when I first got here, you know, I'd say the\n\n665\n00:26:50.560 --> 00:26:51.200\norganization was\n\n666\n00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:55.010\na little bit on their back foot. You know, they had had a couple of missteps,\n\n667\n00:26:55.010 --> 00:26:56.080\nhad a lot of ideas\n\n668\n00:26:56.080 --> 00:26:59.050\nfloating around in the organization on what could be better for the\n\n669\n00:26:59.050 --> 00:27:00.800\norganization. But we weren't,\n\n670\n00:27:00.800 --> 00:27:05.360\nI'd say, following through on those ideas. And we didn't pick a lane on one or\n\n671\n00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:06.240\ntwo of the ideas to\n\n672\n00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:10.450\ngo really big and go after it. And so that was one of the things I wanted to do\n\n673\n00:27:10.450 --> 00:27:11.360\nis make sure that we\n\n674\n00:27:11.360 --> 00:27:16.080\npicked critical few items. Once we picked the critical few items, it was like,\n\n675\n00:27:16.080 --> 00:27:16.640\n\"Do we have the\n\n676\n00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:21.740\nstructure to go make this happen?\" So, I mean, this is classic things you used\n\n677\n00:27:21.740 --> 00:27:22.480\nto talk to me about\n\n678\n00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:25.900\nall the time, strategy, structure, now execution, right? When you looked around\n\n679\n00:27:25.900 --> 00:27:26.720\nthe structure, I was\n\n680\n00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:30.520\nlike, \"Man, we don't have some of the experts that we need in these areas to\n\n681\n00:27:30.520 --> 00:27:32.640\nfulfill our ambition\n\n682\n00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:35.860\nor our strategy.\" And so we had to make some changes. And we need to get a\n\n683\n00:27:35.860 --> 00:27:36.720\ngreat supply chain\n\n684\n00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:40.290\nleader. We needed to get a great marketing leader. We needed to get some\n\n685\n00:27:40.290 --> 00:27:40.960\nadditional\n\n686\n00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:45.200\ndigital capability. We had a terrific digital leader, but he needed additional\n\n687\n00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:46.000\ncapability with\n\n688\n00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:49.050\nthem because we're going to grow this so much. So it was taking the time now to\n\n689\n00:27:49.050 --> 00:27:49.760\ninvest in having\n\n690\n00:27:49.760 --> 00:27:53.840\nthe right people in the right positions so that we could execute the strategy.\n\n691\n00:27:53.840 --> 00:27:54.160\nAnd then look,\n\n692\n00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:58.000\nwe held ourselves accountable. It's like, now we're going to go execute against\n\n693\n00:27:58.000 --> 00:27:58.720\nthese things.\n\n694\n00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:03.800\nAnd I'm happy to say, you pointed out, when I started, I think our market cap\n\n695\n00:28:03.800 --> 00:28:04.320\nwas right around\n\n696\n00:28:04.320 --> 00:28:09.280\nlike six or seven billion. And today we're over 50 billion. For the most part,\n\n697\n00:28:09.280 --> 00:28:11.440\nmy team is intact.\n\n698\n00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:15.210\nWe've only really had one person transition. I think that's a testament to the\n\n699\n00:28:15.210 --> 00:28:15.760\nstrategy,\n\n700\n00:28:15.760 --> 00:28:19.750\nit's a testament to the people believing in the strategy. And then I think,\n\n701\n00:28:19.750 --> 00:28:20.480\nhopefully,\n\n702\n00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.920\nit's a testament to the culture that I've created around this organization and\n\n703\n00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:24.560\nthe values that we\n\n704\n00:28:24.560 --> 00:28:30.200\nhave. Now, as I understand it, you took over for the Chipotle founder, Steve\n\n705\n00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:31.440\nElls. Did that put\n\n706\n00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:35.170\nadditional pressure on you? How did you manage that transition? And that's not\n\n707\n00:28:35.170 --> 00:28:36.160\nan easy thing to do.\n\n708\n00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:41.840\nA lot of times people really have challenges following a founder. First of all,\n\n709\n00:28:41.840 --> 00:28:42.160\nI got to\n\n710\n00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:46.200\ntell you, Steve was great through the whole process. I mean, I'm sure it wasn't\n\n711\n00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:47.280\neasy for him.\n\n712\n00:28:47.280 --> 00:28:51.520\nBut one of the things he told me was, I don't want to be the CEO, I want you to\n\n713\n00:28:51.520 --> 00:28:52.640\nbe the CEO.\n\n714\n00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:57.120\nI'm here to support you how I can. He was very true to those words. And I'm\n\n715\n00:28:57.120 --> 00:28:58.000\nvery grateful for that,\n\n716\n00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:01.790\nbecause you've seen a lot of these examples where it doesn't work that way. And\n\n717\n00:29:01.790 --> 00:29:02.560\nthen the other\n\n718\n00:29:02.560 --> 00:29:06.530\ntough spot that a lot of people identified when I was contemplating doing this\n\n719\n00:29:06.530 --> 00:29:06.720\nis,\n\n720\n00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:13.120\nwe had a big activist investor in Pershing Square. And it was Bill Ackman. And\n\n721\n00:29:13.120 --> 00:29:13.440\na lot of\n\n722\n00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:15.770\npeople were like, oh, be really careful. And I got to tell you, that was\n\n723\n00:29:15.770 --> 00:29:16.960\nanother place where I spent\n\n724\n00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:21.740\nthe time making sure that they bought into the strategy that we were going down\n\n725\n00:29:21.740 --> 00:29:23.280\n. And we ended up\n\n726\n00:29:23.280 --> 00:29:27.260\nbeing some of our best board members and frankly, biggest advocates for the\n\n727\n00:29:27.260 --> 00:29:28.080\nstrategy that we've\n\n728\n00:29:28.080 --> 00:29:32.860\ngone after. And to this day, Bill and I still chat. And he's a huge advocate\n\n729\n00:29:32.860 --> 00:29:34.080\nfor the company and the\n\n730\n00:29:34.080 --> 00:29:38.930\nbrand. And Steve and I still stay in contact. And I think he still is a big\n\n731\n00:29:38.930 --> 00:29:40.640\nadvocate for the brand.\n\n732\n00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:44.040\nYou know, there was one of those things too, where I was also very upfront with\n\n733\n00:29:44.040 --> 00:29:45.040\nSteve, like,\n\n734\n00:29:45.040 --> 00:29:48.820\nwhat he created, I think is really special. You know, I mean, the fact that he\n\n735\n00:29:48.820 --> 00:29:50.480\ncreated Chipotle\n\n736\n00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:55.780\nand took it from one idea, one restaurant to, you know, at the time we had\n\n737\n00:29:55.780 --> 00:29:56.960\nabout 1,800 restaurants,\n\n738\n00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:01.920\nunbelievable success. I wanted to learn as much as I could from them. And then\n\n739\n00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:02.480\nI wanted to add\n\n740\n00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:06.780\nvalue where I thought I could add value on making the company hopefully better\n\n741\n00:30:06.780 --> 00:30:08.320\nand not lose the\n\n742\n00:30:08.320 --> 00:30:11.920\nessence of what Steve had created, which was great culinary done really fast.\n\n743\n00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:15.920\nYou know, you move the restaurant support center from Colorado to Los Angeles,\n\n744\n00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:16.400\nyou know,\n\n745\n00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:20.670\nthat had to be a tough call. What was it that drove that decision? And how do\n\n746\n00:30:20.670 --> 00:30:22.080\nyou feel about it today?\n\n747\n00:30:22.080 --> 00:30:26.320\nIt was one of those things where we needed a complete resetting culture. And we\n\n748\n00:30:26.320 --> 00:30:26.800\nalso needed\n\n749\n00:30:26.800 --> 00:30:30.640\na reset and some people capability. At the time we had offices in New York,\n\n750\n00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:32.400\nColorado,\n\n751\n00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:36.160\nand Columbus. When we made the decision strategically, we wanted to go all in\n\n752\n00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:37.440\non digital. We didn't\n\n753\n00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:42.210\nwant to lose one inch on culinary. Southern California was a pretty good spot\n\n754\n00:30:42.210 --> 00:30:43.200\nfor us to\n\n755\n00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:48.580\nbe on the forefront of both culinary and tech. And so it was a hard decision. I\n\n756\n00:30:48.580 --> 00:30:49.360\n'll tell you what,\n\n757\n00:30:49.360 --> 00:30:51.900\none of the hardest meetings I had at Chipotle was when I had to stand up in\n\n758\n00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:52.640\nfront of the Denver\n\n759\n00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:57.460\noffice and let them know we're closing the office. And not everybody was\n\n760\n00:30:57.460 --> 00:30:58.880\ngetting the opportunity to\n\n761\n00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:02.160\nmove with us. But what I was happy about is the people that we did offer the\n\n762\n00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:03.040\nopportunity to make\n\n763\n00:31:03.040 --> 00:31:07.460\nthe move, they made the move. And I think it's paid out really well for them.\n\n764\n00:31:07.460 --> 00:31:07.840\nAnd I think they're\n\n765\n00:31:07.840 --> 00:31:10.980\nreally proud of what we've accomplished. But you know, it's always hard when\n\n766\n00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:11.920\nyou got to impact\n\n767\n00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:16.610\npeople's lives and you hate those days. But that's part of what comes with the\n\n768\n00:31:16.610 --> 00:31:17.760\njob sometimes.\n\n769\n00:31:17.760 --> 00:31:21.360\nTell us about the culinary center you have at Chipotle and the most exciting\n\n770\n00:31:21.360 --> 00:31:22.080\nthing you're\n\n771\n00:31:22.080 --> 00:31:27.150\ncooking up over there. Oh, yeah. So we call it the Cultivate Center. We've got\n\n772\n00:31:27.150 --> 00:31:28.800\na lot of, I would say,\n\n773\n00:31:28.800 --> 00:31:32.280\nreally talented chefs working on really terrific food. Right now we've got\n\n774\n00:31:32.280 --> 00:31:34.000\nCarnegie Asada out.\n\n775\n00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:37.110\nActually, one of the biggest complaints about our Carnegie Asada initiatives,\n\n776\n00:31:37.110 --> 00:31:37.520\nwe took away\n\n777\n00:31:37.520 --> 00:31:41.840\nchicken al pastor, which is kind of funny. But these guys are super talented.\n\n778\n00:31:41.840 --> 00:31:42.480\nThey're always\n\n779\n00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:46.940\nworking on, you know, really exciting flavors on kind of the proteins that we\n\n780\n00:31:46.940 --> 00:31:48.160\n're known for, right?\n\n781\n00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:52.000\nChicken, steak, it's really delicious. We've got some desserts that are a lot\n\n782\n00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:52.640\nof fun that they're\n\n783\n00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:57.250\nworking on and also some drinks. We do things under this tractor beverage\n\n784\n00:31:57.250 --> 00:31:58.400\numbrella. That's pretty\n\n785\n00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:02.190\nexciting. But I can't give away. That was one of the things the guys told me.\n\n786\n00:32:02.190 --> 00:32:02.560\nThey said,\n\n787\n00:32:02.560 --> 00:32:05.910\nOh, no, you're talking to Novak. Do not give away all the things we're working\n\n788\n00:32:05.910 --> 00:32:06.480\non. I'm like,\n\n789\n00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:10.980\nall right, I won't. I won't. I won't. Curiously, I called the culinary center,\n\n790\n00:32:10.980 --> 00:32:11.520\nmade a mistake.\n\n791\n00:32:11.520 --> 00:32:15.370\nIt's the Cultivate Center. Tell me what's the thinking behind that? Because I\n\n792\n00:32:15.370 --> 00:32:16.240\nknow you always\n\n793\n00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:20.160\nthink pretty hard about what you want to, how you want to communicate things.\n\n794\n00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:23.320\nI'm glad you picked up on that. It's very purposeful because this is where we\n\n795\n00:32:23.320 --> 00:32:24.240\ncultivate\n\n796\n00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:29.640\nour next generation of ideas and whether that's equipment, engineering, store\n\n797\n00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:30.240\ndesign,\n\n798\n00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:36.090\nmenu, or even ingredients, David. It's like we're doing work on cooking oils. I\n\n799\n00:32:36.090 --> 00:32:36.800\nwant this to be\n\n800\n00:32:36.800 --> 00:32:41.050\nabout cultivating what is next. And we have a purpose at our company, this idea\n\n801\n00:32:41.050 --> 00:32:42.000\nof cultivating\n\n802\n00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:46.050\na better world through food with integrity. And the way we can do that is we\n\n803\n00:32:46.050 --> 00:32:47.360\npartner with others.\n\n804\n00:32:47.360 --> 00:32:49.840\nThat's the other thing too. It's a symbol to other folks too. It's like, look,\n\n805\n00:32:49.840 --> 00:32:50.240\nif you bring\n\n806\n00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:54.220\nyour external idea to us, we can help you cultivate that idea. Doesn't just\n\n807\n00:32:54.220 --> 00:32:55.440\nhave to be our own internal\n\n808\n00:32:55.440 --> 00:33:00.460\nideas. We love external ideas to help cultivate those ideas as well. So it was\n\n809\n00:33:00.460 --> 00:33:01.440\npurposeful.\n\n810\n00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:05.970\nIt's pretty amazing when you see what goes on in the facility from robotics to\n\n811\n00:33:05.970 --> 00:33:08.320\ncarne asada.\n\n812\n00:33:08.320 --> 00:33:13.360\nWhat the heck is food integrity? What do you mean by that?\n\n813\n00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:20.560\nSo we have a bunch of principles on the way animals should be raised, a bunch\n\n814\n00:33:20.560 --> 00:33:21.200\nof principles on\n\n815\n00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:25.760\nregenerative farming. It really is our approach to how we think you end up with\n\n816\n00:33:25.760 --> 00:33:26.880\nthe most delicious,\n\n817\n00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:32.800\nnutritious food done in a responsible way. So you leave the farm, hopefully in\n\n818\n00:33:32.800 --> 00:33:33.920\na better place,\n\n819\n00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:38.110\nthen you inherited it. But it's all centered on you want delicious food that\n\n820\n00:33:38.110 --> 00:33:38.560\nhopefully is done\n\n821\n00:33:38.560 --> 00:33:42.770\nthe right way so that those that touch it are better for it. Makes a lot of\n\n822\n00:33:42.770 --> 00:33:43.120\nsense.