Leadership: Freedom or Framework?
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have the same purpose: to achieve leadership economics in the
core of your business and to strive for superior customer loyalty
relative to that of competitors.
Consider Julian Metcalfe, founder of Pret A Manger, the very
successful U.K. sandwich shop built on the idea of freshly made,
high-quality prepackaged sandwiches. At its essence, Pret’s stated
strategy was “fast service with a smile.” That was it. This seemingly
innocuous simple differentiation forced a whole series of decisions.
It meant that the service menu needed to be simple so the staff
could serve it quickly and reliably. At one point, the founder was
challenged on Pret’s lack of made-to-order sandwiches. Metcalfe
responded, “If you want t ...