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Every day you have a choice. You can wake up and choose to give in to mediocrity and complacency, you can choose bad habits and poor choices, and you can do the bare minimum to get by and fly under the radar. Or you can choose to make today the day that sets you apart from the crowd, you can choose to start doing the right things, the things that will set you up for success. You can choose to create a life that is worth living, worth waking up to, and worth sharing with the world around you. Today You can choose to start with a win.
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Speaker 1
and that demonstrates that collectively, we win together.
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Speaker 1
and I'm convinced that if you can build a culture where people are intellectually curious, they can be authentic, with who they are, that they can accept the intentionality, which sometimes isn't always fun. you're going to have a winning organization
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Speaker 1
Wow. Okay folks, we've had a business masterclass here from Dennis.
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Unknown
Welcome to start with a win where we unpack franchising, leadership and business growth. Let's go.
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Speaker 1
How do you turn a great idea into a thriving nationwide business today and start with a win? We talked to one of the masters of this, Dennis Maple, chairman and CEO of Goddard Systems.
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Speaker 1
And coming to you from start with Win headquarters at area 15 ventures. It's Adam Contos will start with a win in this episode. We're honored to have Dennis Maple as our guest. Dennis is the president and CEO of Goddard Franchisor, and he's the chairman is CEO at Goddard Systems, leading the executive committee and shaping the vision for the Goddard School franchise system.
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Speaker 1
With an extensive career that includes serving as president of First Student and Aramark education, Dennis brings a wealth of experience from additional leadership roles within consumer facing companies that include these powerhouses Quaker Oats Company, PepsiCo, Kraft General Foods Inc., and Coors Brewing Company. A dedicated advocate for education, Dennis is actively involved in organizations supporting primary and secondary schools, and he contributes his expertise as a member of the International Franchise Association's Board of directors, which I'm on.
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Speaker 1
Also, he's also on the Early Care and Education Consortium board of directors and Descartes System Group board of directors. Join us as we dive into Dennis's insights on franchise growth, business leadership, and the keys to a successful and fulfilling life. Let's go. Dennis, welcome to start with a win.
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Speaker 2
Adam, it's a real privilege to be here. Thanks for inviting us.
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Speaker 1
It's my pleasure. So, Dennis, let's just dive right into this. I mean, I love talking leadership in business and in life, because obviously, we have to lead ourselves in order to lead our business. I mean, your career in leadership spans roles in just diverse industries, from education, transportation services to food and facilities management. How have these experiences shaped your approach to leadership, especially in the context of your current role at Goddard Systems?
00:02:31:00 - 00:02:50:17
Speaker 2
Yeah, well, I you know, I think life's a journey. And, I began my career primarily focused on sales and marketing roles. And then I became, engrossed in, operating roles. And I found out very quickly that I while I enjoyed sales marketing, I really enjoyed the opportunity to run a business. And what you learn about running a business is that it's all about people.
00:02:50:17 - 00:03:12:07
Speaker 2
It's about building the right team. It's about having alignment around what success looks like, and it's about having great culture where people have an opportunity for success, but then they recognize that they're going to be recognized, they're going to grow and they're going to make a meaningful contribution to the overall, entity's goals, hopefully, some of which are very personal goals for people that work in the organization.
00:03:12:09 - 00:03:35:21
Speaker 1
Awesome. You said culture, you know, the opportunity for success. Nobody said guaranteed success. I mean, tell me a little bit about that opportunity for success piece that you just said. I mean, it's, you know, I, I believe in franchising and in business, we create an environment where people can be as successful as they want to be. tell me how you present that opportunity to folks and encourage that.
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Speaker 2
You know, it's really interesting. the notion of an opportunity for success really means that a platform or a process is in place, that if you follow the process and you are fortunate, maybe a bit lucky, you can achieve the outcomes that you want. As you say, there are no guarantees. You know, everything depends on market demographics, competitive factors, timing.
