The Link Between Leadership Success

A skilled senior executive in New York, Ian Shehaiber most recently served as the regional director of operations for Chipotle Mexican Grill. In this capacity, he provided strategic leadership for over 60 stores in Long Island and New York City. Dedicated to health and wellness, Ian Shehaiber is a firm believer that a sound body leads to a sound mind, and that exercise is particularly important for leaders of all kinds.

Leaders often put others first to the detriment of their own well-being. This leaves them vulnerable to stress and negatively impacts long-term success. Regular exercise fights against this. Not only does it reduce stress, but it also lowers cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, and improves immunity and quality of sleep.

In response to these positive benefits of exercise, the body functions more efficiently. Leaders who sleep better are more effective during the day. This is because lack of sleep makes certain tasks feel harder. This means that those who skip exercise not only lack energy because of poor sleep, but they feel as if certain daily tasks require more energy. In addition, exercise helps leaders better cope with the demands of their job, while the decrease in stress frees up their brain for critical work.

Since leaders are busy, finding time to exercise is challenging. However, short multiple bursts of intensive activity benefit the body just as much as longer routines. Something as simple as three 5 to 10-minute workouts a day are plenty for combating the stresses and other issues associated with leading a company or organization.

Chipotle Announces Grants to Support

As regional director of operations for Chipotle Mexican Grill, Ian Shehaiber oversaw 61 restaurants and more than 1,500 employees for the fast casual dining franchise in New York City and Long Island. During his tenure, he had responsibility for increasing revenue and profitability, reducing costs, and advancing a customer-focused culture. In addition, Ian Shehaiber was involved in cultivating leadership among the company’s employees.

As a part of an overall effort to develop leadership in the community, Chipotle Mexican Grill announced its intention to award grants to support youth change makers. These grants are a collaboration with musician Shawn Mendes through the Shawn Mendes Foundation.

Through the campaign, the restaurant introduced the Shawn Mendes bowl comprised of ciliantro-lime cauliflower rice, chicken, black beans, roasted chili-corn salsa, romaine lettuce, and guacamole for a limited time. Each time a patron purchases a bowl, Chipotle will donate $1 to the Shawn Mendes Foundation in support of change makers.

The campaign also includes the Wonder Grants, awarded through Chipotle and Shawn Mendes. These grants will go toward supporting change makers focused on sustainability with great ideas but little funds to launch a venture. The awards can encompass a number of disciplines such as music, education, environment, and technology.

Training and Motivating Employees in a Retail Setting

With a background as a regional director of operations at Chipotle, Ian Shehaiber has a proven track record in establishing effective operations processes. One aspect of the equation that Ian Shehaiber emphasizes is developing and retaining core talent within dynamic, customer-focused retail environments.

This is accomplished through a combination of onboarding and training that emphasizes one-on-one communication and follow-up, as well as long-term skills development. With studies showing an average time frame of eight months from hire to full productivity, ongoing support is essential. This involves investing in peer-level mentoring, as well as periodic managerial oversight. As new team members progress to milestones, they should receive recognition, as well as incentives and resources to upskill, or elevate, their retailing knowledge.

Ideally, this process is flexibly designed to allow for participant feedback and managerial insight, and the elimination or addition of training plan elements as the employees progress. For larger organizations, some type of “Passport Program” is recommended for hires who demonstrate motivation and potential in the early going. This allows them to cross-train between positions and departments, and gain a fuller understanding of communication styles and promotion possibilities within the company. The end result is less time and money spent on the intensive recruiting and training process, and more on productively growing the business.