Mom always told me that things don’t always work the way you want them to, but always look for the best in people. Then you have a better chance at a successful relationship. For me to join Compass Group was by far the biggest turning point in my career. I was in the indus- try 18 years and I felt like the luckiest guy in the world; I got to work with the best in the world: Gary Green, Rudi and Julie Flik, and the entire Compass Group North America executive committee. These are entrepreneurs who have grown their businesses from the ground up. Flik [International] was pur- chased in 1995 and I joined Compass Group September 18, 1997. Flik was about $60 million when it was sold; I came on board at about $90 million and now Flik is over $300 million, operating in 18 states. I had worked for Blakie, Miller & Hines; they were acquired by Trusthouse Forte/Gardner Merchant, then Sodexho purchased Gardner Merchant, so I worked for Sodexho for about a year-and-a-half. During that time I was being courted by Compass. When I signed up for Flik, it was to be Rudi and Julie’s successor. If you want an opportunity to grow, I thought Flik would be it. Now I’m responsible for $5 billion in revenues with about 71,000 associates running that business for me and Compass in the Core Four [see at a glance box]. I started in 1997-98 in leading Flik. Then, in 1999, I was approached to run Eurest Dining; in 2001, I was asked to help grow Restaurant Associates’ B&I sector; in 2006 Gary Green [Compass Group ceo] asked me to take responsibility for healthcare, education, B&I and Canteen. It’s an unbelievable oppor- tunity to have this responsibility. I’m the keeper of the gate to keep these cultures intact while nurturing them at the same time. People join these companies to be part of the culture. We don’t go to market as Compass—we go as the individual companies. How do you do it right, managing this kind of volume? I have the best executive team including Adrian Meredith, my cfo, and Rosemarie Iannibelli, my ad- ministrative assistant. You can’t take the people around you for granted—they keep you going every day. Especially my wife; she puts up with my long hours. She keeps telling me that I say it’s going to get easier. But actually now the kids are getting older, we’re enjoying life more. Out of all the people I’ve worked with in business, the person who inspires me the most—to challenge myself and stay humble—it’s Gary Green. He knows people and he knows business better than anyone I’ve ever worked for. He’s such a humble man (and he’s going to hate that I said that). Taking inspiration from Gary, I’ll continue to remain humble and never take anything for granted. There are no guaran- tees in life. I just think you’ve got to treat people with respect—you’ve got to really mean it. If you don’t mean it, they’ll see right through it. I believe in treating people as people; if you care about them, they’ll care about you. My personal goal is to live life and drive business to reach its highest potential. I don’t think it’s a matter of title. You judge leadership not by how many people you lead. People will follow you ’cause they trust you and care about you. I take people’s problems personally: I make them my problems. We’re in a people business; if you stay out front with your people and your customers, you’ll always be successful.”
CHICAGO AFTER HOLIDAY HOLIDAY PARTY
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