Dare to Serve

March 30, 2015
Bachelder, CEO of the Popeyes restaurant chain, provides a slim, unsatisfying guide to leading for the good of your employees. After being fired from KFC, Bachelder found herself at a crisis point; soon thereafter, she was offered the position at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. But the job came with its own difficulties, as she immediately faced leadership distrust, employee unhappiness, and a company-wide need for an attitude adjustment. Bachelder proposed a radically new approach: servant leadership, meaning that the company would shift focus from her to the people she was leading. According to the book, this kind of selfless service might be most associated with non-profit and charity work, but it can and should be applied to businesses as well. As Bachelder explains, it did indeed lead to the turnaround of the Popeyes chain; Bachelder goes on to describe the possible benefits for other executives, which include finding a renewed sense of meaning in one's work, clarity of purpose, and improved teamwork. She also makes the case for avoiding the spotlight in favor of letting rank-and-file employees do noteworthy work. All of this is to the good, but ultimately the material feels stretched thin; readers will have to skim and glean the lessons for which they're searching.

April 1, 2015

With high-level experience at companies such as KFC and Domino's Pizza, coupled with stellar stock prices and profit margins at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Bachelder has the credentials for writing about leadership. Characterized in a Restaurant News article as a "modest buttoned up data wonk" who turned out to be a transformative leader, the author speaks at length in the first half of the book about the four pillars guiding Popeyes's turnaround and long-term strategy. Much of her subsequent advice about empowering employees, building consensus, setting ambitious goals, and tying daily work to a higher purpose echoes that of other recent management books. What sets hers apart is an emphasis on "servant leadership," meaning focusing on others instead of self and achieving solid results by being humble, accountable, and modeling personal values at work. Specific tools for assessing accountability, articulating one's "personal purpose," and identifying individual talents in self and subordinates are listed. VERDICT While the chatty storytelling style can be off-putting, quotes from thinkers as various as Nelson Mandela and Helen Keller are interspersed throughout with some 40 reflections meant to move the reader from understanding this management philosophy to implementing it. Recommended for those wishing to explore servant leadership in corporate America.--Elizabeth Wood, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH

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