In a recent New York Times interview, Jane Rosenthal (Executive Chair of Tribeca Films) discussed a leadership approach to running a business. It’s one familiar to New Mexico food service industry professionals and restaurateurs. Jane’s business savvy comes directly from her roots as member of a family business. Her parents owned and operated a cleaning equipment company which supplied the industry. This background gave her a unique perspective.
Understanding from personal experience the long hours, commitment, and perseverance needed to succeed, she also discovered a management strategy that served her well. It is the basis of her leadership style as an executive chair.
Her personal managerial style is simple and straightforward:
- Take a hands-off approach with your employees, and allow your managers and staff room to master what’s needed and find their own recipe to shine.
- Be present, watch, pay attention and notice the small things.
- When things go wrong, respond directly, quickly, and support staff in troubleshooting.
- When in troubleshooting mode, gather as much information for all the players as to what happened, how it happened and solicit everyone’s best thinking as to how to fix it, and move forward with an improved process.
- Take the time to really get to know potential employees.
- Be visionary about what you want from staff, and use your time interviewing to see if someone is a good fit for that vision.
For a closer look into Jane’s management style and how she builds success, check out the rest of the article from the New York Times.
