Baking Leadership Pie
By Scott Wise
President/CEO of Pots & Pans Production, the parent company for Scotty’s Brewhouse, Scotty’s Lakehouse and Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company
“You are a college town bar that will never make it in Indianapolis.”
Those words echoed in my head as I read them on the piece of paper that a loan officer anonymously typed and sent to me in 2006. Five years later, we have four locations in Indianapolis and the one that “would never make it” has led our company in sales and profit for the past five years.
Have you ever tried to tell a “Type A”, driven, entrepreneurial leader that he or she can’t do something? Smile here.
A memory that I will never forget from childhood was a conversation with my father. It went like this:
Me: “Dad, you can’t do that.”
Dad: “I can do anything if I put my mind to it and work hard. I may not be the smartest person in the contest, but I’ll always outwork the competition.”
Me: “Well, you can’t fly.”
Dad: “I sure can, I can build wings and jump off a cliff into an ocean and I’ll be flying…”
This scenario went on for, what I remember at the time, as long as I could try and come up with a scenario where he could not do something. You guessed it; he always could and told me how he would succeed.
Funny, I never really got the point of the story until later in life when I realized what he was trying to teach me. We don’t know the words “can’t”, “never”, “doesn’t work”, etc. We only see opportunities for success, not problems or excuses. I believe this is how a leader must perceive many situations.
The formula for success and leadership is a complicated one. One part inherent, one part learned, one part suffering from mistakes made, one part passion, one part ability to speak, motivate and direct towards a common goal and two parts hard work. Mix and bake at 98.6 degrees.
As with most successful leaders, there is often a moment of failure that helped shape and mold that person. I believe my story is still being written and I have had successes; but, I don’t want to say I am a “great leader.” I too have faced adversity, lost over $1 million dollars in my second restaurant opening and used those lessons to make me a better leader. At the root of all that failure is a dark place to which I never want to return. It is hard to appreciate the sweet taste of success without having the sour flavor of failure in your past.
So, what is my lesson that can help teach someone to become a future successful leader? No, don’t go out and purposely try to fail because Scotty said it would help you become a better leader. No need to search for that dark angel, I think it is a lifelong game of hide-and-seek.
My advice for a future leader is to do what I truly believe is at the heart and core of my success. I have surrounded myself with a team of individuals that are driven, smarter than me in their area of expertise and loyal to our dreams and aspirations of success. I may be the bonding glue for all the moving pieces, but I am only one individual. I can inspire, I can lead, I can develop, but I am only one man. And, to be truly successful, I believe it “takes a village.”
Show loyalty and respect to those around you and they will lift you up on their shoulders. This is the secret to a successful leader.
Scott Wise is the President/CEO of Pots & Pans Production, the parent management company for Scotty’s Brewhouse, Scotty’s Lakehouse and Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company. Scotty (as he was called by his late grandfather) is a family man, married to wife Amy with three children: Slater (4), twins Lincoln (2) and Vaughn (2). He likes to joke that his restaurant concept was born out of selfish reasons and continues to thrive and grow today for those same reasons. He says he is the average Joe American male. He likes beer, sports, wings and a “trendy scene” where it is fun to see and be seen. Combine these “likes” and you will find the ingredients that make up Wise’s restaurant companies. He is known for progressive and intuitive social media marketing tactics and his companies’ profound ability to communicate with their customers. In addition, he is known as a community philanthropist, consistentl y giving time, effort, food and funding to those in need in every city his restaurants reside Wise is a member of the Indiana Restaurant Association Board of Directors and Strategic Alliance Council for Purdue University’s Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management. His awards include West Point Financial Blue Chip Award Winner, Indiana Business Journal’s Forty Under 40, Indiana Restaurant Association Restaurateur of the Year (2009) and Dad's Inc. Father of the Year (2010).
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