How Panera’s CEO Learned to Go Against the Grain

19 Nov 2020

Niren Chaudhary on leading with compassion

Re: Niren Chaudhary (AMP 191); Ranjay Gulati (Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration)

Topics: Leadership-Leadership Style Food and Beverage-Beverage

Photo courtesy of Panera Bread

As the CEO of Panera Bread Co, Niren Chaudhary (AMP 191, 2016) was intent on finding ways to make sure the company’s workers weren’t left behind during the pandemic. The company invited its furloughed workers to eat in its restaurants for free once a week and arranged for them to take open positions at CVS until Panera was able to take them back, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.

“I believe that life has to be a balance of ambition and compassion—doing big things but doing them with heart,” says Chaudhary, who took the helm last year after positions at Yum Brands Inc. and Krispy Kreme. He attributes this sense of compassion to the loss of his daughter, who died of pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 18. “Seeing her suffer so much up close deepened my sense of empathy and desire to give back,” he says. “When it’s time to hang my boots, I want to be remembered as somebody who helped people become much better.”

After her death, Chaudhary took a sabbatical and arrived on campus for the Advanced Management Program, where he met Professor Ranjay Gulati.

“‘Professors have the uncanny ability to simplify the complicated,’ he says. For instance, Mr. Gulati has taught him that company leaders can’t innovate their way out of a proverbial death spiral. ‘His lesson was that if you’re in trouble and you over-innovate, you accelerate the death spiral,’ he says. ‘It’s counterintuitive, but just step back, do less and focus on the core of who you are.’”

The full story is here, behind the Wall Street Journal’s paywall.

Featured Alumni

Niren Chaudhary

AMP 191

Featured Alumni

Niren Chaudhary

AMP 191

Stories Featuring Niren Chaudhary

- 11 Mar 2021
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Leading with Heart

Re: Niren Chaudhary (AMP 191); Ranjay Gulati (Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration)

Stories

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