The Director's Chair
Companies Have To Be Disciplined About Articulating Their Values In Simple Language
The Director's Chair
Dave Goebel, chairman of Jack in the Box and director at iOR Partners, Wingstop Restaurants, and Murphy USA, shares timely insights in this The Director’s Chair interview.
Reimer: With all the relentless disruption in the world, how do you, as a board member, help the company stay focused on the longer-range goals while also dealing with the shorter-term challenges and issues?
Goebel: One approach is to appoint a person or a small group to focus on the challenge of the moment so that the broader board and leadership team, who are charged with clarifying and executing the strategy, can stay focused and not get distracted. That way, the smaller group can step in when appropriate to let the board know about relevant issues or developments. It’s really a matter of saying, let’s deal with the crosswinds over on a smaller, parallel path, so that the board doesn’t get itself all wrapped up in the news of the moment.
With everything that’s going on, it’s so important to spend time on the agenda ahead of any board meeting. Different board members inevitably are more concerned about different issues that might get in the way of our success and execution. In my role as lead director, I’ll go a little deeper with each board member to understand what they think might be missing from our proposed agenda.
Bryant: Another big leadership challenge right now is creating a sense of “us” inside an organization at a time when the broader world is so polarized. How do you think about that?
Goebel: Companies have to be disciplined about articulating their cultural values in very simple language so that they can cascade the message down through the organization. When you do that well, it creates a kind of shield around the organization to say, in effect, let’s not be distracted by anything that is contrary to who we want to be in terms of the way we treat each other.
I work with a hospitality company that used a few sentences to describe each of their cultural values. But the CEO and his team spent time figuring out how to capture the meaning of each value in a short phrase. One of them, for example, is “sweep the floor,” which is a reminder that nobody in the organization is too good to do any job there. It’s about making the ideas more tangible so people can feel them. They know what they mean when they go to work.
Reimer: Given all the risk that directors face now, why should anybody want to be a director?
Goebel: It’s always a simple answer for me. It’s the affection for the brand and the quality of the people I sit with in the room. The challenges of being a director are healthy challenges. The risk has always been there to some extent. It’s got a few more exclamation points behind it these days. But if you’re doing your job well, it shouldn’t be something that keeps you up at night.
Bryant: What advice would you give to an audience of first-time directors?
Goebel: This is a bit tactical, but I always encourage new directors, as they think about participating on various committees, to think about joining the audit committee. That will help them come up to speed quickly on the company because they see the whole landscape. It’s a wonderful way to quickly learn all the elements of the organization, including the challenges, the risks, and the financials.
The other thing I would say is that if you haven’t spent time in the business, make time for that. Most boards afford new board members not just the orientation and onboarding at the corporate office, but also the opportunity to go out and be in the business to really understand it from the ground level up. I strongly encourage that. Spend time with the people who are serving the customer, regardless of the business you’re in.
Reimer: You’ve experienced dealing with an activist both as a CEO and as a director. What did you learn from that?
Goebel: I’ve seen directors have two very different reactions when an activist focuses on their company. The more responsible, astute board members will see it as a time for the company to listen, and for the leadership to be asking themselves the same very difficult questions that the activist is asking. And then there is another group of directors who became immediately frightened and concerned about their reputation, and so they didn’t really care to engage in the learning process inside. They assumed from the start that the activists were bad people.
What I learned is that the best way to avoid attracting the interest of activists is to be your own activist and ask the same hard questions that an outsider would. Directors need to engage and be good listeners. Some of the ideas you will hear from outsiders may feel contrary to what you’re doing for the shareholder. But others could be very insightful. So be thoughtful. Be patient, listen, engage, and recognize that activists are not necessarily bad people.
Bryant: What were key early influences that shaped who you are and your approach to leadership?
Goebel: I went to a Catholic university in South Bend, Indiana—Notre Dame—on an academic scholarship. I decided that I was such a superstar at baseball in high school that I should play baseball at the university, as well. So I tried to join the team as a walk-on. During the fifth practice, the head coach came to me and said, “Son, you’re never going to play baseball in college.” I was a left-handed pitcher, and he said: “Your fastball’s not that fast, and I can see your curve coming from way over there.”
I was temporarily devastated until his assistant coach came over and said, “Dave, you really would like to play here, wouldn’t you?” And I said, “Yes, sir.” He said, “For a pitcher, you’re a pretty good hitter, and you’re fast. Would you be interested in trying center field?” I said, “I’ll try whatever you would like me to try.”
After many practices, I ultimately made the team as a center fielder. I didn’t play a lot, but that experience taught me to never be discouraged, even if someone tells you that you don’t have what it takes. There’s nothing you can’t do if you put your mind to it and if you work hard enough at it.
Reimer: What do you consider the hardest part of leadership?
Goebel: The hardest part is finding the balance for tough love between absolute accountability and relationship-building. When leaders can do that, their people will run through walls for them. I see a lot of leaders struggle because they’re tilted too far on one side or the other. They worry that will disappoint their people if they give them tough love, and that their team will think less of them. And I’ve seen others that are weighted too heavily on the other side, and they don’t have any soft touch at all. It’s a difficult balance.