My Top 10 lessons from Joe of Trader Joe's
I love reading biographies because it's like watching game tape of the best and the climb they had to take to attain high achievement and maximize their God given potential.
Here are my top 10 lessons from Joe Coulumbe's autobiography, Becoming Trader Joe, on his climb to building my favorite grocery store: TRADER JOE'S!
COMPENSATION - "This is the most important single business decision I ever made: to pay people well."
COMPENSATION AGAIN - "All of the full-timers were so well paid… the attraction of promotion was not as great as in the typical chain where the only guy who makes money is the manager."
ADAPT - Trader Joe's was started out of necessity. Joe used to run 30 gas stations ("Prontos") but adapted his business and focus to grocery stores because 7-Eleven business model was going to destroy him.
MACRO Trends - Joe saw a trend of educated & well-travelled going into the future:
1960s GI Bill of Rights increased college attendance
1970s Boeing 747s was increasing international travel… so he saw an opportunity to provide a grocery store for well educated & adventurous folks seeking diverse foods
TRANSPARENCY - Joe swiped an idea from General Patton: "the greatest danger was not that the enemy would learn his plans, but that his own troops would not." Over communicate!
FOSTER WORD OF MOUTH - "There's no better business to run than a cult."
CORE STRATEGY - "The keys to management are strong locations with good people."
QUALITY OF PEOPLE OVER PROCESS - "the quality of the people recruited and retained, so dominates the way the stores were run that I might close the discussion here."
MORALE - "encouraging social gatherings is often an essential ingredient in maintaining good-great-morale."
FRONTLINE HAS THE ANSWER - "any troubled company the people at lower levels know what ought to be done…. If you just ask them, you can find the answers."
Consistent themes of treating people with dignity throughout Joe's journey of building a world-class organization.
It's always refreshing to read the story of great companies because nothing is an overnight success.
It takes time.
It takes diligence.
It takes a relentless optimism for a better tomorrow.
Onward,
Matt