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Meet The Women Of Pizza Hut, Part One

This article is more than 5 years old.

This piece is part of a series on the Pizza Hut's female leaders. 

Pizza Hut, Inc.

Walking into the Pizza Hut “Center of Restaurant Excellence” corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas, in September, I was on a mission:  To discover how and why newly promoted president Artie Starrs was rapidly filling the C-suite with the “best of the best” women in the restaurant industry while improving sales.

In his glass-enclosed office, Artie reported that starting last year, the company became intentional in identifying and wooing noted female leaders.  The recruiting message was simple: Our culture will nurture and coach you for bigger roles, surround you with talented teams, and help you live a balanced, family-oriented life.

Artie’s childhood prepared him to build such a culture. He shared that he was the oldest of five and his mom was a “strong, proud, loving, tough, no-one-messes-with-her-kids” matriarch, who managed the home while his loving and supportive dad succeeded at “climbing the corporate ladder.”

“If you asked my mom if I can jump a tall building in a single bound, she would pass a lie detector test—and say yes. That would apply to all five of us.”

Helping raise his daughter Margaret (now 7) has inspired him to reflect when he visits other workplaces, “Would I want her to work here?”

Artie says, “When people seek my career advice, I tell them, above all, go work for a great coach, who has your interest at heart, where you bring something to the table and they, in turn invest in you and your development.”

When I asked Artie “What keeps you up at night?” he didn’t hesitate: “Making sure people are getting great coaching in this company.”

Because of Artie’s intentionality and Pizza Hut’s commitment to finding and promoting the best of the best, the company is prospering. With 2017 sales of over $5 billion, they are the number one pizza chain in a food sector that is booming both in the States and internationally.

Pizza Hut is thriving in large part because of the amazing women they have recruited and promoted. I had the privilege of spending a day speaking with them. What follows here and over the next few columns are highlights from my interviews with them.

Let’s begin with Pizza Hut chief technology officer Carol Clements.

In a male-dominated industry, Carol has made a path for women looking to get into the technology world. Coming from a small town she knows the importance of relationships and helping others be their best.

Her small-town, Atlanta, Texas, roots imbued Carol with her “Lift others as you rise” values. Her parents started Shell Oil & Gas Wholesalers and smartly leveraged that value by expanding into franchised convenience stores. Similar to her parents, Carol is now in the franchise pizza business.

Jill Griffin: When did you first get an inkling that you were leadership material?

Carol Clements: I really grew as a leader at Southwest Airlines.  I joined as an individual contributor project manager in the IT department. The leader at the time saw something in me that I frankly did not see in myself and promoted me into a leadership role. I worked for her eight of my eleven years at Southwest. She kept pushing me into new and different positions and I was ultimately promoted to broader leadership roles.

Griffin: You manage about 150 people. What are the biggest challenges of being chief technology officer of Pizza Hut?

Clements: Two things:  One, technology changes so quickly and there is so much disruption that moving fast is really important. But doing it in a way that maintains the integrity of our business is equally important. So that natural tension is one piece.

The second, larger piece—especially as it pertains to leadership—is attracting diverse talent in such a competitive field.  Technology is a male-dominated industry where less than 20% are women. I’m proud to say here at Pizza Hut we’re close to 40%, but we have work to do.

We’re seeking out and considering all manner of diverse candidates, gender included.  I’m here today because strong women leaders saw things in me that I didn’t see in myself and I want to pay that forward.

Griffin: Talk to me about coaching talented people.

Clements: It’s our number one job as leaders. We have to help people transition from being down in the weeds and doing all the day-to-day work to thinking at a much higher, strategic level. This can be tough, specifically in technology, because not everyone is willing to give up the fun tech stuff. My part of the job is to help them find their passion around leadership but not lead them too far away from what gets them excited about coming to work every day.

Griffin: You say your leadership is about providing critical experiences. Tell me more.

Clements: To help people grow they all need a set of critical experiences to expose them to different aspects of the job. Some people are stronger in technology skills and some people are stronger in people skills. I want to provide all of my employees with experiences on both sides so they can be exposed to things they may never have thought they would try, and prepare them for roles and opportunities in the future.

Griffin: What sold you on Pizza Hut?

Clements: The culture was a huge draw for me and I’m here largely because of that. I come from Southwest Airlines so the bar was pretty high. My personal philosophy is: We are in the people business before anything else and we just happen to be serving pizzas.

Next Up: Meet The Women Leaders Of Pizza Hut, Part Two

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