\n\n823\n00:33:44.080 --> 00:33:48.340\nWalk me through what you referred to earlier. You call it your stage gate\n\n824\n00:33:48.340 --> 00:33:49.520\nprocess. What is that?\n\n825\n00:33:49.520 --> 00:33:54.880\nIt's a simple process where we take ideas from concepts to ultimately in the\n\n826\n00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:55.840\nrestaurant.\n\n827\n00:33:55.840 --> 00:34:02.000\nAnd we want to have measurable KPIs along the way. Obviously nothing really\n\n828\n00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:02.800\nhappens until it hits\n\n829\n00:34:02.800 --> 00:34:07.520\nthe restaurant or it hits our website or hits the app. Those are the moments of\n\n830\n00:34:07.520 --> 00:34:08.080\ntruth for our\n\n831\n00:34:08.080 --> 00:34:14.960\nbusiness. I have this value which is the line is the moment of truth. And those\n\n832\n00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:16.400\nlines are the website,\n\n833\n00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:19.640\nthe app, and then obviously the physical front line in our restaurant or the\n\n834\n00:34:19.640 --> 00:34:20.400\ndigital make line\n\n835\n00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:24.870\nin our restaurant. So what this does is it's just a orderly process to take\n\n836\n00:34:24.870 --> 00:34:26.720\nideas, vet them,\n\n837\n00:34:26.720 --> 00:34:30.800\nsee what works, what doesn't work. Sometimes it starts out as something and it\n\n838\n00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:31.280\nends up being\n\n839\n00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:34.430\nsomething else because we learn our way through it. And then when it gets into\n\n840\n00:34:34.430 --> 00:34:35.360\nthe restaurant,\n\n841\n00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:39.040\nwe use our team members to give us the feedback so that we can take it from one\n\n842\n00:34:39.040 --> 00:34:39.600\nrestaurant to\n\n843\n00:34:39.600 --> 00:34:45.200\n10 restaurants to then 100 and then ultimately roll it out across the system.\n\n844\n00:34:45.200 --> 00:34:47.960\nI remember you telling me, you know, just there were some close-in\n\n845\n00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:49.200\nopportunities when you first\n\n846\n00:34:49.200 --> 00:34:54.480\nwent on board. And one of them was K so here you got Chipotle and they really\n\n847\n00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:55.120\ndidn't have any\n\n848\n00:34:55.120 --> 00:35:00.240\nK so which you know you were kind of amazed by. But you got into that into that\n\n849\n00:35:00.240 --> 00:35:00.800\ngame.\n\n850\n00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:05.570\nWhat was the response and if you're going to describe your K so business today,\n\n851\n00:35:05.570 --> 00:35:06.000\nwhat would it be\n\n852\n00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:11.290\nversus back in 2018? You know, it's grown dramatically. So I got to give a\n\n853\n00:35:11.290 --> 00:35:12.400\ncredit to our culinary team\n\n854\n00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:16.760\nbecause I think the K so is outstanding now. It wasn't dialed in when I first\n\n855\n00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:17.600\ngot here and as a\n\n856\n00:35:17.600 --> 00:35:20.870\nresult, you know, it was less than a hundred million dollar business. Now it's\n\n857\n00:35:20.870 --> 00:35:21.520\na couple hundred\n\n858\n00:35:21.520 --> 00:35:25.730\nmillion dollar business and not quite as big as our guac but closing in on it.\n\n859\n00:35:25.730 --> 00:35:27.120\nAnd you know this,\n\n860\n00:35:27.120 --> 00:35:32.480\nit's like it's got to be delicious. If it's not delicious, people won't crave\n\n861\n00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:34.000\nit. And I think our\n\n862\n00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:37.840\nchips have that craveability. I think our K so has that craveability, our\n\n863\n00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:39.360\nchicken, our guac,\n\n864\n00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:41.850\nyou know, and then there's other areas where I think we could still be better.\n\n865\n00:35:41.850 --> 00:35:42.240\nWe're always going\n\n866\n00:35:42.240 --> 00:35:46.060\nto be working towards making it more delicious when it becomes more delicious\n\n867\n00:35:46.060 --> 00:35:46.800\nis when we see more\n\n868\n00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:51.500\nbusiness and that's what happened with our K so. How do you respond when you\n\n869\n00:35:51.500 --> 00:35:52.800\nintroduce something\n\n870\n00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:56.800\nthat's less than ideal? Maybe your K so the first time out of the box. How do\n\n871\n00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:58.320\nyou get the organization\n\n872\n00:35:58.320 --> 00:36:02.200\nto respond to what the customer's telling you? Great example is we did\n\n873\n00:36:02.200 --> 00:36:03.680\nsomething a year ago.\n\n874\n00:36:03.680 --> 00:36:07.920\nIt was called garlic guigio steak. You know, this is a great case of we didn't\n\n875\n00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:08.640\nactually roll out\n\n876\n00:36:08.640 --> 00:36:13.890\nwhat we tested. So when we tested it, it was at a certain price point. All that\n\n877\n00:36:13.890 --> 00:36:14.960\ninflation hit,\n\n878\n00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:19.290\nso and so forth, we ended up rolling it out anyway and we just raised the price\n\n879\n00:36:19.290 --> 00:36:20.080\nhigher than what we\n\n880\n00:36:20.080 --> 00:36:24.150\ntested it at. And it didn't perform. We had some trepidation on the name\n\n881\n00:36:24.150 --> 00:36:25.520\nbecause garlic guigio\n\n882\n00:36:25.520 --> 00:36:30.230\nsteak say that three times and it was hard. I was pretty impressed when you did\n\n883\n00:36:30.230 --> 00:36:31.200\nit the first time.\n\n884\n00:36:31.200 --> 00:36:35.610\nI don't think I could have launched that product. I had never pronounced it.\n\n885\n00:36:35.610 --> 00:36:36.960\nYeah. Well, and we saw\n\n886\n00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:40.440\nit too. It was funny. Like when we launched it, this was kind of an interesting\n\n887\n00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:41.200\nlearning. People\n\n888\n00:36:41.200 --> 00:36:45.870\nwere having problems searching it on the web. So like one of the things like\n\n889\n00:36:45.870 --> 00:36:47.520\ncarne asada, bang.\n\n890\n00:36:47.520 --> 00:36:52.620\nPeople have no problem searching for carne asada. Garlic guigio steak, a little\n\n891\n00:36:52.620 --> 00:36:53.600\nbit harder.\n\n892\n00:36:53.600 --> 00:36:56.800\nAnd so look, we learned from it. We're like, look, the product tasted great,\n\n893\n00:36:56.800 --> 00:37:01.110\nbut we priced it incorrectly and we probably named it incorrectly. And as a\n\n894\n00:37:01.110 --> 00:37:01.840\nresult, it didn't\n\n895\n00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:05.080\nperform as well as it should have. And we've learned from it. You know, it's\n\n896\n00:37:05.080 --> 00:37:05.600\nlike we won't do\n\n897\n00:37:05.600 --> 00:37:08.610\nthat again. And as a matter of fact, even today, we were just doing a little\n\n898\n00:37:08.610 --> 00:37:09.520\npost mortem on this\n\n899\n00:37:09.520 --> 00:37:14.440\nof like, why do you think carne asada this year is outperforming garlic guigio\n\n900\n00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:15.600\nsteak so much? And\n\n901\n00:37:15.600 --> 00:37:19.310\nI think this is a hopefully a part of my leadership style, which is, look, it\n\n902\n00:37:19.310 --> 00:37:20.320\nwasn't as successful as\n\n903\n00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:23.840\nwe wanted to, but we don't have to beat each other up over it. We can learn\n\n904\n00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:24.560\nfrom it so that\n\n905\n00:37:24.560 --> 00:37:27.660\nwe're better the next time. And I think we are all hell of a lot better with\n\n906\n00:37:27.660 --> 00:37:28.720\nthis carne asada\n\n907\n00:37:28.720 --> 00:37:32.320\nbecause we learned from that garlic guigio steak initiative.\n\n908\n00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:40.870\nHave you ever wondered what David is thinking as he interviews our guests each\n\n909\n00:37:40.870 --> 00:37:42.000\nweek? Or have you\n\n910\n00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:46.590\nbeen interested in hearing David's take on some of the questions that he asks\n\n911\n00:37:46.590 --> 00:37:47.920\nhis guest? Well,\n\n912\n00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:52.670\nI do. And I know a lot of you do too. My name is Koolah Callahan and together\n\n913\n00:37:52.670 --> 00:37:53.280\nwith David,\n\n914\n00:37:53.280 --> 00:37:58.240\nI host the three more questions podcasts that airs every Monday. These episodes\n\n915\n00:37:58.240 --> 00:37:59.280\nare just about 15\n\n916\n00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:03.890\nminutes and in them, I asked David three questions that dive deeper into the\n\n917\n00:38:03.890 --> 00:38:05.280\nthemes of his episode\n\n918\n00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:09.800\nwith his guests. David shares incredible insights and stories from his career\n\n919\n00:38:09.800 --> 00:38:11.040\nleading young brands\n\n920\n00:38:11.040 --> 00:38:15.140\nand all of his answers are super practical and inspiring. Like this great\n\n921\n00:38:15.140 --> 00:38:16.160\ninsight, David shared\n\n922\n00:38:16.160 --> 00:38:20.890\nand one of our most recent three more questions episodes. Everybody is talking\n\n923\n00:38:20.890 --> 00:38:22.000\nabout the importance\n\n924\n00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:28.380\nof a leader being vulnerable, being open, being transparent, sharing how they\n\n925\n00:38:28.380 --> 00:38:29.520\ngot to where they\n\n926\n00:38:29.520 --> 00:38:33.600\nare. And you know what? I couldn't agree more. You know, when I taught my\n\n927\n00:38:33.600 --> 00:38:34.800\ntaking people with you\n\n928\n00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:40.650\nprogram at young brands, the stories that people love to hear the most was not\n\n929\n00:38:40.650 --> 00:38:42.000\nhow I got to where I\n\n930\n00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:46.230\nwas and all the great things that happened. People know how you got the results\n\n931\n00:38:46.230 --> 00:38:47.360\nand all the things\n\n932\n00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:51.920\nthat you've achieved. They don't know when you stumbled and what you learn from\n\n933\n00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:52.880\nit. So when I\n\n934\n00:38:52.880 --> 00:39:00.060\ntold my stories about Crystal Pepsi or solar shades or whatever the hell it was\n\n935\n00:39:00.060 --> 00:39:00.480\n, when I told\n\n936\n00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:04.850\nthose stories where I actually really didn't knock it out of the park, people\n\n937\n00:39:04.850 --> 00:39:05.680\nloved hearing those\n\n938\n00:39:05.680 --> 00:39:10.560\nstories the most and they loved what I learned from it, what I internalized\n\n939\n00:39:10.560 --> 00:39:11.600\nfrom it that I could\n\n940\n00:39:11.600 --> 00:39:16.000\ntake forward as a leader and get better at every single day. Get the three more\n\n941\n00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:17.040\nquestions podcast\n\n942\n00:39:17.040 --> 00:39:21.300\nand your feed each Monday and dive even deeper into the episodes you know and\n\n943\n00:39:21.300 --> 00:39:22.720\nlove. Just subscribe\n\n944\n00:39:22.720 --> 00:39:25.360\nto How Leaders Lead wherever you get your podcasts.\n\n945\n00:39:26.240 --> 00:39:34.640\nWould you win to Chipotle and followed a couple of really tough food safety\n\n946\n00:39:34.640 --> 00:39:37.520\nissues that can really\n\n947\n00:39:37.520 --> 00:39:42.420\nput the brand on the mat. And frankly a lot of people had real questions as to\n\n948\n00:39:42.420 --> 00:39:43.680\nwhether Chipotle\n\n949\n00:39:43.680 --> 00:39:48.310\nwould ever ever come back from that. What has that experience taught the\n\n950\n00:39:48.310 --> 00:39:49.520\norganization and\n\n951\n00:39:50.400 --> 00:39:53.970\nwhat are you doing today that maybe you might not have done you know 10 years\n\n952\n00:39:53.970 --> 00:39:54.800\non that front.\n\n953\n00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:59.460\nYeah look I mean obviously any organization needs to be resilient right. The\n\n954\n00:39:59.460 --> 00:40:00.240\ngood news is we've got\n\n955\n00:40:00.240 --> 00:40:04.380\nresilient leaders in this company but the other thing too is it's like a lot of\n\n956\n00:40:04.380 --> 00:40:05.280\npeople were pushing\n\n957\n00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:08.700\nwhen I first got here they were saying hey why don't you just freeze the food.\n\n958\n00:40:08.700 --> 00:40:09.200\nYou know you can do\n\n959\n00:40:09.200 --> 00:40:13.870\nall these things off site that would take care of some of these risks that come\n\n960\n00:40:13.870 --> 00:40:14.960\nwith dealing with\n\n961\n00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:18.590\nfresh food and I was like look if that's what we have to do then we've lost\n\n962\n00:40:18.590 --> 00:40:19.920\nwhat Chipotle is and\n\n963\n00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:23.110\nthis is a great example if I went and hired what I thought was one of the best\n\n964\n00:40:23.110 --> 00:40:23.840\npeople in food\n\n965\n00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:27.320\nsafety and her name's Carrie Bridges she was at Walmart considered one of the\n\n966\n00:40:27.320 --> 00:40:28.320\nbest in the industry\n\n967\n00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:33.560\nI said hey Carrie here's the deal I want to be the world's best food safety\n\n968\n00:40:33.560 --> 00:40:35.280\nculture and food safety\n\n969\n00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:40.370\nprogram and you're in charge and I'm going to support you any way I can but you\n\n970\n00:40:40.370 --> 00:40:41.280\nknow a heck of a lot\n\n971\n00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:44.980\nmore about this than I do I want to be the best I don't want to just be good I\n\n972\n00:40:44.980 --> 00:40:45.760\nwant to be the best\n\n973\n00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:51.120\nand luckily she joined us and I think you know she's making us better every day\n\n974\n00:40:51.120 --> 00:40:51.760\nand I believe we're\n\n975\n00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:55.650\none of the best when it comes to handling fresh food. What do you find more\n\n976\n00:40:55.650 --> 00:40:56.880\nmotivating the fear\n\n977\n00:40:56.880 --> 00:41:01.840\nof not getting something done or the joy of winning and what really drives you?