00:03:57:00 - 00:04:17:09
Speaker 2
It, it depends on how much energy you have towards the goal that you're trying to accomplish. And we, we see in our system, a diversity of those that work really, really hard and want more and more and more. And we see others that get to a certain level and they plateau. So I really think the opportunity for success is about defining what success looks like for them.
00:04:17:09 - 00:04:27:10
Speaker 2
And us, at least in the context of a franchise system, giving a framework that helps promote the opportunity, or create the opportunity for that success and then helping them along the way.
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Speaker 1
Awesome. I love that the, you know, it's so, so imperative that we as the franchise or as the, you know, the key leaders in the organization, really build leaders in the franchisees, in the systems. And even if you're not a franchise network, you've got leadership networks within your organization. you're in an imperative role at the top.
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Speaker 1
how do you communicate that desire to be the best leader possible on a daily basis? Because, as you know, I mean, and I've I've run major organizations also, it is hard to show up at the office with the smile on your face going, yeah, we can do this today. Let's let's all move forward together when you're facing, you know, we all went through the pandemic, economic challenges, you know, legislative issues, who knows what it is.
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Speaker 1
There's always a challenge right. How do we how do we show up with that inspiration to drive those leaders forward?
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Speaker 2
Well, you know, it's funny. That's a great question. And I would say what I've learned over my 42 years. So I'm kind of getting along in the tooth I guess they might say, what I've learned is that it's really important to be authentic and intentional. So if people were to say, what are the two things that are most important to you as a leader?
00:05:44:04 - 00:06:09:07
Speaker 2
and what do you try to demonstrate to others? I think it's authenticity, and being intentional. And I think when people see those two things, they recognize they're going to be great days, they're going to be okay days, and perhaps they're going to be a few moments when you're not necessarily at your very best. But I think what's really important is that people understand that you have a commitment to them, to their success, to the organization success, and that you're constantly trying to get better.
00:06:09:09 - 00:06:31:12
Speaker 2
you know, I talk a lot about, a recently deceased relative, my grandmother, she passed away roughly two years ago at the ripe age of 100, four and a half years old. and she was still lucid. And one of the things that I was so, even more since she's passed than during her life was her desire to be intellectually curious.
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Speaker 2
She was always about being a little bit better. Just every day. How do we get to be a little better tomorrow than we were today? That was really what I think epitomizes her life, even up until the very last moments of her life. And so, you know, I focus on that. How do we get better? So a little bit better every day.
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Speaker 2
And I and I'm convinced that if you can build a culture where people are intellectually curious, they can be authentic, with who they are, that they can accept the intentionality, which sometimes isn't always fun. you're going to have a winning organization. And more more than likely, you're going to achieve the outcomes that you're looking to achieve.
00:07:09:19 - 00:07:35:23
Speaker 1
I think everybody needs to rewind this and listen to the principles from your grandmother here. This is incredibly important, folks. It better every day, better every day. I mean, that's that's actually the tagline of my friend Darren Hardy's company is better every day. Wow. So, I mean, it's and he every day he's learning, he's putting something out saying, this is how we get better today, which is incredibly important.
00:07:35:23 - 00:08:03:05
Speaker 1
And you also said something else here. Leaders learn. Learners lead. Okay. I mean, that's this is about that constant hunger for you know, and by the way, everybody listeners, this is not about just absorbing information. And Dennis really has already displayed this in the culture of the organization. It's about learning and then developing other people with that education that you have.
00:08:03:05 - 00:08:28:18
Speaker 1
And I mean, it's, you know, clearly it's it's been in your culture since the beginning. And I think it's, you know, leaders are made and you were made as a leader because these are the cultural aspects that you're delivering in your in your company. This is so cool to to get into this. So, I want to get into kind of the, you know, as chairman and CEO of Goddard Systems, you know, you guide the vision for the Goddard School system.
00:08:28:20 - 00:08:42:13
Speaker 1
And guiding a vision is a big lift. That's a lot to carry on your shoulders. Can you share some of the key strategies or principles you believe are crucial for successful franchise growth in the education sector?
