Leadership Is More Than a Title
- ETW Writer
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Summary:
From executive assistant to CFO to CEO in five years, Kash Rocheleau shows how curiosity, reps, and people-first rigor beat pedigree. We cover clean‑label food innovation (how you replace sugar’s jobs without losing taste), hiring for grit, transparent numbers, Lean Six Sigma choices, and simple meeting/1:1 habits that make teams measurably better. Three anchors frame her leadership: clarity, consistency, compassion.
Why Listen
Career without title‑chasing: How saying yes + learning in public accelerates responsibility.
Sugar reduction 101: Why sugar isn’t just “sweetness,” and what it takes to swap its roles.
Hire scrappy operators: The Saturday‑morning question and signs of real drive.
Numbers with humanity: Profit and caring are not opposites; transparency builds trust.
Run better meetings/1:1s: Three prompts that replace status with decisions.
Lean thinking, applied: Headcount and product focus through throughput, not busyness.
Family boundary as leadership: Dinner as the most impactful meeting of the day.
Notable Lines
“If you’re chasing a title, you’re probably doing it for the wrong reasons.”
“How you do anything is how you do everything.”
“Profit and caring about people are not mutually exclusive.”
“Meetings should make us measurably better.”
“Ask: What do you do on Saturday morning?”
Takeaways
Define the MIN: Pick the one number that reflects the value your team was designed to create. Publish it.
Name your drivers: 3–6 evergreen categories of work that move the MIN; review quarterly.
Design the role: Outcomes (1–3), job duties, and a capability‑driven development plan.
1:1s that develop: Monthly, 60 minutes: biggest win → best work on the MIN → where you need help.
Meetings that matter: Pre‑post the same three prompts the day before; discuss decisions, not status.
Hire for reps, not résumés: Look for curiosity, scrappiness, and weekend energy.
Make numbers visible: Teach the story behind margins; align incentives to value created.
Lean choices: Add people last; fix flow first. Say no to work that breaks throughput or margins.
Family boundary: Protect dinner; equip with tools, not control.
ROI framing: Hypothesis + leading signals + kill/scale rules before rollout.
Resources
Icon Foods: clean‑label sweetener systems for CPG brands.
Your Most Important Number: Lee Benson’s framework for MIN + drivers.
Lean Six Sigma: practical lens for capacity, flow, and product focus.
Subscribe & Follow:
Lee Benson: Linkedin
Podcast: Show Your Value
Instagram: @executetowin
Call to Action: Share this episode with one emerging leader who’s tempted to chase a title, then ask them what problem they’ll solve this week.
Comments