How bakery business leaders can play offense and find purpose

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How bakery business leaders can play offense and find purpose

29 Mar 2021

Jordan Winter

Jordan Winter is a journalist who wants to learn more and teach others about the world through storytelling. Dedicated to positive social change, her reporting is informed by years of experience writing, designing, and producing multimedia content for mission-driven publications and nonprofits.

As the creative director for Commercial Baking, Jordan is bringing life to the stories of diversity and sustainability in the commercial baking industry.

WASHINGTON, DC —There is a wide range of workers who contribute to the success of a commercial bakery, from the plant floor to the c-suite. With so many employees, executives face the challenge of keeping this engine running and cultivating a team culture, which can be vital for the success of their business.

According to Gallup, roughly seven out of 10 employees are disengaged in the US workforce today. This costs businesses productivity, performance and profit, with a $500 billion annual impact nationwide. But effective leaders can flip this number on its head, according to Paul Epstein, an organizational culture expert and founder of the leadership consultancy Purpose Labs.

“It takes a village,” Epstein said. “Every single person on our team makes the difference between winning and losing. As leaders, we need to set that tone for not just the star quarterbacks, but also the long snappers.”

During his ABA session, Epstein provided baking executives with a roadmap to transform their leadership style. Here are the top three tips from his book, The Power of Playing Offense: A Leader’s Playbook for Personal and Team Transformation.

Live with championship purpose. Purpose is the foundation of a leadership mindset. It means believing in the “why” of the organization and feeling like a part of something bigger than oneself.

“Purpose will keep you on the treadmill of life, especially on the days you want to get off,” Epstein said.

While purpose can provide deep, intrinsic motivation for leaders, it also takes intentional work to cultivate. After taking a careful self-inventory of their purpose and values, leaders can align their inner and outer selves to become more authentic.

“Choose one value — whether that’s ambition, community, compassion or growth — and make one bold decision in the next seven days based on the word you choose. Put it into action by asking yourself, ‘How am I going to exemplify this value today?’ Then do it again the next day,” he said.

Be the storm chaser. Life is full of adversity, but leaders see these moments as opportunities for learning and growth.

“We study the past to inform the present and prepare for the future,” Epstein said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a case study in resilience. By analyzing difficult moments in the past — and understanding the pressure points and innovations that resulted from them — executives can prepare to overcome adversity in the future. By remembering that they’ve been here before, leaders can navigate even the most difficult times with a cool head … and bring their teams with them.

Salute the long snapper. Epstein says everyone knows at least one long snapper. These are the people who do 99 things right and not hear anything about it, but if they do one thing wrong, they never hear the end of it.

In playing offense, leaders uplift the long snappers. According to Epstein, this is a powerful way to tap into the full amount of these employees’ strengths and talents because they feel like they have a seat at the table.

“It takes a village,” Epstein said. “Every single person on our team makes the difference between winning and losing. As leaders, we need to set that tone for not just the star quarterbacks but also the long snappers.”

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