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Speaker 2
Yeah. So, you know, when I joined the organization in 2019, it, preceded the pandemic. but before joining, I had an opportunity as part of the, the interview process with our owners at the time, wind River Holdings, where I was asked to really look at case studies that related to real life situations in the company.
00:09:01:12 - 00:09:24:05
Speaker 2
But I was also asked to evaluate, really the way the company was running and what were things that we could do to evolve the organization. And we came up with four ideas, and I want to simplify them. So this isn't, as precise as I'd like it to be, but I think it'll give a general idea. The first idea was the strategic imperative around our consumers, the families that come into our schools understanding who they are.
00:09:24:11 - 00:09:42:08
Speaker 2
You know, I am, I am a 64 year old executive now that's been working for a long time. I don't know if I'm supposed to say that publicly, but it doesn't bother me. but many of our customers, or families are millennials, and we actually have some Gen Z families. And so, many of these young people could be my kids, right?
00:09:42:08 - 00:09:58:18
Speaker 2
I have a 30 year old and a and a 25 year old. And so their expectations are different than it was 20 years ago or even ten years ago, or certainly 30 years ago when I was looking for childcare. So the first thing is understanding who the consumer is, what makes them happy, what are their aspirations, how do they define success?
00:09:59:00 - 00:10:23:03
Speaker 2
How do they want to engage with us? The second strategy was around people. I just talked a moment ago about culture and the importance of culture and being authentic and being intentional, having a group of people both in the franchising system, but in the Goddard system that are all collectively trying to make sure that we are a destination employer, a place that recognizes success, that promotes growth and development, that gives unique opportunities on an ongoing basis.
00:10:23:03 - 00:10:26:12
Speaker 2
The third strategy was around growth and leveraging innovation,
00:10:26:12 - 00:10:35:11
Speaker 2
What are the things that we do that we could do better? And what is the cost of competing and what will what will the outcome be? So again, the idea is around growth on a consistent basis.
00:10:35:13 - 00:11:04:02
Speaker 2
And I think the the bedrock of all of this is having a relationship with franchisees as the franchisor that promotes two way dialog. It builds trust, it creates credibility, and that demonstrates that collectively we win together. And there is no Goddard winds without franchisees or franchisees win without Garner. There is a need to be better every day at the infrastructure, the systems, the processes, the way that we train and engage and interact and recognize.
00:11:04:07 - 00:11:24:09
Speaker 2
And most importantly, listen. I do believe that we have two ears and one mouth for real purpose, and that's to ensure that we're listening and that we're doing something with the information that is being shared. So we do a lot of consumer research, we do a lot of employee research, and certainly we do a lot of interacting with our franchisees to make sure we understand what's on their minds.
00:11:24:11 - 00:11:48:05
Speaker 1
Wow. I mean, so, I mean, you basically built a business system here. I hope everybody wrote this down. I mean, these are absolute imperatives. I love the, you know, you've got consumer, you've got the, the people involved, growth and innovation and the relationship. and one of the key aspects you touched on in relationship with trust, trust with the franchisees.
00:11:48:07 - 00:12:12:07
Speaker 1
And, how do you as I mean, you have a lot on your plate, let's face it. I mean, running a company this size, this magnitude, and, you know, you're on several boards. You're you're pretty busy guy. How do you view the connection between you as the key leader in the organization and the franchisees? I mean, how do you communicate with them?
00:12:12:07 - 00:12:14:12
Speaker 1
How do you how do you continue to develop that trust?
00:12:14:14 - 00:12:38:04
Speaker 2
it's very interesting, threading of the needle on the one hand, as the franchisor, we have contractual relationships, that we are expected to follow, and so do they. but I always believe that if you're defaulting to the contract, you're really not building a relationship. The relationship is really based on mutual, expectations of one another, clarity around what those expectations are, and trust.
00:12:38:06 - 00:13:02:04
Speaker 2
And those things only occur over time. They occur because, you believe that I have your best interest at heart. And I demonstrate that every opportunity that I can. Likewise, you have to accept that in my role, accountability is important as well. And so, you know, the goal here isn't necessarily to always agree, but it is to reach a consensus that's in the best interest of the brand.