\n\n978\n00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:02.800\nI definitely have an\n\n979\n00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:06.400\nelement of a little bit of paranoia that I do everything I can to prepare\n\n980\n00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:07.440\nmyself for the best\n\n981\n00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:13.550\npossible outcome I remember my first earnings call as the CEO I mean I was up\n\n982\n00:41:13.550 --> 00:41:15.040\nlate reading the materials\n\n983\n00:41:15.040 --> 00:41:19.840\nand I was up early reading the materials again because I wanted to be you know\n\n984\n00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:20.480\nnot just a little\n\n985\n00:41:20.480 --> 00:41:24.950\nprepared but over-prepared and you know I'm into my six year of doing this and\n\n986\n00:41:24.950 --> 00:41:25.440\nI still\n\n987\n00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:31.180\nprobably over-prepared for some of these moments but it's like I think it's\n\n988\n00:41:31.180 --> 00:41:32.400\nreally important to be\n\n989\n00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:37.360\nprepared so that you can ensure you got your best effort and the thing I worry\n\n990\n00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:38.240\nabout most David is\n\n991\n00:41:38.240 --> 00:41:43.700\nlike I hate leaving something if I didn't give it my best effort it's like and\n\n992\n00:41:43.700 --> 00:41:44.160\nthe only way I know\n\n993\n00:41:44.160 --> 00:41:48.000\nhow to do my best effort is do everything I can to be prepared and it's like\n\n994\n00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:48.720\nthat's what gets me\n\n995\n00:41:48.720 --> 00:41:51.850\nanxious it's like have I done everything I can to be prepared for this am I am\n\n996\n00:41:51.850 --> 00:41:52.640\nI walking in with my\n\n997\n00:41:52.640 --> 00:41:56.380\nbest effort the outcome is going to be the outcome but I'll be critical of\n\n998\n00:41:56.380 --> 00:41:57.920\nmyself if I think like I\n\n999\n00:41:57.920 --> 00:42:02.430\ncould have been better if I would have just done X and it's one of those things\n\n1000\n00:42:02.430 --> 00:42:03.360\nthat drives me.\n\n1001\n00:42:03.360 --> 00:42:07.120\nSo your stock goes from seven billion dollars to over fifty billion dollar\n\n1002\n00:42:07.120 --> 00:42:08.880\nmarket cap has that\n\n1003\n00:42:08.880 --> 00:42:12.700\ncreated any joy of winning that you know you can sit back and how do you\n\n1004\n00:42:12.700 --> 00:42:13.840\ncelebrate it as an\n\n1005\n00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:17.590\norganization. Yeah you know look we've definitely find the moments to celebrate\n\n1006\n00:42:17.590 --> 00:42:18.480\ntoo I had the whole\n\n1007\n00:42:18.480 --> 00:42:23.170\nteam together to celebrate our results about a month ago because we've all\n\n1008\n00:42:23.170 --> 00:42:24.240\ngotten past kind of\n\n1009\n00:42:24.240 --> 00:42:27.960\nthis five year mark you know I'm lucky I've got a great group of people I love\n\n1010\n00:42:27.960 --> 00:42:28.880\nspending time with\n\n1011\n00:42:28.880 --> 00:42:33.590\nthem they love spending time with each other and we have a lot of laughs and\n\n1012\n00:42:33.590 --> 00:42:34.240\nyou know it is one of\n\n1013\n00:42:34.240 --> 00:42:37.470\nthose moments so every once in a while I like I pinch myself I'm like gosh you\n\n1014\n00:42:37.470 --> 00:42:38.160\nknow I knew we\n\n1015\n00:42:38.160 --> 00:42:42.960\ncould do a good job but I'm so delighted with where we are and I had a meeting\n\n1016\n00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:44.000\nwith all of our\n\n1017\n00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:47.450\ndirectors and above and I literally told I was like you know this is the first\n\n1018\n00:42:47.450 --> 00:42:48.400\ntime I'm in a I've\n\n1019\n00:42:48.400 --> 00:42:54.020\nbeen in a room where every person's a millionaire I'm a little intimidated and\n\n1020\n00:42:54.020 --> 00:42:54.800\nit was pretty cool\n\n1021\n00:42:54.800 --> 00:42:58.980\nyou know it was really cool to see that and you know people's eyes just light\n\n1022\n00:42:58.980 --> 00:43:00.160\nup and you know when\n\n1023\n00:43:00.160 --> 00:43:03.420\nyou even go all the way down to like the store level you know people tell me\n\n1024\n00:43:03.420 --> 00:43:05.040\nthey sold their stock and\n\n1025\n00:43:05.040 --> 00:43:10.000\nthey bought their house and I'm like how cool is that you know so don't get me\n\n1026\n00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:10.720\nwrong I have the\n\n1027\n00:43:10.720 --> 00:43:15.690\nopportunity to celebrate and you know we've got a toast well that's a great\n\n1028\n00:43:15.690 --> 00:43:17.360\nthing to see your people\n\n1029\n00:43:17.360 --> 00:43:21.160\ndo well I remember going to Walmart and the guy that picked us up at the\n\n1030\n00:43:21.160 --> 00:43:22.320\nairport was a\n\n1031\n00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:25.980\nmillionaire because he'd held the stock for so long and you know they had a\n\n1032\n00:43:25.980 --> 00:43:27.360\nlittle sign up that said\n\n1033\n00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:32.180\ntoday's stock price is X tomorrow's up to you as a leader you got to get people\n\n1034\n00:43:32.180 --> 00:43:33.280\nfired up about\n\n1035\n00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:38.280\nwhat you can be how do you constantly work on presenting that vision yeah look\n\n1036\n00:43:38.280 --> 00:43:38.800\nthis is where\n\n1037\n00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:42.260\nwe really use our purpose around this idea of cultivating a better world I\n\n1038\n00:43:42.260 --> 00:43:43.920\nthink that has people\n\n1039\n00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:47.760\ntruly energized because we believe we're making a difference on the the food\n\n1040\n00:43:47.760 --> 00:43:49.360\npeople have access to\n\n1041\n00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:53.980\nand the way that food is grown that's a big deal and as a result we've created\n\n1042\n00:43:53.980 --> 00:43:54.880\nwhat we call the\n\n1043\n00:43:54.880 --> 00:44:01.310\ncultivate next fund where we're literally taking some minority investments in a\n\n1044\n00:44:01.310 --> 00:44:01.920\nlot of up and\n\n1045\n00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:08.380\ncoming technologies a lot of different robotics different farming techniques\n\n1046\n00:44:08.380 --> 00:44:08.960\ndifferent ways to\n\n1047\n00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:13.830\nfertilize and so I think people are genuinely excited about this idea of hey we\n\n1048\n00:44:13.830 --> 00:44:14.480\n're going to make\n\n1049\n00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:17.970\na difference in this world we're going to do it through food but you know when\n\n1050\n00:44:17.970 --> 00:44:19.360\na chipotle comes\n\n1051\n00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:24.180\nto town usually we create a lot of great job opportunities but with it people\n\n1052\n00:44:24.180 --> 00:44:24.720\nfind out that\n\n1053\n00:44:24.720 --> 00:44:28.920\nthere's more to us than just the burritos that we make or the bulls that we\n\n1054\n00:44:28.920 --> 00:44:30.000\nmake and you know I think\n\n1055\n00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:33.900\nthat purpose is what captures people's hearts you know the stock price and the\n\n1056\n00:44:33.900 --> 00:44:34.720\nfinancial performance\n\n1057\n00:44:34.720 --> 00:44:39.390\nprobably captures their minds but our purpose captures people's hearts you've\n\n1058\n00:44:39.390 --> 00:44:40.960\nalways been on the\n\n1059\n00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:44.610\nforefront of digital marketing and that was one of the things that you really\n\n1060\n00:44:44.610 --> 00:44:45.680\nbrought to Taco Bell\n\n1061\n00:44:45.680 --> 00:44:52.410\nwhat's the best practice that we can learn from your leadership on on just how\n\n1062\n00:44:52.410 --> 00:44:53.440\nto stay on top of\n\n1063\n00:44:53.440 --> 00:44:57.650\ntechnology and digital yeah look you can't be afraid to keep learning that's\n\n1064\n00:44:57.650 --> 00:44:59.280\nthe biggest thing I say\n\n1065\n00:44:59.280 --> 00:45:02.740\nto folks is you know if you get to the point where all of a sudden you're\n\n1066\n00:45:02.740 --> 00:45:03.680\nsaying you know what I\n\n1067\n00:45:03.680 --> 00:45:07.500\ndon't need to learn that it's probably time to get out of the job or go find\n\n1068\n00:45:07.500 --> 00:45:08.480\nsomething else to do\n\n1069\n00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:13.250\nthat gets you energized to have the desire to learn it really boils down to I'm\n\n1070\n00:45:13.250 --> 00:45:14.560\na curious person\n\n1071\n00:45:14.560 --> 00:45:19.230\nand I like to learn new things and you know maybe it also helps I've got you\n\n1072\n00:45:19.230 --> 00:45:20.320\nknow three younger kids\n\n1073\n00:45:20.320 --> 00:45:27.280\nthat keep me on my toes you know my 12 year old daughter she is unrelenting so\n\n1074\n00:45:27.280 --> 00:45:28.080\nI've got to figure\n\n1075\n00:45:28.080 --> 00:45:31.340\nout how to keep up with her you know it's one of those things where you just\n\n1076\n00:45:31.340 --> 00:45:32.640\nwant to stay curious\n\n1077\n00:45:32.640 --> 00:45:38.320\nand I like learning new stuff what I find is in these areas that you learn new\n\n1078\n00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:38.960\nthings\n\n1079\n00:45:38.960 --> 00:45:43.840\nit sparks other ideas and you know then you can your curiosity can take you\n\n1080\n00:45:43.840 --> 00:45:44.880\ndown that path\n\n1081\n00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:50.190\nhow do you balance digital versus the mainstream television I mean what do you\n\n1082\n00:45:50.190 --> 00:45:51.280\nfind is working best\n\n1083\n00:45:51.280 --> 00:45:55.860\ntoday well you know Chris Brandt he's our chief marketing officer and then we\n\n1084\n00:45:55.860 --> 00:45:56.480\nalso have a great\n\n1085\n00:45:56.480 --> 00:46:01.010\nwoman that runs media Maria and I'll tell you what they do a phenomenal job T\n\n1086\n00:46:01.010 --> 00:46:02.000\nressi Lieberman was\n\n1087\n00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:06.650\nwith our company for a while she actually she left us to go be the CMO over at\n\n1088\n00:46:06.650 --> 00:46:07.280\nYahoo but\n\n1089\n00:46:07.280 --> 00:46:13.520\nthese folks are pros and you know I give Chris Maria and the team a lot of\n\n1090\n00:46:13.520 --> 00:46:14.400\ncredit because they're\n\n1091\n00:46:14.400 --> 00:46:18.620\nalways testing they're always trying to find what is the next thing around the\n\n1092\n00:46:18.620 --> 00:46:19.680\ncorner for how we\n\n1093\n00:46:19.680 --> 00:46:23.530\nbest can communicate to people I think if they were here they tell you live\n\n1094\n00:46:23.530 --> 00:46:24.800\nsports is one of those\n\n1095\n00:46:24.800 --> 00:46:28.290\nthings that never gets old you know they're constantly experimenting in the\n\n1096\n00:46:28.290 --> 00:46:29.360\ndigital space I don't think\n\n1097\n00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:35.500\nit's it's a one stop solution in the digital space it's very fluid there but\n\n1098\n00:46:35.500 --> 00:46:36.160\nwhen it comes to the\n\n1099\n00:46:36.160 --> 00:46:40.180\nmass market I don't think anything trumps life sports David your voice been a\n\n1100\n00:46:40.180 --> 00:46:41.920\ncustomer advocate\n\n1101\n00:46:41.920 --> 00:46:46.080\nI mean you love listening to customers learning from customers do you have a\n\n1102\n00:46:46.080 --> 00:46:48.160\nstory that you tell\n\n1103\n00:46:48.160 --> 00:46:52.550\nthe team members that really drives home the importance of being customer\n\n1104\n00:46:52.550 --> 00:46:53.760\nfocused yeah I do and\n\n1105\n00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:57.510\nactually the guys tease me about it because I guess I've said it too many times\n\n1106\n00:46:57.510 --> 00:46:58.320\nso when I first got\n\n1107\n00:46:58.320 --> 00:47:01.950\nhere when I was visiting restaurants I'm like hey what are some of the things\n\n1108\n00:47:01.950 --> 00:47:02.720\nyou guys here and one\n\n1109\n00:47:02.720 --> 00:47:07.820\nof the things they heard was why can't I get a large quack why is it I there's\n\n1110\n00:47:07.820 --> 00:47:08.720\nonly this small\n\n1111\n00:47:08.720 --> 00:47:12.420\nsize why can't I get a large and you know I was like you know that's a great\n\n1112\n00:47:12.420 --> 00:47:13.600\nquestion why don't we\n\n1113\n00:47:13.600 --> 00:47:17.130\nhave a large quack the joke is you know I turned around I left the restaurant I\n\n1114\n00:47:17.130 --> 00:47:18.080\nwas like we're putting\n\n1115\n00:47:18.080 --> 00:47:21.570\nin large quack and you know it was partly I wanted to make the point that one\n\n1116\n00:47:21.570 --> 00:47:22.640\nwe're going to listen\n\n1117\n00:47:22.640 --> 00:47:25.520\nto the customer we're going to listen to our team when they give us feedback\n\n1118\n00:47:25.520 --> 00:47:26.080\nbecause\n\n1119\n00:47:26.080 --> 00:47:29.690\nour guys were doing large quack they were just using I think it was the queso\n\n1120\n00:47:29.690 --> 00:47:30.240\ncup and they would\n\n1121\n00:47:30.240 --> 00:47:33.870\ncharge people too small and I'm like that's ridiculous why can't we put a\n\n1122\n00:47:33.870 --> 00:47:34.640\nbutton into the\n\n1123\n00:47:34.640 --> 00:47:39.070\nrestaurant that says large quack and just tell everybody we have large quack\n\n1124\n00:47:39.070 --> 00:47:40.560\nand so we got it\n\n1125\n00:47:40.560 --> 00:47:43.490\nthrough and the guy still teased me because they'll be like hey we just\n\n1126\n00:47:43.490 --> 00:47:44.800\nlaunched carne asada probably\n\n1127\n00:47:44.800 --> 00:47:48.690\nnot as big ideas large quack but we listened to the customer on this one I'm\n\n1128\n00:47:48.690 --> 00:47:49.920\nlike fair enough fair\n\n1129\n00:47:49.920 --> 00:47:53.680\nenough but I do tell the story because I'm like hey you guys got to let us know\n\n1130\n00:47:53.680 --> 00:47:54.400\nwhat's happening\n\n1131\n00:47:54.400 --> 00:47:58.680\nin the restaurant and what is the customer saying at that point of purchase and\n\n1132\n00:47:58.680 --> 00:47:59.040\nthen we got to\n\n1133\n00:47:59.040 --> 00:48:02.990\ntake action on it when it's feasible and we can do it right it's been so much\n\n1134\n00:48:02.990 --> 00:48:04.240\nfun catching up and\n\n1135\n00:48:04.240 --> 00:48:07.280\nand I want to have some more with my lightning round of questions are you ready\n\n1136\n00:48:07.280 --> 00:48:08.240\nfor this yeah let's do\n\n1137\n00:48:08.240 --> 00:48:13.550\nit all right what's one word others would use to describe you I would say\n\n1138\n00:48:13.550 --> 00:48:15.600\npassionate what would\n\n1139\n00:48:15.600 --> 00:48:20.560\nyou say is the one word that best describes you I care a