Andy Pearson Finds Love

Pearson's mission was manifest: to refine the new soul of this old machine into something rigorous, systematic, and shrewd -- without destroying the generosity and warmth at the heart of it. The awe that he felt eventually became a profound respect for Novak's achievement. For Pearson, Novak has become something of a guru over "soft-side" issues, just as Pearson remains Novak's mentor on the "hard side."

This change of heart for Pearson -- this stance of humility as a management style -- became immediately apparent to everyone around him. Those who already knew him saw the transformation right away. Pearson had always been known as the quickest study around; he could learn a lesson in a matter of seconds. But he used his mental quickness as a weapon to see through the faulty logic of the people who reported to him, enabling him to prove how smart he was -- particularly compared with them.

"I proved that I was smart by finding fault with other people's ideas," Pearson says. "I remember bringing one of our market-research women to tears because I told her that the information she was gathering wasn't producing anything. I could just see the breath come out of her. I realized that in today's world, you can't treat people that way. First, people have so many more options than they used to. They can leave -- and you can't find more talent just by turning over the next log. Second, that kind of treatment demoralizes people. I don't think that woman was ever the same. If you're not careful, you might discard a very good person. There are a lot of ways to ask tough questions without killing somebody." The result of Pearson's new awareness: "I think I've gone from making my way by trying to be the smartest guy in the room to just asking questions and insisting that the answers be reasonable and logical."

Aylwin Lewis, Tricon's chief operating officer, started working with Pearson three years ago, before the new Andy had completely emerged. He's the first to point out that, even after his change of heart, Pearson has lost none of his business acumen -- nor his ability to be blunt. But the old Andy was often known to be, well, a little too blunt.

"I used to read his stuff in the Harvard Business Review," Lewis says. "But Tricon was the first time I had personal contact with him. He was brutal. He'd just beat the crap out of us. I remember one time he told us, 'A room full of monkeys could do better than this!' That was only three years ago."

Pearson had a powerful influence in Lewis's own career development. Lewis had become disgruntled with the way that Tricon was working. He felt overlooked. And although he believed that he was totally committed to the company, others saw only his discontent.

"He was constantly threatening to leave," Pearson says. "One day we were driving from one store to another, and I told him, 'The problem I've got with you is that if something happened to you and you died, I don't think I could get two people in top management to carry your casket. We all want you to succeed. But you're making it impossible.' He asked me why. I told him, 'You don't come to meetings, and you're constantly bitching.' That was a year and a half ago. Now he is the most productive guy we have in top management."

In retrospect, it may sound like a throwaway line. But in fact, the key sentence that Pearson said to Lewis was, "We all want you to succeed." When he said it, Pearson felt it -- and Lewis knew it. Pearson may have been blunt, but he was reaching out to Lewis to help him, rather than to browbeat him.

Later, when they were by themselves, Lewis approached Pearson with a few words: "Andy, you changed my life."

Letters That Bring Tears

Pearson's new leadership style is more than a way of relating to people. It involves the nuts and bolts of what he does from day to day, the processes that define the company's operations. Where before, Pearson would have dealt with only a small team of direct reports, he now seeks contact with people at all levels. It's his responsibility to motivate people across the company. He now believes that it's less important to issue orders than it is to seek answers and ideas from below. His job is to listen to the people who work for him and to serve them. He believes in firing those who don't perform. But more important, he's committed to making a strenuous effort to find a proper place for the talented ones who, for whatever reason, aren't living up to their potential.

"My old mantra was to influence the direction and behavior of a relatively small circle of direct reports," Pearson says. Now he and Novak move their values and ideas across the organization through programs such as CHAMPS, which rewards employees for recognizing the best practices of fellow workers, and through regular visits to the restaurants, during which they study those practices and reward people for good work.