Mike McFall: Leading Through a Purpose Reset

What happens when a beloved company purpose stops landing the way it used to? We sit down with Biggby Coffee co-founder Mike McFall (and Bosshole Chronicles alum) to unpack a rare level of candor: why he let go of an identity he helped build, how a new president brought fresh focus, and what it takes to rewrite purpose, vision, and values without losing the soul of the brand. 

• Click HERE for Mike's book "Grind"
• Click HERE for Mike's book "Grow"
• Click HERE for Mike's LinkedIn profile

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Guest Introduction
• 1:04 Sponsor And Housekeeping
• 1:28 Reconnecting With Mike McFall
• 2:17 Transitioning To A Professional Leadership Team
• 3:23 New President And Shifting Focus
• 3:30 Rethinking Purpose, Vision, Values
• 4:43 Founder Resistance And Mindset Shift
• 6:05 From Individual Purpose To Community
• 7:36 Making People-First Real Day To Day
• 9:12 Elevate Every Day And Fit
• 10:53 Unlocking Superpowers: Stone Soup To Mars
• 12:58 Community As An Antidote To Division
• 14:35 Openness, Collaboration, And Leadership Growth
• 16:05 New Projects: Youth Hockey And Retreats
• 17:05 Biggby Growth And Healthy Sales
• 18:20 Closing Reflections And Contact

Transcript

Sara Best: 0:02

Hey everybody out there in The Bosshole Transformation Nation. Hello and welcome back to The Bosshole Chronicles. Today we have a conversation with a previous guest, a very popular guest on the podcast. It's Mike McFall, who's the co-founder of Big gby Coffee. If you're a coffee fan at all and you live anywhere within the uh Ohio, Michigan area and parts surrounding there, you would be definitely aware of and a fan of Big B coffee. Mike talks about leading your organization when the purpose needs to change. So it's a rich conversation, it's a short conversation, but it's chock full of cool insights and tips for leaders who may in fact need to revisit their purpose or their values or their mission as they move ahead and just really what it takes to do that. So let's dig in.

Announcer: 1:04

The Bosshole Chronicles are brought to you by Real Good Ventures, the talent optimization firm helping organizations diagnose their most critical people and execution issues with world-class analytics. Make sure to check out all the resources in the show notes and be sure to follow us and share your feedback. Enjoy today's episode.

Sara Best: 1:28

Mike, it's great to have you back on The Boss hole Chronicles.

Mike McFall: 1:31

Yeah, great to be here. Thank you.

Sara Best: 1:32

It's been a couple years. Yeah. You have been continuing on your mission. There's so much that I liked about our last conversation. And even after that podcast conversation, I got a chance to meet with you personally to just better understand kind of what drives you. What drives this guy who has created and co-created a very successful business? It's focused on the right things. And meanwhile, you're sharing this the principles and the framework, you're sharing that in a lot of different ways. Why don't I toss it over to you and start wherever it makes sense for you? What have you been up to? What's still resonating for you? What do we need to know that's new and different?

Mike McFall: 2:17

It's been five years that we've been transitioning the company to a professional leadership team. And that is a that's a complicated transition. We brought in, we had a president uh that we brought in uh six years ago, and we transitioned that role in February. Uh and so we're in that, we're in you know, iteration 2.0 on that.

Sara Best: 2:39

Okay. So a new president.

Mike McFall: 2:41

Yes, a new president. Um, and one of the things that we that that I learned and and that we're continuing to learn is that this this function is in that capacity, a president comes with a particular skill set to do a particular thing. And and maybe these these roles and these jobs aren't 20-year commitments. Okay. They're five, six, seven-year commitments. Um, or you know, maybe uh maybe that's just the scenario we were in this time, who knows? But so we've transitioned to a to a a new uh new leader, and you know, she's amazing. She has a very different focus uh than John did. And uh, we need that focus right now. And so that's that's good. But with that came an acknowledgement that the purpose we were working within the values that we had that we were living within our vision and our mission, that our current leadership team wanted to play with those and tweak those and do some things with those. It's a very big it's an and it's a really big transition to to uh to rework that stuff.

Sara Best: 3:58

Yeah.