lot who would play you\n\n1140\n00:48:20.560 --> 00:48:21.920\nin a movie oh that's\n\n1141\n00:48:21.920 --> 00:48:30.680\neasy Tom Cruise you you wish top gun one or top gun two what's your favorite\n\n1142\n00:48:30.680 --> 00:48:31.680\ntop gun one come on\n\n1143\n00:48:31.680 --> 00:48:37.530\nman I feel the need for speed David there you go if you could be one person for\n\n1144\n00:48:37.530 --> 00:48:38.400\na day beside\n\n1145\n00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:41.370\nyourself who would it be you know I would have liked to have been John F\n\n1146\n00:48:41.370 --> 00:48:42.720\nKennedy for a day what's\n\n1147\n00:48:42.720 --> 00:48:48.080\nyour biggest pet peeve oh when people don't give you a straight answer what's a\n\n1148\n00:48:48.080 --> 00:48:49.680\nsecret menu item at\n\n1149\n00:48:49.680 --> 00:48:53.890\nChipotle that people need to try well it shouldn't be a secret but it I don't\n\n1150\n00:48:53.890 --> 00:48:55.280\nthink many people realize\n\n1151\n00:48:55.280 --> 00:48:59.840\nwe have Barbacoa and how darn good it is a Barbacoa quesadilla will change your\n\n1152\n00:48:59.840 --> 00:49:00.880\nworld where was the\n\n1153\n00:49:00.880 --> 00:49:07.180\nlast time you dressed up as a burrito for Halloween that was probably two years\n\n1154\n00:49:07.180 --> 00:49:08.400\nago me and the dog\n\n1155\n00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:13.770\nwere burritos now I know you love learning what's the coolest thing you picked\n\n1156\n00:49:13.770 --> 00:49:14.720\nup recently that\n\n1157\n00:49:14.720 --> 00:49:19.270\nyou're applying to the business most recently it was probably in regard to our\n\n1158\n00:49:19.270 --> 00:49:20.240\noperations you know\n\n1159\n00:49:20.240 --> 00:49:25.220\nspecifically on how we deploy people for great throughput so we have these\n\n1160\n00:49:25.220 --> 00:49:26.720\ncameras that are in\n\n1161\n00:49:26.720 --> 00:49:31.970\nour restaurants and what we discovered is when the expediter gets out of\n\n1162\n00:49:31.970 --> 00:49:34.000\nposition we like lose\n\n1163\n00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:39.080\nalmost like 30 percent of our speed and to see that on film and see that in\n\n1164\n00:49:39.080 --> 00:49:40.160\naction it was\n\n1165\n00:49:40.160 --> 00:49:44.050\nilluminating it's it's like now I'm like a heat-seeking missile on this thing I\n\n1166\n00:49:44.050 --> 00:49:44.800\n'm like do not let\n\n1167\n00:49:44.800 --> 00:49:49.290\nthe expo out of position I love it if I turn on the radio in your car what\n\n1168\n00:49:49.290 --> 00:49:50.400\nwould I hear you'd\n\n1169\n00:49:50.400 --> 00:49:53.700\nprobably hear Morgan Wallen what's something about you a few people would know\n\n1170\n00:49:53.700 --> 00:49:54.560\nprobably not many\n\n1171\n00:49:54.560 --> 00:49:58.740\npeople know you know I actually really love photography and I can do it back\n\n1172\n00:49:58.740 --> 00:49:59.520\nhandspring\n\n1173\n00:50:01.760 --> 00:50:04.880\nI didn't know either one of those and I've known you for a long time all right\n\n1174\n00:50:04.880 --> 00:50:05.440\nwe're out of the\n\n1175\n00:50:05.440 --> 00:50:08.780\nlightning round now and that was a really good job you know I guess got a few\n\n1176\n00:50:08.780 --> 00:50:10.000\nmore questions to wrap\n\n1177\n00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:15.630\nthis up you've got this chipotle Cultivate Foundation tell us about it and what\n\n1178\n00:50:15.630 --> 00:50:16.480\nyou're really\n\n1179\n00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:20.700\ntrying to do this is one that we're really excited about it it centers on\n\n1180\n00:50:20.700 --> 00:50:21.920\nsupporting our\n\n1181\n00:50:21.920 --> 00:50:26.640\nteam members you know whatever their passions are if folks want to volunteer we\n\n1182\n00:50:26.640 --> 00:50:27.440\nset it up so it\n\n1183\n00:50:27.440 --> 00:50:30.810\ngives them more visibility to get additional people to volunteer with them if\n\n1184\n00:50:30.810 --> 00:50:31.840\nit's a program they want\n\n1185\n00:50:31.840 --> 00:50:36.540\nto contribute to we contribute with them and so I think it's really important\n\n1186\n00:50:36.540 --> 00:50:38.000\nto get back and what\n\n1187\n00:50:38.000 --> 00:50:40.810\nwe try to use with our Cultivate Foundation is to get back to our communities\n\n1188\n00:50:40.810 --> 00:50:41.600\nthrough our team\n\n1189\n00:50:41.600 --> 00:50:45.440\nmembers and you know it makes a big difference and I'll tell you what those are\n\n1190\n00:50:45.440 --> 00:50:46.320\nsome of the best\n\n1191\n00:50:46.320 --> 00:50:50.870\nnotes you read after people participate in it or we support somebody in what is\n\n1192\n00:50:50.870 --> 00:50:51.600\na really passion\n\n1193\n00:50:51.600 --> 00:50:55.660\nproject for them do you have any international ambitions for Chipotle yeah we\n\n1194\n00:50:55.660 --> 00:50:56.240\ndo we're just\n\n1195\n00:50:56.240 --> 00:51:01.360\ngetting started David you know we've got some restaurants in London Paris and\n\n1196\n00:51:01.360 --> 00:51:01.920\nFrankfurt\n\n1197\n00:51:01.920 --> 00:51:08.080\nand we just did our first deal with the al-Shaayah group for the Middle East so\n\n1198\n00:51:08.080 --> 00:51:09.200\nwe'll be opening\n\n1199\n00:51:09.200 --> 00:51:14.320\nour first partner restaurants actually in 2024 in Dubai and Kuwait but we're\n\n1200\n00:51:14.320 --> 00:51:16.080\nearly days nothing\n\n1201\n00:51:16.080 --> 00:51:19.380\nquite like the global empire you built we're in the process we've gotten pretty\n\n1202\n00:51:19.380 --> 00:51:20.320\ngood feedback people\n\n1203\n00:51:20.320 --> 00:51:24.680\nlike chicken rice and beans pretty much all around the world that is true you\n\n1204\n00:51:24.680 --> 00:51:25.360\nknow you and your wife\n\n1205\n00:51:25.360 --> 00:51:30.160\nJennifer you have three wonderful kids and how do you apply all that you know\n\n1206\n00:51:30.160 --> 00:51:31.440\nabout leadership at home\n\n1207\n00:51:31.440 --> 00:51:35.780\nI say this all the time the most rewarding job and the toughest job is being a\n\n1208\n00:51:35.780 --> 00:51:37.440\ndad and a husband but\n\n1209\n00:51:37.440 --> 00:51:42.650\nuh you know it's super important to me and you know the one thing I've learned\n\n1210\n00:51:42.650 --> 00:51:43.360\nover time is\n\n1211\n00:51:43.360 --> 00:51:50.080\nluckily you know Jennifer is an ace I married the right person to keep me you\n\n1212\n00:51:50.080 --> 00:51:51.760\nknow grounded on\n\n1213\n00:51:51.760 --> 00:51:57.120\nwhat's important she does a fabulous job of keeping our family together and you\n\n1214\n00:51:57.120 --> 00:51:58.080\nknow we use our Sunday\n\n1215\n00:51:58.080 --> 00:52:02.380\ndinners David as the time where everybody shares and hopefully you know I give\n\n1216\n00:52:02.380 --> 00:52:03.520\nsome feedback I get\n\n1217\n00:52:03.520 --> 00:52:07.230\na lot of eye rolling when I give that feedback but uh you know for the most\n\n1218\n00:52:07.230 --> 00:52:08.160\npart I'm really\n\n1219\n00:52:08.160 --> 00:52:12.320\nfortunate our kids are great kids they want to do the right thing and I have\n\n1220\n00:52:12.320 --> 00:52:13.120\nthe saying to them all\n\n1221\n00:52:13.120 --> 00:52:17.460\nthe time PMA positive mental attitude and I'm like look guys if you can just\n\n1222\n00:52:17.460 --> 00:52:18.320\ntake a positive\n\n1223\n00:52:18.320 --> 00:52:23.010\nmental attitude to whatever you're tackling you'd be amazed at what the outcome\n\n1224\n00:52:23.010 --> 00:52:24.320\ncan be and even if\n\n1225\n00:52:24.320 --> 00:52:28.880\nit's not the best thing to work on right now if you take a positive attitude to\n\n1226\n00:52:28.880 --> 00:52:29.440\nit turn lemons\n\n1227\n00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:32.570\ninto lemonade if they don't remember anything I hope they remember take a\n\n1228\n00:52:32.570 --> 00:52:33.520\npositive mental attitude\n\n1229\n00:52:33.520 --> 00:52:36.850\nto things well you may have just answered this last question but I'll go go\n\n1230\n00:52:36.850 --> 00:52:38.560\nahead and ask it for you\n\n1231\n00:52:38.560 --> 00:52:43.410\nwhat's the single best advice you give to someone who wants to be a better\n\n1232\n00:52:43.410 --> 00:52:45.120\nleader put in the preparation\n\n1233\n00:52:46.160 --> 00:52:50.850\nand take a positive approach to it and then you got to believe in people to\n\n1234\n00:52:50.850 --> 00:52:52.160\nexecute you know if you\n\n1235\n00:52:52.160 --> 00:52:55.820\ndon't believe in people to get the job done you don't have the right people and\n\n1236\n00:52:55.820 --> 00:52:56.800\nyou aren't leading\n\n1237\n00:52:56.800 --> 00:53:00.320\nthe right people you got to have a positive attitude you got to be prepared and\n\n1238\n00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:01.360\nthen you got to believe\n\n1239\n00:53:01.360 --> 00:53:04.200\nin the people that they're going to do it you know if you believe in them they\n\n1240\n00:53:04.200 --> 00:53:05.280\nbelieve in you and\n\n1241\n00:53:05.280 --> 00:53:09.710\nusually you get to really good outcomes you know Brian it was a very sad day\n\n1242\n00:53:09.710 --> 00:53:10.640\nfor me when I learned\n\n1243\n00:53:10.640 --> 00:53:14.760\nthat you're going to Chipotle from young brands because I always and still do\n\n1244\n00:53:14.760 --> 00:53:16.480\nhave such great admiration\n\n1245\n00:53:16.480 --> 00:53:20.790\nfor you but you mentioned earlier that you you love seeing people when they do\n\n1246\n00:53:20.790 --> 00:53:21.920\nleave Chipotle go\n\n1247\n00:53:21.920 --> 00:53:26.920\noff and be successful the success that you've had and the power of the Chipotle\n\n1248\n00:53:26.920 --> 00:53:27.600\nbrand and where\n\n1249\n00:53:27.600 --> 00:53:31.830\nyou're taking it you know really gives me a great deal of pride and just\n\n1250\n00:53:31.830 --> 00:53:33.520\nknowing that I had the\n\n1251\n00:53:33.520 --> 00:53:37.880\nopportunity to work with you and to see you grow the business and grow yourself\n\n1252\n00:53:37.880 --> 00:53:38.800\nand I want to thank\n\n1253\n00:53:38.800 --> 00:53:42.880\nyou so much for taking the time to be on this podcast with me meant a lot.\n\n1254\n00:53:42.880 --> 00:53:46.500\nHey thank you David and like I said I probably wouldn't be in this position if\n\n1255\n00:53:46.500 --> 00:53:46.960\nyou didn't give me\n\n1256\n00:53:46.960 --> 00:53:51.150\nthe opportunity you gave and you're a great coach too so I'm very fortunate our\n\n1257\n00:53:51.150 --> 00:53:52.560\npaths crossed and\n\n1258\n00:53:52.560 --> 00:54:02.640\nI'm fortunate you believed in me so hopefully I'm paying it forward.\n\n1259\n00:54:06.400 --> 00:54:10.860\nWell Brian is doing a heck of a job at Chipotle and I got to tell you it's so\n\n1260\n00:54:10.860 --> 00:54:12.640\ngratifying to see how\n\n1261\n00:54:12.640 --> 00:54:18.160\na leader I invested in continues to grow and succeed and even more importantly\n\n1262\n00:54:18.160 --> 00:54:19.520\nhow he's continuing to\n\n1263\n00:54:19.520 --> 00:54:24.360\ndevelop more leaders. I'm telling you that's what it's all about you know\n\n1264\n00:54:24.360 --> 00:54:25.760\nsometimes when we think\n\n1265\n00:54:25.760 --> 00:54:30.800\nabout leaders we think about the quintessential big idea person the Steve Jobs\n\n1266\n00:54:30.800 --> 00:54:31.680\nvisionary type\n\n1267\n00:54:31.680 --> 00:54:36.280\nwho's always dreaming up the next big thing or we think about the execution\n\n1268\n00:54:36.280 --> 00:54:37.440\nperson the one who's\n\n1269\n00:54:37.440 --> 00:54:42.160\ngoing to rally the troops and get things done but I hope this conversation with\n\n1270\n00:54:42.160 --> 00:54:43.120\nBrian shows you\n\n1271\n00:54:43.120 --> 00:54:49.210\nthat you don't have to be one or the other. Brian has found his own compass\n\n1272\n00:54:49.210 --> 00:54:51.200\nwhat he does is he looks\n\n1273\n00:54:51.200 --> 00:54:57.090\nfor the right ideas and then focuses on executing them and he sees that is the\n\n1274\n00:54:57.090 --> 00:54:58.400\nkey to the overall\n\n1275\n00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:04.410\nsuccess at Chipotle. He doesn't have to come up with every idea and he knows\n\n1276\n00:55:04.410 --> 00:55:05.200\nthat he's not going to\n\n1277\n00:55:05.200 --> 00:55:10.340\nbe the one that's going to execute the idea but he knows he's got to bring it\n\n1278\n00:55:10.340 --> 00:55:11.600\nall together as a\n\n1279\n00:55:11.600 --> 00:55:17.040\nleader in some way shape or form and that's a powerful takeaway for anybody who\n\n1280\n00:55:17.040 --> 00:55:17.680\nwants to be a\n\n1281\n00:55:17.680 --> 00:55:22.350\nbetter leader. This week I want you to take a look at the way ideas in your\n\n1282\n00:55:22.350 --> 00:55:24.160\norganization or on your\n\n1283\n00:55:24.160 --> 00:55:29.120\nteam turn into reality. What's the process? What kind of structure do you have\n\n1284\n00:55:29.120 --> 00:55:30.240\nto find and test\n\n1285\n00:55:30.240 --> 00:55:35.440\nand implement those ideas? Take a quick assessment and I bet you'll find a few\n\n1286\n00:55:35.440 --> 00:55:36.400\nopportunities to\n\n1287\n00:55:36.400 --> 00:55:42.360\nimprove the way you turn ideas into reality. So do you want to know how leaders\n\n1288\n00:55:42.360 --> 00:55:43.120\nlead? What we\n\n1289\n00:55:43.120 --> 00:55:47.580\nlearned today is the great leaders follow through on the right ideas. Coming up\n\n1290\n00:55:47.580 --> 00:55:48.640\nnext on how leaders\n\n1291\n00:55:48.640 --> 00:55:54.050\nlead is Dan Hurley, the head men's basketball coach of the Yukon Huskies who in\n\n1292\n00:55:54.050 --> 00:55:55.440\ncase you forgot\n\n1293\n00:55:55.440 --> 00:56:01.280\nare the reigning NCAA Champs. The secret sauce for us is how hard we practice\n\n1294\n00:56:01.280 --> 00:56:02.160\nand how intense the\n\n1295\n00:56:02.160 --> 00:56:08.190\nenvironment is. We try to make our practice sessions chaotic. There's no fouls\n\n1296\n00:56:08.190 --> 00:56:09.200\ncalled. There's no\n\n1297\n00:56:09.200 --> 00:56:13.350\nwater breaks. It is the most intense and the fastest-paced thing and the most\n\n1298\n00:56:13.350 --> 00:56:15.040\nstressful experience\n\n1299\n00:56:15.040 --> 00:56:19.440\nthat our players will go through. So I think when they show up on game night,\n\n1300\n00:56:19.440 --> 00:56:20.400\nthe secret sauce is\n\n1301\n00:56:20.400 --> 00:56:24.700\ngame night feels a little bit slower and a little bit more comfortable. So be\n\n1302\n00:56:24.700 --> 00:56:25.760\nsure to come back again\n\n1303\n00:56:25.760 --> 00:56:30.280\nnext week to hear our entire conversation. Thanks again for tuning in to\n\n1304\n00:56:30.280 --> 00:56:31.680\nanother episode of How\n\n1305\n00:56:31.680 --> 00:56:35.550\nLeaders Lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of\n\n1306\n00:56:35.550 --> 00:56:36.800\nthe very best leaders\n\n1307\n00:56:36.800 --> 00:56:41.530\nin the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode\n\n1308\n00:56:41.530 --> 00:56:42.560\nthat you can apply to\n\n1309\n00:56:42.560 --> 00:56:46.560\nyour business so that you will become the best leader you can be.\n\n1310\n00:56:46.560 --> 00:56:56.560\n[BLANK_AUDIO]\n\n1311\n00:56:56.560 --> 00:57:06.560\n[BLANK_AUDIO]","

