Category Archives: Connection Culture

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Having Lost Connection to Work, Nick Sarillo Found Purpose in Pizza

Nick Sarillo lost the feeling of connection to his work when the home construction employer he worked for over 12 years shifted focus from quality and craftsmanship to speed and mediocrity. So Nick did what every self-respecting man of action does. He quit and started his own business where every employee would feel connected to his or her work. Today, Nick’s Pizza & Pub is the 4th busiest independent pizza company in America and it’s the cover story in this month’s Inc magazine. The story is entitled “Lessons from A Blue-Collar Millionaire,” written by Bo Burlingham, one of my favorite writers.

Nick’s Pizza & Pub is a prime example of a business that thrives because its leader is focused on achieving both task excellence and relationship excellence. Just read its purpose and values below:

Nick’s Pizza & Pub
“Pizza on Purpose”®

Our Purpose: “The Nicks Experience”
Our dedicated family provides this community an unforgettable place; to connect with your family and friends, to have fun and to feel at home!

Nick’s Pizza and Pub Values

  • We treat everyone with dignity and respect.
  • We are dedicated to the learning, teaching and ongoing development of each other.
  • We have fun while at work!
  • We provide a clean and safe environment for our guests and team.
  • We honor individual passions and creativity at work and at home.
  • We communicate openly, clearly and honestly.
  • We honor the relationships that connect our team, our guests and community.
  • We take pride in our commitment to provide a quality service and a quality product.
  • We celebrate and reward accomplishments and “A+” players.
  • We support balance between home and work.
  • Health: We are a profitable and fiscally responsible company.  We support the physical and emotional well-being of our guests and team members.
  • Our team works through support and cooperation.

I met Nick and his business partner Chris Adams at The Great Game of Business Conference and Nick attended a presentation Jason Pankau and I gave last Fall at Northwestern University’s Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement.

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Relational Disconnectors Sabotage Themselves and Their Organizations

Here’s an interview of George Cloutier at American Management Services in The New York Times entitled “Fire Your Relatives. Scare Your Employees. And Stop Whining.” This guy is Howell Raines all over again. One of my favorite case studies of poor leadership is Ken Auletta’s magnificent article about Raines leadership as the executive editor of The New York Times entitled “The Howell Doctrine.”

Leaders like Cloutier always end up destroying their organizations like Raines did (he was eventually fired over the Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal).  They may be successful at achieving “task excellence” for a time but eventually the failure to achieve “relationship excellence” sabotages task excellence.  As the legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “ability may get you to the top but it takes character to keep you there.”

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Emotional Resonance, Awe and Action

A New York Times article at this link describes a University of Pennsynvania study that concluded the most emailed Times articles brought about a positive emotional response of awe on the part of readers. That makes sense, doesn’t it? When hearts are moved, people move. I’m not knocking rational content, just recognizing the power of feelings to move people to action. I have learned from experience that I have to reach peoples hearts and minds to bring about change. Unfortunately, so few leadership development and change programs do that.

We are human beings, not human doings. We have feelings, a conscience, hopes and dreams. That’s what I love about my work. This week Jason Pankau and I were speaking at one of America’s largest, most well-respected corporations. The individuals we met came from all around the world and they were visibly moved to action. A woman from outside the US emailed me to say the stories we presented were inspiring and the message would resonate with her colleagues at home. The lesson here is that rational content is essential but if you want action you had better help people FEEL the need to change. Emotional resonance is the music that makes our lives and organizations sing.

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Relationship Failure at Microsoft

An article appearing in The New York Times entitled “Microsoft’s Creative Destruction” makes it clear that the company has big problems stemming from internal rivalries. We teach that organizations that sustainable superior performance = task excellence + relationship experience.  So often organizations die because the failure to achieve relationship excellence sabotages task excellence. Keep that in mind when you read the article and it will become clear that Microsoft is heading down that path.

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Boost Productivity, Innovation: New Program with Linkage

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Jason Pankau and I recently teamed up with Linkage to offer a course on our book, Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion. Creativity and Productivity.  The course includes video with supporting participant and facilitator guides.  Here is a backgrounder on the program entitled Fired Up Leadership to Boost Productivity and Innovation.

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Lifting Spirits In Difficult Times

“The times are difficult. They require courage and faith.” – Thomas Merton

Last Saturday evening, my wife Katie and I attended a gathering to hear about a new artistic collaboration between our friend Rob Mathes and Irish poet Michael O’Siadhail. The evening of conversation, poetry and music brought a dose of truth, beauty and goodness to my day.  It lifted my spirit.

Performing one of the songs with Rob was vocalist James “D-Train” Williams.  Prior to the performance, my friend Ian Cron, catalyst to the Mathes-O’Saidhail collaboration, said a few words about courage and faith during difficult times. As usual, Ian was profound.  He quoted Thomas Merton, whose words are so applicable today.  We need courage and faith to persevere when the future looks threatening, as it does for so many.

During difficult times, we also need truth, beauty and goodness.  When I’ve been working so hard that I go numb, I find that truth, beauty and goodness have a mysterious power to revive me: truth in the form of learning something new and refreshing from a book, an article or a movie;  beauty in music, the theater or nature; and  goodness in a kind, encouraging or helpful outreach to others.

If you are facing difficulties and need to be refreshed, watch Rob Mathes performing for Kathy Lee Gifford on The Today Show, read Ian Cron’s wonderful book Chasing Francis, or reach out to encourage or help a family member or friend in need.  During a difficult time in my life when my beloved Katie was undergoing treatment for advanced ovarian cancer, my family was on the receiving end of a continuous flow of truth, beauty and goodness that I wrote about in an essay entitled Alone No Longer. The essay was published  as an Amazon Short.  I hope reading it will encourage you, too.

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Employee Engagement: Beryl Companies


One of my favorite business books is Paul Spiegelman’s Why Is Everyone Smiling?. Spiegelman is the CEO of Beryl Companies, a call center outsource company for the healthcare industry. On March 24-25 I’ll be moderating a session at the Conference Board’s Customer Experience Management Conference in New York City where Paul will be speaking. You can learn more about the conference at this link. And be sure to check out the above webcast I hosted with Paul.

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Leadership Wisdom: Howard Behar


One of my favorite business books is Howard Behar’s It’s Not About the Coffee. Behar is the former president of Starbucks International and Starbucks North America. On March 24-25 I’ll be moderating a session at the Conference Board’s Customer Experience Management Conference in New York City where Howard will be speaking. You can learn more about the conference at this link. And be sure to check out the above webcast I hosted with Howard.