Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 14

Grow Market Lead

wiches, shakes, and fries, freshly prepared, served fast, and at a great value,
and also is the only national sandwich
brand that offers drive-thru service.
The ability to handle such a complex
product offering consistently and efficiently across 3,400 units globally is
a big competitive advantage, one that
he says the brand intends to continue
to build on going forward.
There’s been an active revitalization
going on at Arby’s (see Franchise Update,
Issue IV 2012, p. 18; and Issue I 2013,
p. 14). Arby’s has had 10 consecutive
quarters of positive same-store sales.
Since 2005, the brand has opened an
average of 85 stores per year globally.
And midway through 2013, the brand
has future development commitments
for 177 new units (109 U.S., 3 Canada,
and 65 international); all are signed
commitments and scheduled to open
by 2022.
“We seek out franchisees with high
expectations who want to play to win,
every day. We have such an exciting,
iconic brand. It’s important that our
franchisees share that enthusiasm,” says
Brown, who is excited to join the team
at Arby’s. Some of the brand’s franchisees have been with the brand more
than four decades, demonstrating the
kind of loyalty and passion that he sees
as fundamental to sustaining growth.

At Arby’s,
our team members
live our culture
every day.
Our brand values
shine through in
our restaurants,
and we plan to
continue to build
on this amazing
culture.

your office to front-line employees?

me a breadth of experiences working
with businesses with various needs.
I would describe my leadership style
as adaptive, thoughtful, decisive, and
analytical. I believe it’s important to
take time and get to know the business—its customers, employees, and
all other major stakeholders. I feel it is
important to be thoughtful and listen
as a leader, as a “one-size-fits-all” approach does not work in business and
leading others. I like to work hard to
get to know the members of my team
and understand how they would like to
be led and understand their working
style. Different groups have different
needs and everyone doesn’t want to be
managed the same way.

foundational skill set. However, nothing
can substitute for on-the-job learning
about leadership.

LEADERSHIP
What is your role as CEO? My goal

is to lead Arby’s through its continued
revitalization, building on our currently
strong sales performance and momentum and helping the company and our
franchisees realize the full potential of
the Arby’s brand. My objective is to also
work collaboratively with franchisees and
Arby’s leadership to enhance the company’s culture, systems, and processes to
further innovate Arby’s product offerings, improve the customer experience,
and achieve strong financial results for
all stakeholders.
Describe your leadership style. I

have worked in a wide variety of global
industries, including high-tech, consulting, and hospitality. These have given

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What has inspired your leadership
style? Trial and error has certainly been

a factor. It is the benefit of a relatively
long and varied career. I think because
I have worked for some great leaders in
various cultures and situations, I am able
to apply those lessons learned along the
way as best practices in leadership—for
example, my time leading Hilton’s efforts to build the strongest portfolio of
brands in the hotel sector and helping
Expedia maintain fast-paced marketing and branding efforts to stay ahead
of the competition. Each of these experiences provided valuable lessons in
leadership that will be applied to help
Arby’s with our goal to win every day
with our customers.
How do you transmit your culture from

It all starts with talking about culture
with front-line employees and making
it a routine topic of discussion. Keeping
the subject of culture top-of-mind and
truly “living” your culture day in and
day out keeps your culture strong and
vital. At Arby’s, our team members live
our culture every