Mike McFall: 3:59

And we've spent the better part of a year doing so. And so that's been uh that's been interesting to say the least.

Sara Best: 4:08

Okay, so before we dig into that, can I ask just a couple questions?

Mike McFall: 4:11

Absolutely.

Sara Best: 4:12

I'm imagining that the new leader came with the new focus. Like there's something else, there, there's a different way we need to look at the future. So therefore a new leader, which by the way, makes a ton of sense. Iterative leadership based on the strategy, the market, the growth of the organization, whatever it might be. And then you said inside you determined together as a leadership team that was time to revisit the values. Can I just ask, what allowed you all to kind of align around that? Well, how did you know it was time to do that?

Mike McFall: 4:46

I mean, at the beginning of it, it was, you know, for me anyway, it was sort of a no. You know, it was it was like, no, like you don't change the purpose of your organization.

Sara Best: 4:58

Right.

Mike McFall: 4:59

Uh, and then, you know, these are these are you know very experienced people and you know, good leaders. And they just worked me into a position of understanding that our that our purpose and our vision wasn't having the intent that we wanted it to have on the organization as a whole. And so then that started the conversation of of okay, well then, holy moly, what is what what ultimately what does this transition look like? And then and we have a we have a a woman that really led that for us. Uh nice. And it it was it's been great. And we're actually doing a a meeting this Friday where I'm gonna live Q ⁇ A uh sort of fireside chat uh with our with our um the woman who's been on this journey and been leading this journey in front of the whole company. And uh looking forward to that.

Sara Best: 5:57

So it sounds like you know, it took a little convincing for you, Mike. You were totally unclear about why this should happen. And you had a great guide through that process. And you listened to the insight and the wisdom of others around you that said, Hey, you know, we need what we say we're up to isn't really landing or isn't having the same impact. Wow, that's huge.

Mike McFall: 6:19

And yeah, it was it's big. And then, and then, you know, and then to do the work and then to get it to the point where, you know, it is it is a it is a working piece.

Sara Best: 6:32

Yeah, that's a lot of work.

Mike McFall: 6:34

Yeah, it is, and like, and so I'm really proud of it, and I think it's um I think it's it's definitely in the very much the same thought space as our previous one. Yeah. It just has a different emphasis that I think will resonate better for people.

Sara Best: 6:53

Can I just have you kind of dial back to when the team was convincing you or when they were making the case for it? As a co-founder, what were the kind of things that you thought about and experienced that kind of were like, heck no, like no, we don't need to do this. Can you just help us understand, you know, what was what was this the the emotion or the the feeling at the time as a co-founder of people saying, you know, this doesn't fit us anymore?

Mike McFall: 7:22

Yeah, that's always hard. You know, it's it's really a very hard part of what our company is in the middle of right now. And which is, you know, and and I don't and I don't think so many entrepreneurs are successful in this transition because it's hard, because people tell you the work you've done isn't right.

Sara Best: 7:44

Right.

Mike McFall: 7:45

Uh that the stuff that you know is that you think is so important maybe isn't as important as you think it is. And so we are we are fully committed to transitioning to this company being led by uh a professional team. And so yeah, this there's a whole bunch of you know the ego being put in the back pocket, right? And acknowledging that the stuff that that I worked on or you know, Bob and I worked on uh that is it's it's old, it's gone. It's it needs to be uh it needs to be updated and cool, right? But we're 30 years old, so that's gonna happen.

Sara Best: 8:25

Well, and could we just stop for a minute and celebrate what that all did accomplish? Like what what those values, what that outline purpose created and made possible then. And and yes, things need to evolve and things need to shift. It doesn't sound like there was significant difference or shift, like some some things maybe with a fine point on them. Is there anything that we can know about uh that really represents who you are now?

Mike McFall: 8:54

Well, I think you know, our our the the um the former purpose was supporting you and building a life you love.

Sara Best: 9:03

And by the way, folks, this is a coffee company. This is Big B coffee. Let's just get our head around the fact that that's a worthwhile purpose, that's amazing. And and what is it now?

Mike McFall: 9:12

And we what happened inside of that purpose was that purpose ended up becoming and feeling very individual, indiv in individualized, meaning, sure, like the company was supposed to support you in building a life you love.

