Getting ahead doesn’t require pretending to be a jack of all trades—the strength of a manager is in recognizing what they don’t know, says Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant.
Tresvant, who previously held management positions Nike and Sports Illustrated, who was promoted to the top job at Taco Bell in January after just three years Hum! Brands chain He became a pioneer when he appointed the first Black CEO Mexican inspired fast food to run dining room
As a first-time CEO with a background primarily in marketing, Tresvant shared some leadership tips that empowered him to tackle his new job head-on.
“The best advice I got when I went from chief brand officer to CEO was don’t try to be a black belt in everything,” Tresvant said on the LinkedIn podcast. This is working with Daniel Rothhe added that it was the “biggest surprise” during the leadership transition.
From then on, instead of trying to be an expert in everything, it became his guiding ethos: “Be a black belt in marketing and be a brown belt in everything else.”
Good leaders help their employees do what they do best
If the first step for new leaders is to admit they don’t know everything, the second is to go to those who have the answers. It’s all about “asking the right questions” and doing what you can to “help your team,” Tresvant said.
Knowing his strengths and weaknesses and reaching out to those with different skill sets has smoothed Tresvant’s transition into his new role. “I think it helped me be successful in the beginning because I’m not trying to be everything,” he said. “I understand I’m not the CFO, but I have a great CFO who can run the business.”
Asked if it’s hard to admit he doesn’t have all the answers, Tresvant said he’s “great leadership,” adding that teams really suffer when leaders “try to be everything to everyone and try to be a little too micro. They don’t empower their teams to lead.”
He’s not the first executive to admit that his true use lies in putting together a talented team and then getting off track.
As Beth Ford, CEO of Land O’Lakes explains, letting go of one’s ego is essential to success in business. “Successful people understand at a deep level that they don’t know everything, and have the humility and courage to ask someone else for help or input,” he said. CNBC’s Make It in the year 2022
“Always be a student” Exelon The CEO echoed that luck. “Always surround yourself with people who are more talented and smarter than you and learn from them.”
In fact, micromanaging tends to backfire on bosses in the long run. Too tight control saps employee morale, disempowers them, and wastes a manager’s time and energy, writes psychologist Mark Travers. Forbes. It’s a lose-lose situation, in other words. And Tresvant seems to recognize that.
“I try to be a leader who understands what I’m good at, but also understands what other people are good at and makes sure I give them room to be great,” Tresvant concluded.