00:13:02:06 - 00:13:24:15
Speaker 2
And so what I've tried to say in this system is our goal, whether we're a franchisee, an employee, or a customer, we should always be about the brand and doing what's in the best interest of that brand, because the unique thing about this is I've now been able to marry my personal passion with my, let's call it my, professional ambition is we're doing something that really matters.
00:13:24:15 - 00:13:44:23
Speaker 2
We're touching the lives of young people at a very early age, and if we do our jobs well, we're going to have a better world tomorrow than we do today. And so, again, having people to understand that at the core of what we're trying to do is to serve children in their families and communities. And if we can do that together, everything else is going to take care of itself.
00:13:44:23 - 00:14:05:03
Speaker 2
We're going to make money. We're going to build wealth, we're going to do great things together. And so that's really the message that we try to share with with our franchisees and our employees. And I think as people begin to believe that you sincere about that, and they have demonstrated examples that point to the authenticity of that mission, I think you end up being very successful.
00:14:05:03 - 00:14:29:14
Speaker 1
Dennis. I mean, obviously, franchising is, you know, working with a whole bunch of different business leaders in the community that are carrying your brand and you're part of education and community involvement. how do you view tying both the community aspect of franchising, together with education, in order to help our communities?
00:14:29:16 - 00:14:58:00
Speaker 2
well, first of all, I think education and working in education, it takes a commitment to understanding educators. and so one of the things that we are trying to do here is to be very clear about the business that we're in. We're in the business of education, not the business of necessarily making money exclusively. The outcome of being in the business of education is that you do make money, and you can create wealth for your investors and for your franchisees.
00:14:58:01 - 00:15:17:00
Speaker 2
So I think there's clarity around understanding what the market is. And then I think having grown up with educators, I learned this very early in life. Educators have a very different and unique perspective because for them, most of them, many of them, it is about the mission of the work. It's not about the other things that we think about as business, as business people.
00:15:17:04 - 00:15:41:23
Speaker 2
And so getting franchisees to balance between the desire to be successful and to make money, let's say, and to understand how that occurs and to do it in a in an environment where not all educators necessarily want to see business people in their, in their space. And so you have to learn to relate to those educators and have them accept the fact that your presence is going to enhance the ability to educate and support kids and families.
00:15:42:04 - 00:15:47:21
Speaker 2
And so there is a melding of these two things in a franchise system that works in the education market space.
00:15:47:23 - 00:16:07:17
Speaker 1
Awesome. So that's I mean, they're almost kind of because you're a lot of times dealing with government in education and in entrepreneurship, which, you know, the, you know, kind of the crazy side of all of us where we're out there going, all right, I gotta unlock the door and make the cash register ring or something like that. I get another customer today.
00:16:07:19 - 00:16:32:23
Speaker 1
They they kind of diverge, you know, a lot of places. But, I mean, you bring them together in what you do, which is fantastic. I mean, we, you know, I truly believe in early childhood education. I think that's, you know, foundationally paramount to create a wonderful culture and society and great future for all of us. So, let's switch gears a little bit to the business side real quick here.
00:16:33:04 - 00:16:56:17
Speaker 1
So you have extensive executive experience across a multitude of different industries. this day and age, we've seen a lot of pivots, changes, economic, you know, customer acquisition, retention and things of that nature that, that today's small business leaders are challenged with because it's not just opening the door and saying, hey, welcome in to the next customer.
00:16:56:17 - 00:17:18:07
Speaker 1
It's you're making these pivots with, you know, legal challenges or, you know, the change in, you know, it's not in your space, but like in the SR space, even looking California with the minimum wage. And you don't talk about this stuff at the International Franchising Association. Sure. But what key lessons do you have for our business leaders today?
00:17:18:07 - 00:17:33:02
Speaker 1
It doesn't matter what business they're in to keep them focused on growing their business, because they got to keep the lights on and the doors open and continue to increase their profits because inflation will overtake their profits relatively quickly. So what recommendations do you have for our business leaders to to keep moving forward?