Sara Best: 9:30

Yeah.

Mike McFall: 9:30

And the meaning of that from the beginning was that it was about you as a human being and you exploring what makes you happy, exploring your passions and getting support from the organization and everyone in the on your team in doing so.

Sara Best: 9:49

Yeah.

Mike McFall: 9:50

But again, it was an it it felt like an individual exploration. And so what we've changed it to is Big B coffee exists to build communities where people feel connected, valued, uplifted, and inspired. So wow, but that is what is going to like I believe that if we're highly focused on building communities, it's the community which will support you in building a life you love. And and we are missing that step. Like, how do we support you in building a life you love? There was no answer to that question. Sure. We now have that question, which is we're gonna build community.

Sara Best: 10:27

That's really amazing.

Mike McFall: 10:28

It's cool. Uh sitting over here going, wow. Yeah, it's cool. I love it.

Sara Best: 10:32

Well, and if I think back to, you know, your first book, Grind, was about, you know, how to build a thing, how to how to build something entrepreneurial, how to make it happen, grow. Your second book was kind of about arriving to a place of leadership. So moving from that entrepreneurial spirit and that life cycle of an organization to a more mature, um, not fully baked, but uh mature leadership and organization and professional structure. But yet we can't help but overlook that underneath all of that is this incredible purpose. And the purpose has been enhanced and and redefined that fits so well. You have values internally. One of them is a people-first culture, you know, really focusing on your people. How do you make that come to life in the day-to-day? You know, people that that work in your organization, how do they know this?

Mike McFall: 11:30

We try to get the basics right first. Yes. And, you know, like that's that's I find that stuff pretty simple. And then we try to also do some relatively, you know, uh, I I would say exceptional things too.

Sara Best: 11:50

Yeah.

Mike McFall: 11:51

And you know, I think that when I think about the responsibility of an organization, the way I look at it is how would I want an organization to be treating my niece or my child?

Sara Best: 12:08

Yeah.

Mike McFall: 12:09

And what's their interaction with the organization? You know, how does the organization treat them? And so uh, and then we've we've really leaned very hard into building some stuff that is opportunities for people to engage that you they can't get, I don't think, anywhere else. And that's the sort of extreme version. So you got to get the basics right. And then we we've built this this whole curriculum around uh supporting you and building a life you love and the the pillars around that. And it's really a uh a beautiful uh set of classes that have been created. We now are in this place of we need to have a uh thread through to that content. And we're we're we've realized that this content is is fairly extreme in the world, uh, you know, and and that's good, it's great, um, and it has a lot of value, but we we need to figure out how to onboard people into that environment, you know, and so that's we're in the midst of all of that. But you know, I think that um rewriting our values was a really important thing too, because we emphasize stuff that that weren't in the values before that we think are important, and you know, uh one of those is elevate every day. Because if we're focused on building community in an effort to support you in building a life you love, and we're pouring a lot into that, that there's reciprocity in that, and we need you growing and elevating every day, right? Like you need to be committed to that. And and if you're not, then you're probably not a good fit for this organization.

Sara Best: 13:52

Right. Oh my gosh, it makes so much sense. Um, I'm thinking about all the organizations I know that are feverishly chasing uh the growth in the market, and they've just over you know, and any other set of goals that seem easy to measure that we all tend to chase. And they've overlooked that internal core and very clearly identifying it, establishing it, sharing it, and welcoming people into it and then living it, which is what I know you've spent really the bulk of your time. Well, you do other things too. You you travel, you speak, you're a professor of entrepreneurship, aren't you, at U of M?

Mike McFall: 14:33

Uh Yeah, I took a year, I took a year hiatus from that. But and I think what I I have a keynote that I've developed that I love to deliver, which is it's about unlocking people's superpowers.

Sara Best: 14:47

Yes.

