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Cheryl Bachelder is a passionate restaurant industry executive and former CEO of Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen, where she established a ‘Road Map for Results’ framework which led to a phenomenal improvement in their restaurant and share performance. In 2014, She was certified as an NACD Board Leadership Fellow and has served on several boards of directors, including for Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen, Pier 1 Imports and the International Franchise Association. Cheryl has won many accolades over the course of her career and has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in addition to being recognized as “Leader of the Year” by the Women’s Foodservice Forum, and receiving the Silver Plate Award from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association.
Cheryl joins me today to discuss her approach to leadership and why she favors the servant leadership model to bring out the best in both people and organizations. She shares the experiences that fostered her sense of independence and ingenuity and the lessons she learned from her father about acting with integrity as a business leader. Cheryl also elaborates on the ‘Lead from the Heart’ program she instigated and how that values-based leadership approach helped educate leaders at Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen on the importance of holistic leadership.
“The best mentor is a journal book - you will have many opportunities to witness good leadership and bad leadership so take notes, remember what you heard, and learn, because you are forging your leadership approach.” - Cheryl Bachelder
This week on The Wow Factor:
Cheryl’s college experience and why it brought her closer to her wider family
Why she pivoted in her career choices and how that changed her life
Why her Dad became her most important mentor
The two halves to her career and why she made a switch after having her children
The concepts of value-based leadership and what that looked like at Domino’s Pizza
Why she retired, then came back out of retirement again to be the CEO of Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen
The importance of leaders understanding how to inspire and serve their team
Why Cheryl was inspired to write her book and why she organized it into three distinct categories
How Cheryl came to serve on the board of Chick fil A and her continued love of mentoring future leaders
Cheryl’s Words of Wisdom:
Leaders need to anticipate how the people impacted by a decision will feel and filter ideas through the lens of understanding how to set someone up to achieve success.
Connect with Cheryl Bachelder:
Dare to Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others by Cheryl Bachelder
