Translation: If you want to be a leader at Waffle House, don’t expect to sit behind your desk with your clipboard in hand and tell people what’s going well and what isn’t. Instead, expect to go out onto the floor and talk with them while you help set up the commissary, pick up trash from the parking lot, make sure the bathrooms are spanking clean or take care of the folks sitting at the counter.
Thornton’s busy hands approach to leading from the front skyrocketed him through the ranks of Waffle House, leaving behind a record of tremendous growth—Waffle House is now 2,000 “markets” strong—and even a popular dish named after him. That’s right, each of the 11 million bowls of Bert’s Chili served annually is named for Thornton, who came up with the recipe when Waffle House moved into Texas in the 1980s.
Thornton authored two books and speaks around the country teaching leaders how to get their employees to think like owners. So grab a bowl of chili and a notepad because this episode is smothered, covered, and chunked with great content!
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