Mike McFall: 14:48

And creating superheroes. And when you have a team of superheroes showing up to work every day, the possibility of what they can do is limitless, right? And that's yeah, and so and I've created there's three areas of emphasis. One is I call it stone soup, which is you are the magic ingredient for your team as the leader. Like you are you are the stone in the stone soup, right? Okay, and then the second one is uh building tree forts, right? Like like this concept that when you were a kid, you used to love going and playing in a tree fort with all of your friends, and you would all be and it was like magical. And that's the environment we need to create inside of our organizations that people are showing up to work, feeling that level of excitement and intimacy to be there with their team and everybody else showing up as their super as a superhero. And then the third element of the of the talk is colonizing Mars, and and that is you need to have a really powerful purpose in the world for people to connect with and so that they know that when they show up to work and they give it their best, that it isn't just about making a profitable widget. You're actually doing something powerful and impactful in the world. And what is that? And as a leader, you have to define that and make that uh omnipresent.

Sara Best: 16:16

That makes so much sense to me. And I have to ask this, Mike, you know, in our current dynamics, in what appears to be a very polarized world, more so than probably ever before in my lifetime, or at least that's what we've been made to believe, is that, you know, we're all separate and we think very differently. And uh there's there is uh an ordinate amount of stress that people are feeling. We can look at the data and it would tell us that since the pandemic, we some of us have had a hard time recovering emotionally and mentally. Uh so there's there's risk of burnout, there's all this stuff going on. In your experience, do the values and what you're creating internally help stave off, you know, the stress for your people? Does it make a difference? And can can we live in a world like we live in and still come to work and go, I love this place, I love this job, I love this purpose?

Mike McFall: 17:14

I think so. I hope so, because I I think that the the the answer to so much of what's happening in the world today is community. And you know, when I look at the statistics around loneliness and I look at the statistics around depression, uh, and that the numbers are staggering, and then when you look at the numbers of sub-30-year-olds, it's even worse.

Sara Best: 17:40

Yes.

Mike McFall: 17:40

Yes that scares the that scares the willies out of me, right? And so what I am really focused on, and I think community solves that. You you if we can build communities and have people connect inside of a community with people that uh they they they care about and and they learn how to spend time together and they do things you know inside of that community, yeah. I feel like that is that is a a really important answer to uh what's happening in the world today.

Sara Best: 18:13

So yeah.

Mike McFall: 18:14

And in somehow, some way we have to uh learn to love people that don't we don't agree with. It's not it's not that hard, you know. Um and you know, without disclosing so much about my my politics, when I released my book, I ended up doing a radio interview with a very, very conservative um uh talk show host, and it was syndicated nationally, and the guy is a the guy was a big deal and very smart, you know. Yeah, like you know, and I went in and and I was I walked in and it was uh you know really, really conservative, and that's not my thing, you know. And so I was a little put off at first, you know. And I sat in the in this interview and I and I engaged with him, and it ended up being a top three interview I've ever done.

Sara Best: 19:09

Wow.

Mike McFall: 19:09

Right. It was just incredible, yeah. Yes, and and then he invited me, he said, Hey, would you want to stick around and listen to the rest of the show? And so I hung out in the booth with live with him for two hours, and then he and I had launched together um that day, and then we ended up getting together multiple occasions, and what we realized was, and I remember uh he had he had this breakthrough moment, which caused me to have a breakthrough moment, which was he looked at me and he said, You know, Mike, you and I are are different. He said, but we all want the same things, yeah. Right, and and yeah, and it was this really cool moment. Like uh, you know, I went into that thinking a certain, you know, I had a certain idea of of what he was. And you know, I was so wrong, right? I was just so wrong. I mean, he's a very caring, very smart, very committed. He just approaches the world a little bit differently than I do.

Sara Best: 20:07

Yeah.

Mike McFall: 20:08

Um and it doesn't make it wrong. But see, in community, you can you can reach those moments. Yeah if you're actually sunk into community, into a community with people. And that's that's what one of the things we're trying to bring.

Sara Best: 20:23

I hope CEOs and leaders are listening and and recognizing there's a little roadmap here. There are some steps you can take, and they might play out a little bit differently than they have for you and your organization, Mike, but they're the right steps. And look what they make available. That's what I think is so astounding to me. I have to ask this question. You know, there's a saying out there in the world of like coaching and therapy, like, hey, when you know, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Like it doesn't really matter who you work with, it matters that you're ready to take that next step. And so I'm curious, in your case, when it was time to be led through a process, did you arrive at the place first that said, yeah, we it's good, we're gonna do this? And then you had a person to help you, or did you have the person and then decide, you know what, it's time. How did that work?