00:17:33:07 - 00:17:58:02
Speaker 2
I think, the first lesson I'd say is we we have to keep it simple and keeping it simple to me means controlling what you can control and being prepared for those things that you can't. So as an example, I talked earlier about culture, you know, you can control how you interact with employees. You can control your market, your your pay rates and your benefit rates relative to the market.
00:17:58:04 - 00:18:25:07
Speaker 2
You can control your level of interest and investment of time and getting to know the people who work with you. you can control the outcomes for your customers by doing research to make sure that you're focused on the things that are most important to them. and then you can control your ability to deliver on that promise through execution by having a great game plan that, as I said earlier, is always about being a little better, tomorrow than you were today.
00:18:25:12 - 00:18:45:04
Speaker 2
So I think, again, keeping it simple, focusing on what you can control, being aware that these other things go on. You mentioned the, the new legislation, or regulatory, implications for QSR in, California that actually will have an impact on all franchise franchisors and ultimately on all businesses. And so I think you have to be aware of that.
00:18:45:04 - 00:19:12:15
Speaker 2
But the question is, can any one individual franchisee, do as much about it as they like? And the answer is no. So you default to or the other organizations like IFJ, the Chambers of Commerce, and groups of franchisees working together to have a point of view that's in the best interest of the, the franchising community. And I think we have to keep it real and make sure that what's in our interest is not exclusively about us, it's about the community that we're serving as well.
00:19:12:19 - 00:19:35:03
Speaker 2
And so balancing those what are sometimes colliding or competing priorities is something that I think is important. But again, I want franchisees and my team to focus on what we can control and to default or allow others to help us in ways like EFA, in those areas where we perhaps don't have as much expertise or as much time to delve into the issues as we would like.
00:19:35:05 - 00:20:09:08
Speaker 1
Wow. Okay folks, we've had a business masterclass here from Dennis. I mean, some incredible points. Let me just recap a few of them. Culture. Trust better every day and focus on what you can control and then execute execute. Notice Dennis didn't say be distracted by everything else because that's what we fall into a lot of times. Avoid that distraction and work on these key aspects that you've just heard from one of the key leaders in franchising and in the education space, Dennis Maple.
00:20:09:08 - 00:20:19:05
Speaker 1
It's been an absolute pleasure to have you on. Let's start with a win today. I have a question that I ask all the great leaders on the show. Dennis, how do you start your day with a win?
00:20:19:07 - 00:20:37:14
Speaker 2
You know, it's different today, than it was 10 or 15 years ago. My my day starts every day with me just looking for a little bit of peace, a little bit of quiet, a little bit of calm, a little bit of preparation for what I know. Oftentimes it's going to be a very hectic, and engaging day.
00:20:37:14 - 00:20:57:10
Speaker 2
So, you know, some mornings, most mornings when I'm at home, it's waking up and just simply talking to my wife, you know, what are you doing today where we heard from the kids, you know, sharing what I'm going to be doing. But again, it it's really finding whether it's a walk down the driveway in the morning, around the block or exercise, whatever it is.
00:20:57:10 - 00:21:09:07
Speaker 2
Just having something that helps me to focus on me and to give me the peace and the calm and the inner spirit of confidence that we're going to have a great day that day. So that'd be my best advice.
00:21:09:09 - 00:21:30:18
Speaker 1
I love it, find that peace and calm everybody. I know a lot of people who need to pay attention to that particular piece of advice. So, Dennis, you know, it's been a pleasure having you on today, everybody. Thank you. To Dennis Maple, chairman and CEO of Goddard Systems. You're doing great for our community, and you're doing great for your franchisees and small business.
00:21:30:18 - 00:21:35:04
Speaker 1
So thanks again for all that you do. And thanks for being on start with a win.
00:21:35:06 - 00:21:37:18
Speaker 2
Thank you Adam. It's been a real privilege today to meet you.