- When Kelli Valade turned CEO of Denny’s, she didn’t stroll in with a five-point plan—she introduced a pocket book. The previous Purple Lobster chief at all times begins a brand new gig by asking workers and diners what’s value conserving and what wants to alter. “If you ask enough times and just wait for the answers, the real stuff does come out.”
First day on the job? Don’t are available sizzling—simply come hungry to pay attention. That’s, no less than, in response to Denny’s CEO Kelli Valade.
The 55-year-old turned head of the over 1600-location sturdy diner chain in 2022 and her first order of enterprise was asking her new workforce a sequence of specific questions. They usually’re the very same ones that she requested staff when she took high jobs at Purple Lobster and Chili’s.
“(What) I always do with a new assignment is walk around with a little journal and start asking people the same questions. What’s it like around here? What do you love about it here? What would make it even better here? What’s sacred here?” Valade advised Nation’s Restaurant Information.
“Those same questions really get to this underpinning of what the culture’s really like. And if you ask enough times and just wait for the answers, the real stuff does come out.”
On the time of her arrival, Denny’s had a powerful stability sheet, however Valade mentioned the “hangover” of the earlier lockdown-filled pandemic years emphasised a good larger have to suppose exterior of the field and be curious—one thing that she’s embodied all through her profession.
“Maybe don’t color inside the lines, maybe don’t wait to be asked for something. Maybe just say, ‘I think I can help.’ What’s the worst that can happen?” she added.
Fortune reached out to Valade for remark.
Success is discovered on a two-way avenue
Whereas asking questions is essential to achieve enterprise, what’s simply as essential, Valade mentioned, is having the ability to really pay attention and settle for suggestions—even when it’s one thing that’s onerous to swallow.
“Emotional intelligence is as strong as any other intelligence, and that has served me well,” Valade mentioned. “If people have given me feedback—and I’ve gotten a lot and I’m a work in progress—listen to that feedback. React. Be appreciative of it. And use it to your advantage and move forward.”
This philosophy has served Valade properly all through her profession as she’s climbed the ranks within the restaurant trade. Her earlier stints embrace model president of Chili’s and CEO of Purple Lobster earlier than becoming a member of Denny’s.
And whereas some enterprise leaders could also be useless set on a job title or wage of their profession, she inspired younger folks to as an alternative discover a pathway that actually sparks a ardour.
“I often say you have to be true to yourself. You have to find a product that you love, or a story or dream that you can really associate with, that really hits home for you,” she mentioned to NRN.
Denny’s creation of a tech chief
Denny’s could also be identified for its breakfast Grand Slams, however for one tech CEO, the corporate means an entire lot extra.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s first-ever job was working as a dishwasher at a Denny’s when he was simply 15 years previous:
“I planned my work. I was organized. I was mise en place,” Huang advised college students at Stanford’s Graduate College of Enterprise final 12 months. “I washed the living daylights out of those dishes.”
And with a web value of some $119 billion, he mentioned his expertise at Denny’s helped spotlight the significance of getting a powerful work ethic, irrespective of the job.
“No task is beneath me,” Huang mentioned. “I used to be a dishwasher. I used to clean toilets. I cleaned a lot of toilets. I’ve cleaned more toilets than all of you combined. And some of them you just can’t unsee.”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
