網站 http://www.happyforum.org/ 歡迎超連結並轉寄網址
論壇 http://www.happyforum.org/happy/ 歡迎至論壇討論
Time：第 170次例會，2008年08月23日（週六）下午2:30 ~5:30
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15
14:30~15:30 Free Talk
15:30~16:00 Speaker Session
16:00~17:15 Topic Discussion
17:15~17:30 Happy Time
Host: Richard Chen(Taipei), Sylvia Lin(Taichung), Benjamin Yeh(Kaohsiung)
Assistant Host:
Topic：Growing Professionally and Personally
Source: Reader's Digest - November 2007
By all accounts, Panda Express, the Chinese restaurant chain, shouldn’t exist, let alone be a smash hit. After all, it’s hard to eat Chinese food while driving down the freeway. And preparing Orange Chicken is a lot more complicated than stacking preshaped burger patties under a heat lamp. Competitors have tried and failed in quick order.
Still, the privately held billion-dollar company, headed by Andrew Cherng and wife Peggy, has 1,010 restaurants in 36 states, Puerto Rico and Japan. When asked how he built the business, though, Andrew doesn’t talk about strategic five-year plans. Rather, he speaks humbly about the development of his employees.
Photo-Illustration by John Ritter; Photo Courtesy Panda Express
A billion-dollar company, Panda Express has 1,010 restaurants in 36 states, Puerto Rico and Japan.
He tells of the Hispanic man who started out washing dishes and spoke no English. “Today,” says Andrew proudly, “he is one of our most successful regional chefs. Not only is he doing a good job, but his daughter is in the honors program at school and his son is doing really well too. To me, that’s what Panda is about. Employees who are growing, professionally and personally.”
The Panda empire began in 1973, when Andrew, who was born in Jiangsu, China, and his father, a master chef, opened Panda Inn, a sit-down restaurant in Pasadena, California, serving family recipes and the freshest ingredients, fast and hot.
Andrew’s father had taught him to take on a new challenge only after mastering the previous one. It took ten years before Andrew felt he was ready to tackle the all-American challenge: the fast-food industry.
The first Panda Express opened in a Southern California mall in 1983. As Pandas began to proliferate, Peggy, who has a PhD in electrical engineering, gave up her career as a designer of logistics systems to join the company full-time, first as president, then as CEO. Today, Peggy and Andrew share the title of chairman.
They also share a leadership philosophy that flies in the face of conventional management strategy. “There’s a lot of training about how to work with your head,” says Andrew. “But there’s not much about how to work with your heart, and I think that’s even more important.”
To Lead Is to Serve
The Cherngs are big fans of Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a book they require all job applicants to read before their interview. “Success is a by-product of our habits,” says Andrew. “We’re very focused on learning how to do the right things well and completely so that what all of us do actually makes an impact.”
Doing the right thing includes paying more than the minimum wage and subsidizing health care for all 17,300 employees, including part-timers. Some might caution that this approach would hamstring financial results. But not the Cherngs. “If you’re too focused on the results and try to develop shortcuts, you’re going to have to pay it back later somehow,” Andrew says. “Focus on doing the right thing, being a good human being. Try to add value anywhere you can. The results will take care of themselves.”
The Cherngs take seriously the concept that to lead is to serve. Put in action, that philosophy means helping associates improve their livelihood and, in the process, learn to live a fuller life. In the end, says Andrew, “they are better off financially, but they’re also smarter because they’re curious and learning. They take care of themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. When all of us do these things well, there’s a better chance we will treat the customer better.”
The virtuous circle keeps expanding. In 1999 Peggy created Panda Cares, a company-sponsored charity that provides money and food to local schools, hospitals and organizations that support children, to encourage “a spirit of giving.”
Thirty-four years later, the Cherngs’ passion for what they’ve created at Panda Express remains unabated. “If we can only figure out that each of us can do little things with great passion, the whole world would change. You don’t have to expect change for billions. But we all have a family. I’ve learned that the way you do anything is the way you do everything,” says Andrew.
Getting Ahead with the Cherngs
Andrew, what do you like best about this country?
Gosh, there’s a lot to like! I couldn’t have done any of this in any other place. Americans are very progressive, very kindhearted and broad-minded, with broad shoulders. Americans welcome people from all different corners of the world. Different colors, creeds, religions. This really is a melting pot. Can we do more? Of course we can. I appreciate everything that I have here.
What kind of person do you tend to hire?
People who are honest and sincere and committed to this journey we have started. I want the person who says when something is not quite right, who doesn’t just let it slide by.
When you’re making business decisions, are you more likely to go with your head or your gut?
Probably my gut. I think I have an educated gut. Or we’d be in trouble!
If you had it to do all over again, would you do anything differently?
I’d start earlier, and I’d spend more time with my three daughters. Back then, I didn’t think I had the luxury to do that. I thought I had no choice but to succeed. Hopefully, I’ll be a better grandfather.
Peggy, if you had to choose between good luck and good instincts, which would it be?
Good instincts. Being proactive is always going to create luck eventually.
Who inspires you?
Our associates.
What’s the best advice you’ve received?
Years ago, I was told I had a lot of potential but that because of my background—Asians are raised to be very humble—I needed to focus more on self-expression.
When do you do your best thinking?
In the morning, when I’m swimming. The swimming calms my body and my mind. That time is very peaceful for me, and the thoughts are random.
Vocabulary:
unabated (a.) 不減的
Questions:
Q1. What does "Work with your heart, instead of with your head" mean?
Q2. Do you believe "Success is by-product of our habbit"? Which is more important? the Result? or the process?
Q3. Which is more important? Work or life?
例會須知 參與例會，請自行列印當週的討論文章並帶至現場，圖示如下：
請將社團網站，加入我的最愛 http://www.happyforum.org/
新竹，每週六 (2008年8月起)
Hsinchu, Every Saturday
from Aug, 2008
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15
台中，每週六 (2008年7月起)
Taichung, every Saturday
from July, 2008
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15
高雄，每週六 (2007年4月起)
Kaohsiung, every Sunday
from April, 2007
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15
台北，每週六 (2005年6月起)
Taipei, every Saturday
from June, 2005
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15