David Novak 0:04

Welcome to How leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world, I break down the key learnings so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what this podcast is all about. Welcome to our first episode of 2024. I'm excited about the year ahead and honored to kick things off today with none other than Brian nickel, the Chief Executive Officer of Chipotle. Now Brian and I actually go way back. Believe it or not, I hired Brian as a marketer at Pizza Hut. When I was running yum brands. I'd heard he was a rising star with big ideas. And I knew I wanted him on my team these days is clear, he's still passionate about finding those great ideas. Because as you probably know, Chipotle does some really innovative stuff with their marketing and their menu and everything that they touch. But as you'll hear today, there's more to it than just big ideas. Brian knows how to focus on the right ideas, and then create the kind of structure execution and team motivation to really make them happen. And what Chipotle doing better than ever, it's clear that he's found a recipe for success. And I know you're gonna get a ton of value when you hear how he leads. Here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Brian nickel

you know, I know there's not too many people that work any harder than you, Brian. But I heard through the grapevine that you and Jim hope just won a major in amateur golf. The Cypress Point member guessed that had to be a throw for you.

Brian Niccol 1:54

I thought about giving up golf after winning because I'm not sure it gets any better. And I finally found the right partner. It seems like he carried me all the way home. So it was it was a lot of fun. I tried to convince my wife to put the trophy on the dining room table, but it ended up getting a pretty good spot in my office, which is

David Novak 2:09

great. Oh, you've always been a great team player give people credit when credit is due. So giving Jim that NOD is great. When I talked to him, he said you carried him so you No wonder you guys were such a great team. You know, you know, Chipotle? I don't know if there's a more cool brand in the world. I mean, it's a great brand. You just you know, we're doing this right after Halloween and, and you had the burrito Halloween promotion, you know, you're always creating a ton of energy for your customers and your people. Do you have any daily rituals that get you fired up and ready to go? Yeah, look,

Brian Niccol 2:40

you know, one of the things we always talk about here is we want to be very much in touch with what young people are doing. And the best way I can do that is I broke down and got a Snapchat account, partly because I wanted to communicate with my kids. But you know, I stay active on the key social media channels, and that's really tick tock Snapchat, Instagram. And we're just looking partly to see what's going on out there. And as part of our ELT meetings, we do this thing where we all talk about like, Hey, what did you see over the weekend? What did you see this past week? What are your kids talking about? What are your kids friends talking about? And it's kind of funny because on the one hand, it started out as a little bit of a joke of like, gosh, we're all getting so much older or kids blah, blah. And it's actually turned into something that as a ritual, one we enjoy doing it and to it gives us some insight into what are the things we can do to keep Chipotle fresh, keep Chipotle connected. And I think it's been proving to be a pretty powerful practice that we have,

David Novak 3:37

you know, ELT, I think for all of your listening out there means executive leadership team, and you have always been such a talent magnet. I mean, you've always brought in really great people. What do you think is your secret? And what do you do? Maybe that's a little different than other people to recruit the very best people and and retain them. That's

Brian Niccol 3:55

number one priority for me. I actually, I learned that when I was working for you a while ago, you know, you're only as good as the talent that we can be attracting and energizing every day. And one of the things I say to everybody is, look, we are a place for ideas. And if you want to come to a place and you're willing to pressure test your ideas, we're gonna give you a shot with those ideas to make it to market. We use a disciplined approach with it as Stage Gate process. But I think what gets these guys excited is their ideas more often than not make it you know, whether it's in the digital space with, you know, it was a couple years ago, we were experimenting with the metaverse, so where we are today with how we use our rewards program to better engage with people. Or most recently, we're doing a food program called carne asada. These were all ideas that came from folks in our organization, put it through the Stage Gate process and then solid to market. And when I talked to like Kurt Garner, the gentleman that runs all of our tech, we get a lot of people applying for these jobs because they want to bring their ideas to market and when they find out that we're a place that embraces The ideas will pressure test if it works, we're going to put more fuel to the fire. And that's kind of the approach we've been taking,

David Novak 5:05

as CEO, what do you enjoy spending your time on the most? Two

Brian Niccol 5:10

things. One, our people are super important to me. One of the things that's pretty unique about our company is we actually own all 3000 restaurants. So we've got over 100,000 employees. And I'll tell you what, I love seeing people get promoted, I love seeing people achieve success. And then having the opportunity to talk about that success that is super energizing to me, 94% of our promotions will be from within. And you know, we're going to promote people like almost every day, and it's really exciting to see people achieve their ambitions. And then when they realize they've achieved something, they could strive for the next thing, and that's super engaging. The other thing that gets me really excited is, look, I love our food. As a matter of fact, today for lunch, we all had Chipotle. And I'll tell you what, when we do the culinary right, I just get fired up, David, it's like, I'll take more case, I'll take more chicken. The older I get, I gotta watch how much case I take in. But I'm fired up about our people and I'm fired up about our food,

David Novak 6:03

your advertising is very good. And you showcase your people? How do you decide who gets to go on those commercials? Is it a part of a recognition program? Or is it just you look for the best actors?

Brian Niccol 6:15

Well, we do have a lot of actors, that's for sure. Actually, what we did the very first time we did this, we put it out to folks like hey, send us in these videos of what you like working about at Chipotle. And they didn't even know that we were potentially going to turn around and select them for the ads. And so became a big surprise after we did that the first time though people caught on like, okay, they're looking for our employees to be an ads. And I'll tell you, this is where you find out just how many talented people you have in your organization at all levels. And you'll see in some of the ads, David, some are general managers, some are field leaders, which are people that oversee seven, eight restaurants. Some are team directors, they oversee 4050 restaurants, basically, they submit and what they find special about Chipotle, we got this great director, Earl Morris, he's kind of a documentarian, and he brings out the best in these folks. So we're pretty blessed to have as many wonderful people as we have.

David Novak 7:08

Brian, we're gonna dive deep. And now you're leading at Chipotle. But you know, for a second, I want to take you back, what's a story from your childhood that shaped the kind of leader you are today,

Brian Niccol 7:18

my mom and dad, great people, they always instilled in me, Look, if there's something you want to go achieve, figure out the best way to prepare yourself for it, give the best effort you possibly can. And then you can be satisfied with the outcome. And then the other thing that they told me was, look, you may not know everything, and seek out folks that might know more about that topic than you and help them get better. And when I was younger, it was all really more centered on sports. So I was always trying to find like, and when I was trying out for the baseball team, I wanted to figure out who was I thought the best pitcher. And I wanted to end up on that team because I figured that's how I get better as a pitcher. I didn't articulate it this way when I was younger, but I was like, hey, if I can play with at the time, it was like Scottie Lawrence, I know Scotty and I will be much better pictures together than if we're on different teams. And I kind of just took that through my whole life. And, and when I got to college, I did the same thing. I was like, Look, I want to be on the best project team. Like, if I can be around people that I think will push me or pull me along, then I'll just get that much better. And I think that's something I've always just taken with me. And, you know, hopefully I still do it today. You know,

David Novak 8:30

speaking and being the best that you are really one of the best marketers I've ever worked with. And I know you came up in at Procter and Gamble. And at one point, I remember you telling me you were handed a challenge of making mouthwash portable. Tell us about that. And how did that stretch you as a leader?

