Todd Reed – Page 29 – Inspired and Intentional Business

Maggie Bayless and Consensus Decision Making

Maggie Bayless and Todd A Reed in front of ZingTrain's Big Board — I had the opportunity to interview Maggie Bayless, Managing Partner of ZingTrain.

In this episode we learn a little about Maggie and her views on why Zingerman’s was such an attractive option for her. We also hear her views on consensus decision making.

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Three questions for you to consider:

1. Maggie talked about believing, as she grew up, that business was inherently a bad thing. What attitudes about work and the workplace does your team bring into the decision making process?

2. Maggie says, “the leadership determines the culture of the organization.” What elements of the culture, in your organization, reflect this principle? Do these elements hurt or help the organization meets it’s goals?

3. What are 3 areas of your business would benefit from more consensus? I would challenge you to find some that would benefit from getting consensus from the most entry level people you have.

I would love to see your answers at one of the many Inspired and Intentional outlets:

You can find show notes, the questions, at inspiredandintentional.com/episode004. While there you can also sign up to be kept up to date on the latest podcasts and happenings in the world of Inspired and Intentional business news.

I can also be reached on Twitter @ToddAReed, on LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/in/toddareed, and on Facebook, search for inspired and intentional.

You can get hold of Maggie by emailing her at mbayless@zingermans.com.

https://twitter.com/ToddAReed

https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddareed

https://www.facebook.com/Inspired-and-Intentional-1658283491074728/

One last favor, reviews and ratings really help other leaders looking for a podcast to inspire them. Please take a moment to review this podcast on iTunes or stitcher. There are links from my website to help you do this.

Next week we’ll get a little insight to Zingerman’s process for developing new managing partners as a way to create opportunities for their emerging leaders.

Thank you for listening and until next week, be inspired and intentional.

Maggie’s Bio

Maggie Bayless is the Managing Partner of ZingTrain (Zingerman’s Training, Inc.).

Maggie has been associated with Zingerman’s since the Deli opened its doors in 1982. Back then, as a student in the University of Michigan’s MBA program, she left at 4:00 AM every Saturday to drive to the Detroit suburbs and collect the bread needed to make the Deli’s world-famous sandwiches. According to Maggie, “After a week of dealing with business theory, it was great to get behind the wheel of the bread truck. I’d spend my day loading and unloading bread, selling cheese, and helping make a brand new business successful. I’d collapse into bed on Saturday night – physically exhausted but ready to face school again on Monday morning.”

In 1994, Maggie decided to partner with her old pals from Zingerman’s, and Zingerman’s Training, Inc. (a.k.a. ZingTrain) was born in Maggie’s attic. ZingTrain acts as “keeper of the corporate knowledge” within the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, helping Zingerman’s managers improve their departmental training. In addition, ZingTrain shares Zingerman’s expertise with outside clients through seminars, consulting services and customized training. ZingTrain’s clients include specialty food retailers, as well as organizations from many other industries, including banking, real estate, health care, manufacturing and non-profits.

ZingTrain moved from Maggie’s attic, now has its own training space, a staff of 9 and sales approaching $2 million/year.

Part 3 of the Ari Weinzweig Interview – Collaboration and Support

This is the third of three episodes with Ari Weinzwieg, co-founding partner of the Zingerman’s community of businesses. Last week he talked about the 3Cs of organizational design. This week he’ll cover collaboration and support.

Zingemrans Deli in Ann Arbor, MI — The deli that started it all for Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw, Zingerman’s.

The four questions
1. Is fear holding you back from sharing more information with your team, suppliers, and customers? Could your organization benefit from being more open?

2. He talked about collaborative decision making. What are some small steps you could take to begin incorporating more collaboration into the leadership of your company? What people could bring different insight to the decisions you’re trying to make?

3. Along those lines of collaboration – he talked about how Paul and He rarely see eye to eye, but what they do share are values and vision. Is your team on the same page around values and vision?

4. Do you have a community of like minded leaders to support you in your journey? Remember, you are not alone in wanting to create a more engaged, collaborative, and open work place.

You can get hold of Ari by emailing him at ari@zingermans.com. You can find show notes, the questions, at http://inspiredandintentional.com/episode003. There you can also sign up to be kept up to date on the latest podcasts and happenings in the world of Inspired and Intentional business news.

One last favor, reviews and ratings really help other leaders looking for a podcast to inspire them. Please take a moment to review this podcast on iTunes or stitcher.

Next week, I start a 3 part series with Maggie Bayless, managing partner of ZingTrain. My time with her will cover topics like consensus (trend), creating new opportunities for your growing people, and the importance of systems. Until then, be inspired and intentional.

Listen to this episode direct in the player below:

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or on iTunes

or now on Stitcher Radio

Podcast 002 Ari Weinzweig Interview Pt 02 The 3 Cs of Organizational Design

This is the second of three episodes with Ari Weinzwieg, co-founding partner of the Zingerman’s community of businesses. Last week he talked about being creative in developing your organization and openness.

Todd Reed and Ari Weinzweig, Cofounder and partner of Zingerman's — Todd Reed and Ari Weinzweig

This week he’ll cover the 3Cs of graphic design and how they fit into organizational design.

Content
Composition
Contrast

Here are a few questions to ponder as you wait for the next episode.

Think about your business in the terms of graphic design – Content, Composition, and Contrast. Remember, it’s not the symptoms, it’s the content of your business – the deeper level soil and root issues that will affect long-term, lasting change. How can you adapt this principle of design into your organization?
That said, you can start big or small – what are some small areas you can begin to affect change in your organization?

You can get hold of Ari by emailing him at ari@zingermans.com.

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Podcast 001 Ari Weinzweig Interview Pt 01 Openness in Business

I was able to spend about 5 hours interviewing 4 Zingerman’s team members live in Ann Arbor, MI in July, 2015. The first was with the man himself, Ari Weinzweig, Co-founding partner of the Zingerman’s Community of businesses.

This community has grown over the last 30 years to include 10 businesses, 750 employees and $55 million in revenue. He’s a manager, a writer, and speaker who loves to share his ideas on raising the energy levels in the workplace, running a more financially solid business, and creating a clear vision that will inspire your teams.

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Podcast #000 Todd Introduces Inspired and Intentional Business to the World

Feels great to get the first episode up for the podcast! In this episode I simply share my history and inspirations around this topic.

Inspirations include:

Ari Weinzweig and his work at Zingerman’s. Specifically you can access their free resources at ZingTrain.

Jack Stack, Open book management coaches, st louis — Jack is the third from the left.

Jack Stack, Founder, President and CEO of SRC Holdings Corporation. His book The Great Game of Business started me down this path (or confirmed beliefs I had before) of looking for a way to involve the whole team in the running of the organization.

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