571: Jim Keyes - Legendary CEO of 7-Eleven & Blockbuster Shares How To Get Promoted, Turn a Business Around, Learn From Failure, & Why Education Is Freedom

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Ryan Hawk

Careers, Management, Business

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2024

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you want to live in alignment with your purpose and values? Read our new book, The Score That Matters

https://amzn.to/3Igx1Ue

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Notes on my conversation with former CEO of 7-Eleven and Blockbuster, Jim Keyes:

From adversity to the stars. Per ardua ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "through adversity to the stars.” Adversity is your advantage. The tough moments you’re going through will help you be stronger long term. This is a useful mindset shift.
- "Adversity is an advantage."
How did Jim get hired the first time and continually get promoted?
- He told the truth.
- He was unafraid to tell it like it really was. No fluffy language. He got right to it and let them know how he could help them.
- He focused on THEM, not him. They don’t care about why you think you deserve the job. They care about their company and if you’ll be able to help solve their problems. Focus on them, their issues, and how you can help them. That’s what Jim has done his entire career.
The C-Suite Learnings
- What – Change, Confidence, Clarity
- How - Critical thinking (ask why), curiosity, and creativity (have fun)
- Why - Collaboration, Culture literacy (learn from others experiences), and character
Jim became one of the youngest managers in this history of McDonald's.
"The only one that likes change is a wet baby. Change is reality. Change equals opportunity."
- CEO = "Change Equals Opportunity."
Confidence is all about preparation. The more you prepare, the more confident you'll be.
Clarity and Simplicity. "The hardest thing in the world is to keep things simple."
- "True elegance is in simplicity."
- "I can't lead if you can't understand. So, it's up to me to keep things simple and clear."
Nelson Mandela once said, “I never lose…I win, or I learn.”
"There are three prerequisites to a successful business transformation in the face of change: cash management, confidence, and collaboration. Managing cash flow is, by far, the most important but maintaining sufficient cash requires confidence and collaboration."

Transcript

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0:00.0	Warren Buffett said, would you rather be sitting on the bench or in the game?
0:04.4	CFO, COO, COO, CEA, Cames, Cees, CEO of 7-Eleven.
0:09.3	Chairman and CEO Jim Keys.
0:11.5	Oh, no, it's awesome. I mean, you can't even imagine the rumor that Blockbuster
0:15.7	turned down Netflix. Very free in those moments or am I seeing this wrong? How do you
0:20.1	go from intern to the CEO of 7-11?
0:23.2	What is the C-suite of learning?
0:24.5	What an advantage that adversity was.
0:27.3	It's how we respond to change that matters.
0:29.4	So there's a really important lesson there.
0:40.0	Welcome to the Learning Leader Show presented by Insight Global. I am your host Ryan Hawk. Thank you so much for being here. Text Hawk to 66866 to become part of Mindful
0:49.5	Monday. You, along with tens of thousands of other learning leaders from all over the world
0:53.9	will receive a carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start
0:59.1	your week off right you'll also receive the first two chapters for my upcoming book, The Score That Matters
1:07.3	for free if you text Hawk to 66866. Now on to tonight's feature leader, Jim Keys, served as CEO of 7-Eleven from 2000 to 2005. And then he became the chairman and CEO of Blockbuster from
1:28.1	2007 to 2011.
1:31.1	Gosh does he have some amazing stories. He's also the author of a new book called
1:35.0	Education is Freedom. The future is in your hands. During this conversation
1:40.8	we discuss the path from intern to CEO and everything that happened
1:47.6	along the way.
1:48.6	Then Jim shares why he sees growing up very poor and without running water as a big advantage.
1:57.0	Then at the end, Jim shares the nine seas of excellent leadership.
	...

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