Brian Niccol 8:49

Boy, you got a great memory. That's good. That's really good. Yeah, I was an assistant brand manager on scope. I don't know if you remember there was at the time. Remember the pieces of paper for mouthwash. It was like, oh, yeah, you put them in your target on your tongue. Yeah. And you also had Altoids kind of just taking off to where that really strong meant, actually, they had a great selling if he was like a curiously strong men's, you know, so scope was stuck in people's bathrooms. And we're like, Well, how do we get scope to be portable, so people could use it more? Well, there was this technology that folks had, and it was like in a little ball. You remember the gum like squirt when you chew on it, it burst out. And that's what this was, this was in a little membrane, and we had a great name, it was called microscopes. But, you know, one of the things I learned is you can't just sometimes mark it past with the product experiences. And the only bummer in that product was after the scopes squirted out, there's a little residue left in your mouth, even though you had great breath. You had a weird taste in your mouse. So one of those things where it's like I thought I found like this killer project from the past, and I kind of walked past some of the things that held it back. But you know, fortunately, it was one of those things that we learned quickly that it wasn't going anywhere. Now, I'm sure there's a lot smarter guys that have figured out how to make scope work outside the bathroom.

David Novak 10:07

Well, you know, I remember when we're trying to recruit people at yum brands, you know, I was asking around like, who are the top people at Proctor in your day boys came up with this rising star, I was really happy to see it come to pizza, which is where you really started out. But what made you leave a Procter and Gamble, which is the premier packaged goods company in the world, and go to a brand like pizza, which is, you know, the leader in the pizza industry. But, you know, it's not Procter and Gamble in terms of prestige.

Brian Niccol 10:38

It was one of those things where I feel very fortunate, I had my first opportunities at p&g, some of the best people I got to work for work with. But I'll tell you what, David, it was because I met somebody like yourself, you know, when I got to the interviewing process, and I met you, you know, one of the things that I got excited about was your like, look, I'm gonna give you a shot, I think you actually said is, I hope you're as good as you say you are, I think that might have been the line might have been the line you use with me. And I was like, You know what, I like that challenge. I think I am. I think actually, I've got even more in the tank. Look, you opened the door for me to test out how good I really could be early in my career. And I probably wouldn't be in this job, frankly, right now, if I didn't make that move, then. And I found a leader like yourself that was willing to give me some opportunities throughout my time at Yahoo. I mean, frankly, you scottburgh grand, a couple guys leaned into me to give me some big opportunities. And, you know, that's what I was excited about. I mean, p&g was a great place. But it was one of those things where I'd gotten to the point where was a little bit of I had to play the waiting game. And, you know, I was probably young and naive. And I was like, I don't need to wait, like, give me the next challenge. And, you know, luckily, I came across a leader like yourself that was like, Oh, I got a challenge for you, you know, come on over. Well,

David Novak 11:54

you did a great job at pizza. And you were really in line to become the president of pizza. And we had a problem at Taco Bell. And you were already the general manager, Pizza Hut. You know, it's pretty clear, you were next up, and I came to you and said, you know, Brian, I'm wondering if you go out to Taco Bell and run marketing for us, you know, it was a step down in the organization. But you said throw me in Coach, what was in your mindset as a leader that would make you do something like that.

Brian Niccol 12:21

My ambition was to ultimately be, you know, a CEO of a company. But I was like, a lot of people had told me early on in my career, don't expect it to be a linear path, and take the opportunities when people present them to you. If you think it's an opportunity, you can make a big impact on and I think I told you, David, like, I would love to get my hands on that brand. I thought it was, and I still believe it is a great brand serves a very unique purpose. I was flattered that you'd asked me to go do it. So I was excited about, hey, you know what, I prefer to go be the general manager president at Taco Bell right out the gate. But if this is the path, I have to go down, I'll go down that path. And I was truly excited because I felt like I could make a big impact and make a difference. When was

David Novak 13:05

it that you had this aha moment when you said to yourself, you know, I really want to be the head of a company. When

Brian Niccol 13:11

I was at Procter and Gamble, and I got promoted to brand manager. I liked the idea of being able to work cross functionally. Well, and also learn there too. It's like, look, I'm in the right place. I want to be in a consumer facing business, because I love trying to figure out what motivates people to buy my item. How do I make them fall in love with my item. And I think you had a great line. It's like what happened perception belief, or you're trying to build change or reinforce? I wish I would have picked that up earlier in my career, because I didn't have it so elegantly figured out on how it's going to tackle these issues. But it was probably when I first became a brand manager. My first brand manager assignment was on Thermacare, which was a new product. And I just fell in love with the idea of working on a team leading a team and trying to figure out what are what is the unique reason why my business should exist and have the right to earn people's business over and over again. And that just really turned me on.

David Novak 14:03

You've always been a person that was on the fast track, but what was the biggest bump you had along the way? You

Brian Niccol 14:10

know, that first frame manager assignment on Thermacare was a lot of learning. You know, it was a smaller initiative that had struggled when we launched it. It did okay, it didn't do great. It did. Okay. And you know, it's the first time I had done something where I was like, Man, this isn't going great. It's just going okay. Luckily, you know, I was surrounded by some really great people at the time, the general manager of the categories tomberlin. And I remember talking through it with them, and he made me realize I wasn't in on it alone. This is a collective effort that we're going after you're perceived as the leader here, but as part of the leader, you got to recognize what's working, what's not working, and then figure out how we make the best out of the situation we have at hand. And that was probably the first one were bumped into me that the second time it was really tough was I was at Pizza Hut. And you know, that's when the whole kind of world seemed like it was ending In 2008 2009, it was really tough because it was gonna be the first time, we weren't going to make our plan. I took a lot of pride in making the plan, I wanted to not only make it I wanted to exceed it, that was tough. And actually, that was another example. You know, I don't know if you remember this, David, but he came up to me put your arm around me, he said, Hey, look, I know, this wasn't the year you want it. And I know you believe you can do better than this. But you know, I got your back. It's like, you're gonna get through this, you're not in it alone. And that meant a lot to me. You know, those are kind of two critical moments where I've kind of remembered like, even when it's not going, right, you got to remember to put your arm around somebody and say, Hey, we're gonna get through it.

David Novak 15:35

You know, Brian, when you move into a new position, and then you have a new team, how do you get people to believe in you as a leader? What's your process for that? And what would you recommend others?

Brian Niccol 15:47

That's one that I've had the opportunity to do a couple times now. And, you know, the first thing is, take the time to understand who these people are, before you start telling them what you want them to go do or what you believe we need to go do. I invested the time to find out who they are, what do they believe? What do they think isn't working, not working? And you know, listen, and then once I took that knowledge, you know, I came back and said, Alright, gang, you know, I've had the opportunity to meet everybody. And here's the one thing if you're here, it's because I want you on the team, if I had asked you to leave is because you know, you're working to be the right fit for this team. But I've decided you're the right person for this team. I believe in you, hopefully you believe in me. Let's lock arms and do this. The other thing that I find is you got to take and these are been cases where I've walked in and it's a little messy, right? Like, maybe it's not going great. And there's a lot of projects people are working on. How do I pick the one or two things that I know we as a collective team can make a difference right away. And the chipotle that was digital ordering. We went all in on making these digital make lines, mobile pickup shelves. And that was like the one thing that we went after the other one thing we went after is we're going to execute operations and culinary with perfection. It's like these are the two things we're going to do. At the same time, we hired some other people and I said, look from a marketing standpoint, I want us to be relevant. I want us to be on our front foot. And I want us to be talking about what makes people love us. And it's like just getting very specific, like what are the one or two things I need out of each of you as leaders, and then collectively sharing the obligation to achieve those things, is what I've done and it appears to be effective.

David Novak 17:33

talking to Brian is clear, every leader needs to know how to create a culture where Big Ideas thrive. As the CEO of SNAP, and the guy responsible for building Snapchat, Evan Spiegel knows a thing or two about big ideas. Evan was one of my very first guests on how leaders lead. And I love what he has to say about fostering innovation at snap. There's

Evan Spiegel 17:55

more and more research that shows that we are all inherently very creative, but that our fear over time overrides that creativity and actually inhibits us from expressing ourselves inhibits us from sharing our new ideas. And so I think a lot of leaders are very attuned to this phenomenon, and are very focused on trying to make sure people do feel comfortable that they don't feel afraid of expressing their ideas, because leaders are always in search of great new ideas. So I do think there's a focus on that. And I think, you know, more and more, especially as our work lives and our home lives, blends, you know, there's really this feeling of the need to bring your whole self to work. And that's something that we really want to support at snap. And we do things like Council where people sit together in small groups and take turns sharing how they feel and listening to one another. And I think that's another thing that helps people feel appreciated for their own unique abilities and their own unique points of view. And that brings out the best in our talent. Go back

David Novak 18:51

and listen to my entire conversation with Evan Spiegel, episode three here on how leaders lead.

Can you share a story where you kind of raised the bar for the team and you know how you push them to go to a higher height coming

Brian Niccol 19:13

out of COVID at Chipotle I can speak specifically to Chipotle on this one. We had navigated it fairly well. We come out of it. Okay. But you want to know something? We were not operating up to our standard. It was that simple. Like, I go into restaurants, we'd be out of chips, I would go into a restaurant near closing we'd be out of chicken rice. And you know, we were still performing. But we weren't performing where we needed to be. And one of the key metrics we have here is throughput, like how many transactions can you get done in 15 minutes. And that was another place where we were way off where we should have been and what we're capable of doing and I literally is this kind of a funny thing. You'll appreciate this, David. I went to our team director meeting, and I said Hey gang, I am here to tell you we are not succeeding I get a report every day that shows me how many restaurants don't have chips. I was like, we collectively should be embarrassed that we have a report telling us when we're out of chips, like we're a Mexican restaurant, when was the last time you went to a restaurant and they didn't have chips, right? And so fast forward a year later, I had that same TD group here. And I said, Well, gang, you know, the good news is you got your shit in order, okay? I'm not gonna talk to you about how we don't have chips. And we've hit what our standard is, we have our food in place, we have our performance in place, we still have opportunities to be better on throughput. But from a culinary people standpoint, we are so much better than we were a year ago. And this was talking to an audience of people that were all really good operators. It was just like, we had made way too many excuses for too long. And COVID gave us the ability to provide those excuses. And it's like, hey, it's time to put those aside, let's get back to the standard of excellence that we know we can hit. And I'll tell you what, the guys were super energized, they took it to heart. And to their credit, I think we're performing much closer to what we're capable of doing, we still have some opportunity, but it's never easy to do. But every once a while, they respect you for recognizing we're not hitting the number. Well,

David Novak 21:15

I gotta tell you, I liked those chips. And they're always there when I got into folio. And you did an incredible job at Taco Bell and really got that brand turned around and moving forward. When you're running marketing, then you ended up being the CEO of Taco Bell. And then you were recruited away to become the CEO of Chipotle. And when it was announced that you were CEO, early in 2018, the stock jumped, you know, 12% How did that make you feel?

Brian Niccol 21:41

Well, on the one hand, it was it was pretty awesome to see. On the other hand, I'm like, Oh, my God, here we go, I better deliver. So you know, it was exciting to see, you know, you always hear feedback, like, hey, people are respecting the work that you're doing. And it was a signal that you know, what people recognize the work that I had accomplished. On the one hand, I was a huge compliment on the other. I was like, oh, man, I gotta get to work. There's work to be done. So

David Novak 22:07

did you take some time and reflect when that happened, and really map out a plan in terms of what kind of CEO you wanted to be. Because you know, here you are, now you're heading towards the Chipotle restaurant Support Center, you're going to be the guy, what kind of CEO Are you trying to be,

Brian Niccol 22:24

I want to be seen as a CEO that isn't afraid to make the decision when you need to make a decision. The other thing I want to be seen as is hopefully, people believe I am developing our future leaders in the process of making those decisions. I hope I'm teaching people how I made those decisions. And then they can step in behind me and make as good decision if not a better decision if I wasn't in the room. And that's what I'm after, you know, it would really delight me to see people be successful leaving here. Not that I want anybody to leave Chipotle, but if they leave Chipotle, and they go somewhere else, I want to see him be successful. And hopefully I had a role in them achieving their success. And, you know, the other thing I wanted to be seen at two for Chipotle is I wanted to be seen as somebody that can grow a business, like, I want to be known as like, hey, I can turn this around. But I can also grow it. That's growing people, it's growing the business, it's growing the economics, those were the two missions I was after is like, I want to be somebody that gets people set up for success, and then demonstrates that I can achieve that success in the business that I'm responsible for.

David Novak 23:32

You hadn't worked with Wall Street up to that point. Other than makings, I'm sure some, you know, animals presentations that on behalf of Taco Bell, but you weren't the guy in charge of really driving shareholder value? And how'd you get up to speed just in terms of you know, working with Wall Street.

