Know what matters : lessons from a lifetime of transformations

Includes index.

Future-Back -- Be a Better Competitive Alternative -- Means, Ends, and Byproducts -- Entrepreneurs Are Opportunists, Not Capitalists -- Think Before You IPO -- You Take the Money, I'll Take Control -- Feeding the Growth Monster -- Falling into the Future -- Discovering Today What Matters Tomorrow: Fast Casual -- Imagining Tomorrow: Concept Essence -- Bringing the Vision to Life: Changing Everything -- You Don't Own the Business; the Business Owns You -- The Essence of Life and Business Is Choice -- Get Growth Right -- Break the Cycle of Failure -- Innovator In Chief -- Make Smart Bets -- Seek Out the Tough Stuff and Create a Barrier to Entry -- Know When to Fold 'Em -- If You Don't Have Control, Credibility Is Everything -- The Doing of the Doing -- I Should Have Fired More People Faster -- Parish Priest in a Business Suit -- Be Contrarian: Conserve in a Boom, Build in a Bust -- Business Is Personal -- Manage the Desire/Friction Ratio -- Operationalize Transformation -- Find New Runways for Growth -- Come Clean, with Yourself and Others -- Keep Your Promises -- Know When to Let Go

"How did Ron Shaich, the visionary founder of Panera Bread, build a little bakery in St. Louis into 2,400 restaurants with 6 billion dollars in revenue and annual returns of 25 percent, outperforming Starbucks, Chipotle, and all others? By seeing the future and clearing a path to it, leading and innovating from the future back. Now, Shaich shares his story, starting with its humble entrepreneurial beginnings: the college-campus convenience store he opened to compete with one he was ejected from when the clerk wrongly assumed he and his scruffy friends were shoplifting. He takes us through his successful turnaround of Au Bon Pain and how that led to his creation of a new category of restaurant, fast casual, and the mega-success of Panera. He also shares the lows, the defeats, and the uncertainties along the way and how he persevered through them. In each chapter Shaich brings to life a principle for success that has guided his career-and his life. Sometimes practical ("Make smart bets"), and often challenging ("You don't own the business, the business owns you"), Shaich's principles combine to form a blueprint for innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs set on success, and on making a difference. When you know what matters, you can build transformative businesses while leading a life you respect, and leaving a positive impact on the world"--