Cheryl A. Bachelder's Blog, page 8

Think Of Yourself Less

The following is an excerpt from Dare to Serve:

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”

Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life

I was once being interviewed for a leadership job in a restaurant company. The interviewer, a senior executive at the company, asked me about my approach to leadership. I said that I developed teams of highly competent people with their ego in check because I believed humility in leaders led to better teamwork and better performanc...

Ladder Up

The following is an excerpt from Dare to Serve:

“A feature of a man’s maturity is responsibility towards other people . . .”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In developing Dare-to-Serve Leaders, I have witnessed another stumbling block – the absence of personal responsibility. If one believes they have been a victim in this life or if they have a propensity to blame others for their problems, they will struggle to serve others well. It’s as if “others” are not even on their radar.

You have witnessed this...

Golden Rule

The following is an excerpt from Dare to Serve:

“Without dignity, identity is erased.”

Laura Hillenbrand,Unbroken

The stories of prisoners of war are both heart-breaking and inspiring. Our hearts break for the horrible things done to prisoners to defeat their dignity. And then we hear the story of the prisoner who was not defeated. Through intense focus, meditation or prayer, exercise, and communicating with other prisoners, the person’s identity was intact. Their d...

A Purpose to Serve

Will having a personal purpose change your life? I believe so. But the bigger and more important question is – will your personal purpose change other people’s lives for the better?

One of our Popeyes franchisees has a purpose “to make at least 10 restaurant leaders millionaires.” I realize this may not sound like a heart-warming personal purpose statement, but this I know for sure: it is not about self, it is about others. For the ten restaurant leaders who become millionaires – their lives...

Time for a Purpose?

A few years ago, I went to see the movie Hugo – the story of a young boy, who loses both parents at a young age, and ends up living with a drunken uncle in the clock tower of the Paris train station.

The child, Hugo, is fascinated with the complexity and mystery of the clockworks and each day he is careful to do keep the clock in meticulous operating condition. Sometimes late at night in the quiet and lonely hours of darkness, Hugo would go to the glass window of the clock tower and peer out...

Talent Match-up

When I was about nine years old, I begged my parents to let me take a gymnastics class. About halfway through the class, my parents came to observe my prowess as a gymnast. I gave it my best – but struggled through the somersault and couldn’t do a cartwheel. On the way out of the gym that night, my father said, “Honey, I don’t think this is your sport.”

You may know that I am very tall. Six feet tall to be exact. And at nine years old, I was certainly taller and more awkward than any aspiring...

Strong & Secure Leaders

A couple of weeks ago my daughter was teaching me how to make a chocolate soufflé. She is amazing in the kitchen – and I am barely functional. As part of my soufflé training, she was explaining to me why you put cream of tartar in the mix instead of baking soda. Apparently cream of tartar is an acidic salt that acts as a stabilizer in recipes which require egg whites – like meringues and soufflés. It keeps the protein, water, and air in the egg whites properly bonded so that the soufflé doesn...

Looking Back. Leading Forward.

Recently I was asked this question: when did you first know that you were a leader?

My answer is too easy. I was the oldest of four children. Babysitting at the tender age of nine is my first memory of leadership responsibility. According to my siblings, I was a bit of a tyrant. But no one got lost or injured during my watch. Well, except for that one time my two-year-old brother split his forehead on the door knob.

Another memory of leadership is from my high school years. I volunteered to h...

Wisdom of the Next Generation

Tuesday afternoon, I spent a couple of hours with fourteen emerging leaders at Popeyes. This is a group of young leaders who have organized themselves to connect with each other and grow their leadership capabilities. They are primarily Millennials who have been with Popeyes in office or field positions for 2-4 years. I was excited to meet with them and see what they would teach me about leadership.

Ahead of the meeting, we read a book called Activate Leadership: Aspen Truths to Empower Mille...

Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

Wallenda does daring tight rope acts – over canyons and cities – while we stand and watch with awe. He is so bold and daring, we watch with terrified anticipation. There is a chance he will fall and die, and there is a chance he will safely make the crossing. The thrill of the daring makes our pulse pound. But few of us want to try crossing the chasm on that tight rope. We’ll leave the crazy dares to Wallenda.

But what about the daring acts in the workplace? Could we be more courageous for th...