Brian Niccol 23:47

That was one of those things were fortunately, I had a bit of a network of people that I could reach out to and be like, Hey, I'm getting ready to do my first kind of investor conference. I'm getting ready to do my first meeting with these individuals. What do you recommend, and we also had some guys on our board that were pretty good with Wall Street as well. People were very generous with their time, David, they were willing to give me their insight into how they managed Wall Street. And in some cases, some of these folks worked on Wall Street and said, Hey, look, this is what I would love to see from a CEO in these meetings, and I had to establish credibility, first and foremost. So they're like, make sure you're transparent with people on where you are, and where you see yourself going on this journey. The first couple meetings I had, you know, people were like, Do you really think, you know, Chipotle can get back to $2 million plus unit volumes? And can you get back to mid 20% margins? Because at the time, we were sub 2 million and margins were kind of more in the mid teens. And I do. It's not going to happen tomorrow. But I believe there's a plan and a process for us to get there. And, you know, here's the four or five things we're going to do to make it happen. And, you know, like I said, I was very fortunate because what folks told me is don't be in a rush. To tell them everywhere you're gonna get to make people understand the process or the journey that you're gonna have to get to two and a half million, 3 million like today, we're at 3 million average unit volumes and 27% margins. And we're going to build close to 250 300 restaurants this year. So we've come a long way. But luckily, people were very generous with me on their time and saying, Hey, pace it out, I think you might even said have some sober selling, that might have been one of your lines. It

David Novak 25:29

was you know, but I got it from somebody else. So it's good to pass that on, you know, and one of your big shareholders, as I understand it is Edgewood, which is run by Allen breed. He's a big time growth investor, and very, very talented. When you walk into an office like that, what's your elevator speech on why you should own Chipotle stock, I

Brian Niccol 25:52

always start off with the fact that the growth is just beginning. There's kind of a funny little line I'm like, you know, if you could find a company that's going to build 3000 restaurants, you know, have four or $5 million average unit volumes and call it 30% margins, would you want invest in that. And you know, everybody's like, of course, I said, Well, that's what we're gonna do. That's the next 3000 Chipotle is we're going to build. So today we're at 3000. So I think the next Chipotle is Chipotle. And it's all driven on this idea of growth. And then simplicity of our execution, which is, if we get great throughput, great culinary, great people, there's no stopping this engine, now we have to surround it with great digital, great marketing, as well. It's just a really simple idea that, you know, we can double this business by staying focused on what makes Chipotle Chipotle, you've

David Novak 26:42

alluded to a little bit this, but tell us about the business you inherited and what you have today,

Brian Niccol 26:48

you know, when I first got here, you know, I'd say the organization was a little bit on their back foot, you know, they had a couple of missteps had a lot of ideas floating around in the organization on what could be better for the organization. But we weren't, I'd say following through on those ideas, and we didn't pick a lane on one or two of the ideas to go really big and go after it. And so that was one of the things I wanted to do is make sure that we picked a critical few items. Once we picked the critical few items, it was like do we have the structure to go make this happen? So I mean, this is classic things used to talk to me about all the time strategy structure now execution, right? When you look around the structure, I was like, man, we don't have some of the experts that we need in these areas, to fulfill our ambition or our strategy. And so we had to make some changes. And we need to get a great supply chain leader, we needed to get a great marketing leader, we needed to get some additional digital capability, we had a terrific digital leader, but he needed additional capability with him, because we're gonna grow this so much. So it was taking the time now to invest in having the right people in the right position so that we can execute the strategy. And then look, we held ourselves accountable. It's like, now we're gonna go execute against these things. And, you know, I'm happy to say, you pointed out when I started, I think our market cap was right around like six or 7 billion, and today, we're over 50 billion, for the most part, my team is intact, you know, we've only really had one person transition. I think that's a testament to the strategy. It's a testament to the people believing in the strategy. And then I think, hopefully, it's a testament to the culture that I've created around this organization and the values that we have.

David Novak 28:25

Now, as I understand it, you took over for the chipotle founder, Steve Ells, did that put additional pressure on you? How do you manage that transition? And that's not an easy thing to do. A lot of times people really, you know, have challenges, you know, following a founder, first

Brian Niccol 28:41

of all, I gotta tell you, Steve was great through the whole process. I mean, I'm sure it wasn't easy for him. But one of the things he told me was, I don't want to be the CEO, I want you to be the CEO. I'm here to support you how I can. He was very true to those words. And, you know, I'm very grateful for that, because you've seen a lot of these examples where it doesn't work that way. And then the other tough spot that a lot of people identified when I was contemplating doing this is, we had a big activist investor in Pershing Square. And it was, you know, Bill Ackman. And, you know, a lot of people were like, Oh, be really careful. And I had to tell you, that was another place where I spent the time making sure that they bought into the strategy that we're going down. And we ended up being some of our best board members, and, frankly, biggest advocates for the strategy that we've gone after. And, you know, to this day, Bill, and I still chat, and he's a huge advocate for the company and the brand. And, you know, Steve, and I still stay in contact, and I think he still is a big advocate for the brand. You know, there was one of those things to where I was also very upfront with Steve, like, what he created I think, is really special. You know, I mean, the fact that he created Chipotle and took it from one idea one restaurant to at the time we had about 1800 restaurants. unbelievable success. I wanted to learn as much cuz I could from him. And then I wanted to add value where I thought I could add value on making the company hopefully better and not lose the essence of what Steve had created, which was great culinary done really fast.

David Novak 30:11

You move the restaurant Support Center from Colorado to Los Angeles, you know, that had to be a tough call. What was it that drove that decision? And how do you feel about it today?

Brian Niccol 30:21

It was one of those things where we needed a complete reset and culture. And we also needed a reset and some people capability. At the time we had offices in New York, Colorado, and Columbus. When we made the decision. Strategically, we wanted to go all in on digital, we didn't want to lose one inch on culinary, Southern California was a pretty good spot for us to be on the forefront of both culinary and tech. And so it was a hard decision. I'll tell you what, one of the hardest meetings I had at Chipotle was when I had to stand up in front of the Denver office and let them know, we're closing the office. And not everybody was getting the opportunity to move with us. But what I was happy about is the people that we did offer the opportunity to make the move, they made the move. And I think it's paid out really well for them. And I think they're really proud of what we've accomplished. But you know, it's always hard when you got to impact people's lives and you hate those days. But that's part of what comes with the job sometimes.

David Novak 31:17

Tell us about the culinary center you have at Chipotle and the most exciting thing you're cooking up over there. Oh, yeah.

Brian Niccol 31:24

So we call it the Cultivate center. We've got a lot of, I would say really talented chefs working on really terrific food. Right now. We've got carne Assad out. Actually one of the biggest complaints about our economy of Saudi initiatives, we took away chicken out Pastore, which is kind of funny. But these guys are super talented. They're always working on, you know, really exciting flavors on kind of the proteins that we're known for. Right chicken steak. It's really delicious. We've got some desserts that are a lot of fun that they're working on. And also some drinks. We do things under this tractor beverage umbrella. That's pretty exciting. But I can't give away it. That was one of the things the guys told me. They said, Oh, no, you're talking to Novak do not give away all the things. I'm like, Alright, I won't, I won't.

David Novak 32:08

Curiously, I called the culinary center made a mistake. It's the Cultivate centered? Tell me what's the thinking behind that. Because I know you always think pretty hard about what you want to how you want to communicate things.

Brian Niccol 32:19

I'm glad you picked up on that. It's very purposeful, because this is where we cultivate our next generation of ideas. And whether that's equipment, engineering store, design, menu, or even ingredients. David's it's like we're doing work on cooking oils, I want this to be about cultivating what is next. And we have a purpose at our company, this idea of cultivating a better world through Food With Integrity. And the way we can do that is we partner with others. That's the other thing too. It's a symbol to other folks, too. It's like, Look, if you bring your external idea to us, we can help you cultivate that idea doesn't just have to be our own internal ideas. We love external ideas to help cultivate those ideas as well. So it was purposeful. It's pretty amazing. When you see what goes on in the facility from, you know, robotics to you know, carne asada?

David Novak 33:09

What the heck is Food Integrity? What do you mean?

Brian Niccol 33:15

So we have a bunch of principles on you know, the way animals should be raised a bunch of principles on regenerative farming, it really is our approach to how you we think you end up with the most delicious, nutritious food done in a responsible way. You know, so you leave the farm, hopefully in a better place than you inherited it, but it's all centered on you want delicious food that hopefully he's done the right way. So that, you know, those that touch it are better for it

David Novak 33:41

makes a lot of sense. You know, walk me through what you referred to earlier, you call it the your Stage Gate process, what is that?

Brian Niccol 33:49

It's a simple process where we take ideas from concept to ultimately in the restaurant. And, you know, we want to have measurable KPIs along the way, you know, obviously, nothing really happens until it hits the restaurant, or it hits our website, or hits the app. Those are kind of the moments of truth for our business. And I have this value, which is the line is the moment of truth. And those lines are the website, the app and then obviously the physical front line in our restaurant, or the digital make line in our restaurant. And so what this does is it's just a orderly process to take ideas, vet them, see what works, what doesn't work. Sometimes it starts out as something and it ends up being something else, because we learn our way through it. And then when it gets into the restaurant, we use our team members to give us the feedback so that we can take it from one restaurant to 10 restaurants to then 100 And then ultimately roll it out across the system.

David Novak 34:44

I remember you telling me you know just there were some close in opportunities when you first went on board and one of them was queso err, you got Chipotle and they really didn't have any queso which you know, you were kind of amazed by but you got into that into the that game, what was the response? And if you're going to describe your Casio business today, what would it be versus back in 2018?

Brian Niccol 35:08

You know, it's grown dramatically. So I gotta give a credit to our culinary team, because I think the Casio is outstanding. Now, it wasn't dialed in when I first got here, and as a result, you know, it was less than $100 million business. Now, it's a couple 100 million dollar business and not quite as big as our Glock, but closing in on it. And you know, this, it's like, it's got to be delicious. If it's not delicious, people won't crave it. And I think our chips have that credibility. I think our queso has that credibility, our chicken, our Glock, you know, and then there's other areas where I think we could still be better, we're always going to be working towards making it more delicious, when it becomes more delicious is when we see more business. And that's what happened with our case. So how

David Novak 35:50

do you respond when you introduce something that's less than ideal? Maybe your case? So the first time out of the box? How do you get the organization to respond to what the customer is telling you?

Brian Niccol 36:00

Great example is we did something a year ago, it was called garlic guajillo steak. Now this is a great case of we didn't actually roll out what we tested. So when we tested it, it was at a certain price point. All that inflation hit, so on and so forth. We ended up rolling it out anyway, and we just raised the price higher than what we tested it at. And it didn't perform. We had some trepidation on the name because garlic was to steak, say that three times. And it was hard. I was pretty

David Novak 36:29

impressed with you did it the first time. I don't think I could have launched that product. I've never pronounce

Brian Niccol 36:35

it. Yeah, well, and we saw it too. It was funny, like when we launched it. This was kind of an interesting learning. People were having problems searching it on the web. So like, one of the things like carne asada, bang, people have no problem searching for carne asada, garlic, guajillo steak a little bit harder. And so look, we learned from it, we're like, look, the product tasted great. But we priced it incorrectly, and we probably named it incorrectly. And as a result, it didn't perform as well as it should have. And we've learned from it, you know, it's like we won't do that again. And as a matter of fact, even today, we were just doing a little post mortem on this of like, Why do you think carne asada this year is outperforming garlic? Well, he was thanks so much. And I think this is a hopefully a part of my leadership style, which is, look, it wasn't as successful as we want it to. But we don't have to beat each other up over it. We can learn from it so that we're better than next time and I I think we are all a hell of a lot better with this carne asada, because we learned from that garlic we do steak initiative.

Koula Callahan 37:36

Have you ever wondered what David is thinking as he interviews our guests each week? Or have you been interested in hearing David's take on some of the questions that he asks his guest? Well, I do and I know a lot of you do, too. My name is Kula Callahan. And together with David I host the three more questions podcast that airs every Monday. These episodes are just about 15 minutes. And in them, I asked David three questions that dive deeper into the themes of his episode with his guests. David shares incredible insights and stories from his career leading yum brands. And all of His answers are super practical and inspiring. Like this great insight David shared and one of our most recent, three more questions episodes, ever

David Novak 38:19

everybody is talking about the importance of a leader, being vulnerable, being open, being transparent, sharing how they got to where they are, and you know what I couldn't agree more. You know, when I taught my taking people with you program at yum brands, the stories that people love to hear the most was not how I got to where I was, and all the great things that happened. People know how you got the results and all the things that you've achieved. They don't know when you stumbled and what you learn from it. So when I told my stories about Crystal Pepsi, or solar shades, or whatever the hell it was, when I told those stories where I actually really didn't knock it out of the park. People loved hearing those stories the most. And they loved what I learned from it, what I internalized from it, that I could take forward as a leader and get better at every single day. Get

Koula Callahan 39:15

the three more questions podcasts and your feed each Monday and dive even deeper into the episodes you know and love. Just subscribe to how leaders lead wherever you get your podcasts

David Novak 39:31

we would you went to Chipotle and followed a couple of really tough food safety issues that that really put the brand on the mat. And frankly, a lot of people had real questions as to whether Chipotle would ever ever come back from that. What does that experience taught the organization and what are you doing today that maybe you might not have done, you know, 10 years on that front? Yeah,

Brian Niccol 39:55

look, I mean, obviously, any organization needs to be resilient. Right? The good news is We've got resilient leaders in this company. But the other thing too is it's like, a lot of people were pushing. When I first got here, they were saying, hey, why don't you just freeze the food, you can do all these things off site that would take care of some of these risks that come with dealing with fresh food. And I was like, Look, if that's what we have to do, then we've lost what Chipotle is. And this is a great example of I went and hired what I thought was one of the best people in food safety. And her name's Carrie bridges, she was at Walmart, considered one of the best in the industry, I said, Hey, Carrie, here's the deal. I want to be the world's best food safety culture, and food safety program. And you're in charge, and I'm gonna support you any way I can. But you know, a heck of a lot more about this than I do. I want to be the best, I don't want to just be good, I want to be the best. And luckily, she joined us. And I think, you know, she's making us better every day. And I believe we're one of the best when it comes to handling fresh food. What

David Novak 40:54

do you find more motivating, the fear of not getting something done, or the joy of winning, and what really drives you,

Brian Niccol 41:01

I definitely have an element of a little bit of paranoia that I do everything I can to prepare myself for the best possible outcome. I remember my first earnings call as the CEO. I mean, I was up late reading the materials. And I was up early, reading the materials, again, because I wanted to be, you know, not just a little prepared, but over prepared. And I'm into my sixth year of doing this, and I still probably over prepare for some of these moments. But it's like, I think it's really important to be prepared so that you can ensure you got your best effort. And the thing I worry about most David is like, I hate leaving something, if I didn't give it my best effort, it's like, and the only way I know how to do my best effort is do everything I can to be prepared. And it's like, That's what gets me anxious. It's like, Have I done everything I can to be prepared for this? Am I Am I walking in with my best effort, the outcome is going to be the outcome. But I'll be critical of myself. If I think like I could have been better if I would have just done X. And it's one of those things that drives me. So

David Novak 42:03

your stock goes from $7 billion dollars to over $50 billion market cap? Has that created any joy of winning that, you know, you could sit back? How do you celebrate it as an organization?

Brian Niccol 42:14

Yeah, you know, look, we've definitely find the moments to celebrate, too, I had the whole team together to celebrate our results about a month ago, because we've all gotten past kind of his five year mark, you know, I'm lucky, I've got a great group of people, I love spending time with them. They love spending time with each other. And we have a lot of laughs and, you know, it is one of those moments every once awhile, like, I pinch myself, I'm like, gosh, you know, I knew we could do a good job. But I'm so delighted with where we are. And I had a meeting with all of our directors and above. And I literally told him I was like, you know, this first time I'm in or I've been in a room where every person is a millionaire. I'm a little intimidated. And it was pretty cool. You know, it was really cool to see that. And, you know, people's eyes just light up. And you know, when you could go all the way down to like the store level. You know, people tell me they sold their stock, and they bought their house. And I'm like, how cool is that? You know, so don't get me wrong, I have the opportunity to celebrate and you know, we've got a toast?

David Novak 43:14

Well, that's a great thing to see your people do well, I remember going to Walmart, and the guy that picked us up at the airport was a billionaire because he had held the stock for so long. And you know, they had a little sign up that said, today's stock price is x tomorrow's up to you, as a leader, you got to get people fired up about what you can be how do you constantly work on presenting that vision? Yeah,

Brian Niccol 43:38

look, this is where we really use our purpose around this idea of cultivating a better world. I think that has people truly energized because we believe we're making a difference on the the food people have access to and the way that food is grown. That's a big deal. And as a result, we've created what we call the Cultivate next fund where we're literally taking some minority investments in a lot of up and coming Technologies, a lot of different robotics, different farming techniques, different ways to fertilize. And so I think people are genuinely excited about this idea of, hey, we're gonna make a difference in this world we're going to do with food. But you know, when a Chipotle comes to town, usually we create a lot of great job opportunities, but with it, people find out that there's more to us than just the burritos that we make, or the bowls that we make. And, you know, I think that purpose is what captures people's hearts, you know, the stock price and the financial performance probably captures their minds, but our purpose captures people's hearts. You've always

David Novak 44:39

been on the forefront of digital marketing. And that was one of the things that you really brought to Taco Bell. What's the best practice that we can learn from your leadership on on just how to stay on top of technology and digital?

Brian Niccol 44:55

Look, you can't be afraid to keep learning. That's the biggest thing I say to folks who is, you know, if you get to the point where all of a sudden you're saying, You know what, I don't need to learn that, it's probably time to get out of the job or go find something else to do that gets you energized to have the desire to learn. It really boils down to I'm a curious person. And I like to learn new things. And, you know, maybe it also helps. I've got, you know, three younger kids that keep me on my toes. You know, my 12 year old daughter, she is unrelenting. So I've got to figure out how to keep up with her. You know, it's one of those things where you just want to stay curious. And I like learning new stuff. What I find is in these areas that you learn new things, it sparks other ideas, and then you can your curiosity can take you down that path. How do

David Novak 45:45

you balance digital versus the mainstream television? I mean, what do you find is working best today? Well,

Brian Niccol 45:51

you know, Chris Brandt, he's our chief marketing officer. And then we also have a great woman that runs media, Maria, and I'll tell you what, they do a phenomenal job. Tracy Lieberman was with our company for a while she actually, she left us to go be the CMO over at Yahoo. But these folks are pros. And you know, I give Chris Maria and the team have a lot of credit, because they're always testing. They're always trying to find what is the next thing around the corner for how we best can communicate to people. I think if they were here, they tell you live sports is one of those things that never gets old. You know, they're constantly experimenting in the digital space. I don't think it's it's a one stop solution in the digital space. It's very fluid, there. But when it comes to the mass market, I don't think anything Trumps live sports, David,

David Novak 46:38

your voice been a customer advocate. I bet you'd love listening to customers learning from customers. Do you have a story that you tell the team members that really drives home? The importance of being customer focused?

Brian Niccol 46:52

Yeah, I do. And actually, the guys tease me about it, because I guess I've said it too many times. So when I first got here, when I was visiting restaurants, I'm like, Hey, what are some of the things you guys hear? And one of the things they heard was, why can't I get a large clock? Why is it i There's only the small size? Why can't I get a large? And I was like, you know, that's a great question. Why don't we have a large Glock? The joke is, you know, I turned around, I left the restaurant I was like, we're putting in large Glock. And you know, it was partly I wanted to make the point that one we're going to listen to the customer. We're going to listen to our team when they give us feedback. Because our guys were doing large Glock, they're just using, I think it was the Casio cup and they would charge people to Smalls. And I'm like, That's ridiculous. Why can't we put a button into the restaurant that says large Glock, and just tell everybody we have large Glock. And so we got it through and the guys still tease me because they'll be like, Hey, we just launched carne asada, probably not as big idea as large Glock. But we listened to the customer on this one. I'm like, Fair enough. Fair enough. But I do tell the story because I'm like, Hey, you guys got to let us know what's happening in the restaurant? And what is the customer saying at that point of purchase? And then we got to take action on it when it's feasible, and we can do it. Brian, it's

David Novak 48:02

been so much fun catching up, and I want to have some more with my lightning round of questions. Are you ready for this?

Brian Niccol 48:07

Yeah, let's do it.

David Novak 48:08

Alright. What's one word others would use to describe you?

Brian Niccol 48:12

I would say passionate.

David Novak 48:14

What would you say is the one word that best describes you?

Brian Niccol 48:17

I care a lot.

David Novak 48:19

Who would play you in a movie?

Brian Niccol 48:21

Oh, that's easy. Tom Cruise.

David Novak 48:22

You you wish? A Top Gun one or Top Gun? Two? What's your favorite? Top

Brian Niccol 48:30

Gun? One? Come on, man. I feel the need for speed. David.

David Novak 48:36

If you could be one person for a day besides yourself? Who would it be?

Brian Niccol 48:39

You know, I would have liked to have been John F. Kennedy for day.

David Novak 48:42

What's your biggest pet peeve?

Brian Niccol 48:45

When people don't give you a straight answer?

David Novak 48:47

What's a secret menu item at Chipotle that people need to try? Well,

Brian Niccol 48:51

it shouldn't be a secret. But I don't think many people realize we have barbacoa and how darn good it is a barber co kcda will change your world.

David Novak 49:00

When was the last time you dressed up as a burrito for Halloween?

Brian Niccol 49:06

That was probably two years ago, me and the dog were burritos.

David Novak 49:11

Now I know you love learning what's the coolest thing you picked up recently that you're applying to the business?

Brian Niccol 49:16

Most recently, it was probably in regard to our operations, specifically on how we deploy people for great throughput. So we have these cameras that are in our restaurants. And what we discovered is when the expediter gets out of position, we like lose almost like 30% of our speed. And to see that on film and see that in action. It was illuminating. It's it's like now I'm like a heat seeking missile on this thing. I'm like do not let the expo out of position.

David Novak 49:46

Love it. If I turn on the radio in your car. What would I hear? You probably hear Morgan Wallen.

Brian Niccol 49:51

What's something about you a few people would know, probably not many people know you know, I actually really love photography, and I can do a back handspring.

David Novak 50:01

I didn't know either one of those, and I've known you for a long time. Alright, we're out of the lightning round now. And now it's a really good job, I guess got a few more questions to wrap this up. You've got this Chipotle Cultivate foundation. Tell us about it. And what you're really trying to do. This

Brian Niccol 50:17

is one that we're really excited about it, it centers on supporting our team members, you know, whatever their passions are, if folks want to volunteer, we set it up. So it gives them more visibility to get additional people to volunteer with them. If it's a program they want to contribute to, we contribute with them. And so I think it's really important to give back. And what we try to use with our cultivate Foundation is to give back to our communities through our team members. And, you know, it makes a big difference. And I'll tell you what, those are some of the best notes you read after people participate in it, or we support somebody in what is a really passion project for them.

David Novak 50:52

Do you have any international ambitions for Chipotle?

Brian Niccol 50:55

Yeah, we do. We're just getting started, David, you know, we've got some restaurants in London, Paris, and Frankfurt. And we just did our first deal with El Shaya group for the Middle East. So we'll be opening our first partner restaurants actually in 2024, in Dubai, in Kuwait. But we're early days, nothing quite like the global empire you built. We're in the process, we've gotten pretty good feedback, people like chicken, rice, and beans pretty much all around the world. That

David Novak 51:23

is true. You know, you and your wife, Jennifer, you have three wonderful kids, and how do you apply all that you know about leadership at home,

Brian Niccol 51:31

I say this all the time, the most rewarding job and the toughest job is being a dad and a husband. But it's super important to me. And you know, the one thing I've learned over time is, luckily, you know, Jennifer is an ace, I married the right person to keep me, you know, grounded on what's important. She does a fabulous job of keeping our family together. And, you know, we use our Sunday dinners, David as the time where everybody shares and hopefully, you know, I give some feedback, I get a lot of eye rolling when I get that feedback. But you know, for the most part, I'm really fortunate our kids are great kids. They want to do the right thing. And I have the same time all the time PMA positive mental attitude. And I'm like, Look, guys, if you can just take a positive mental attitude to whatever you're tackling, you'd be amazed at what the outcome can be. And even if it's not the best thing to work on right now, if you take a positive attitude to it, turn lemons into lemonade. If they don't remember anything, I hope they remember, take a positive mental attitude to things. Well, you may have just answered

David Novak 52:35

this last question. But I'll go go ahead and ask it for you. What's the single best advice you give to someone who wants to be a better leader, put

Brian Niccol 52:44

in the preparation and take a positive approach to it. And then you got to believe in people to execute. You know, if you don't believe in people to get the job done, you don't have the right people and you aren't leading the right people, you got to have a positive attitude, you got to be prepared. And then you got to believe in the people that they're going to do it. You know, if you believe in them, they believe in you. And usually you get to really good outcomes. You

David Novak 53:07

know, Brian, it was a very sad day for me when I learned that you're going to Chipotle for yum brands, because I always and still do have such great admiration for you. But you mentioned earlier that you you love seeing people when they do leave Chipotle go off and be successful, the success that you've had, and the power of the chipotle brand and where you're taking it. And you know, really gives me a great deal of pride and just knowing that I had the opportunity to work with you and to see you grow the business and grow yourself. And I want to thank you so much for taking the time to be on this podcast with me, man a lot. A

Brian Niccol 53:42

Thank you, David. And like I said, I probably wouldn't be in this position if you didn't give me the opportunity you gave and you're a great coach, too. So I'm very fortunate our paths crossed. And unfortunately, you believed in me, so hopefully I'm paying it forward.

David Novak 54:06

Well, Brian is doing a heck of a job at Chipotle. And I gotta tell you, it's so gratifying to see how a leader I invested in continues to grow and succeed, and even more importantly, how he's continuing to develop more leaders. I'm telling you, that's what it's all about. You know, sometimes when we think about leaders, we think about the quintessential big idea person, the Steve Jobs visionary type, who's always dreaming up the next big thing. We think about the execution person, the one who's going to rally the troops and get things done. But I hope this conversation with Brian shows you that you don't have to be one or the other. Brian has found his own compass. What he does is he looks for the right ideas, and then focuses on executing them. And he sees that as the key to the overall success at Chipotle. He doesn't have to come up with every idea. And he knows that he's not going to be the one that's going to execute the idea. But he knows he's got to bring it all together as a leader in some way, shape, or form. And that's a powerful takeaway for anybody who wants to be a better leader. This week, I want you to take a look at the way ideas in your organization or on your team turn into reality. What's the process? What kind of structure do you have to find and test and implement those ideas? Take a quick assessment. And I bet you'll find a few opportunities to improve the way you turn ideas into reality. So do you want to know how leaders lead what we learned today is the great leaders follow through on the right ideas. Coming up next on how leaders lead is DAN HURLEY, the head men's basketball coach of the UConn Huskies who in case you forgot, or the reigning NCAA chance. The

Dan Hurley 55:58

secret sauce for us is how hard we practice and how intense the environment is. We try to make our our practice sessions chaotic. There's no fouls called there's no water breaks, it is the most intense and the fastest paced thing and the most stressful experience that our players will go through. So I think when they show up on game night, the secret sauce is Game Night feels a little bit slower, and a little bit more comfortable.

David Novak 56:24

So be sure to come back again next week to hear our entire conversation. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of how leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can apply to your business so that you will become the best leader you can be

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