Mike McFall: 21:16

I think we all need to live in a space or try to live in a space uh that we are open to new possibilities and and different ways of thinking. And you know, when you live that way, uh you know, so many CEOs, so many leaders honest to goodness think they have the answer.

Sara Best: 21:43

Yeah, or they think they have to. Yeah.

Mike McFall: 21:45

Yeah. And and and what I'm learning as I grow is that so many times my answer is not the right answer. And it's not my job to have the right answer, right? It's my job to facilitate an environment w that's collaborative with people bringing their best, and that group will end up at the right answer. So, you know, that to me that's uh that's just um I I mean I I mean I used to just think that I I I knew the answer to everything, you know, and um you know that was into my 40s, you know. Like I was still like really and so I think that um and I do believe that the world presents you opportunities that you just need to be open to them and understand what is a true opportunity for you in that moment. And then and then once you see that opportunity, it is about taking it and absolutely working it.

Sara Best: 23:00

Like giving it giving it your all.

Mike McFall: 23:02

Yeah. And and like and and really leaning into whatever that opportunity is, right? So, you know, I mean sensing what an opportunity is and then and then grabbing it once it's present is just critical. So I don't know if the teacher shows up when you need it. I I think that's probably I I think I agree with that. Like presents you the opportunity to learn when when you're ready for it. Yeah.

Sara Best: 23:28

Yeah. Such great insights for anybody who's, you know, struggling with how do I, how do I be a better leader? How do I show up for my team in a way that is impactful and is gonna take us into the future? Mike, is uh as we kind of head into our home stretch here, what are you up to these days? Like what are your favorite things that you're doing? I know you're in the life lab there at Big B coffee. Anything about that?

Mike McFall: 23:54

Yeah, no, there that's that's we've hit pause on Life Lab for now. Okay. It it will come back as a curriculum that we're creating. I talked about that that through that that thread from reality to this curriculum. What we've got to build that out some more. But what I'm excited about right now is is I mean, if I'm excluding my family stuff, there's a lot going on there that I'm very excited about. But yeah, professionally, um uh I'm I have an opportunity to work with the NHL to create a I hope a healthier product for youth hockey players. Uh the concept in its broadest term is I want to make house league cool again.

Sara Best: 24:38

Nice. Okay.

Mike McFall: 24:40

Yeah. And so, you know, I I'm I'm in I'm in sports. I've I've been an athlete my whole life. Um, and I just think youth athletics is a hot mess, right? And and and you know, we have all of these kids that are, you know, you know, every kid plays on a travel team, and every kid is like uh you know turned into a professional athlete at at nine years old, you know. It's true. And I just find it's crazy. So part of building community is giving kids a healthy environment for them to engage athletics. So I'm super excited about that opportunity. I've been for about a year. Um, and you know, I'm not sure where that's gonna end up. And then the second thing that I'm I'm excited about is the creation of a leadership retreat center. So I I've I've got that property purchased. Uh we're in the I've hired someone to manage it. Uh, we are developing a curriculum uh that we're gonna be engaging the world with. And that'll start to ramp up probably mid next year. Um we've been doing some things there, but that'll probably that'll be mid-next year. And then I I mean, I I I would be remiss if I didn't say that I'm I'm not excited about what's going on at our business. I mean we're we are it is growing. Uh it's just it's it's unbelievable to watch the growth that's occurring inside of Big B. I mean, it's really remarkable.

Sara Best: 26:00

And I don't even remember what the number was when we talked last. That was a couple of years ago. What are we up to now?

Mike McFall: 26:06

How many well yeah, I mean, we're we've we've got 440 stores.

Sara Best: 26:10

Yeah, 300. 440. Okay.

Mike McFall: 26:12

Yeah, 440-ish uh open right now and you know, building a lot of them. But probably the most exciting thing is is our our comparative sales, our year-over-year sales uh for stores that have been open at least a year is very healthy. And like that is, you know, we're that's beautiful. Like if we see it and so we've got a lot of really positive things going on inside the business. And then like this, the leadership team is so is focused on the the right things, doing the right things. I mean, they're doing it, and it's amazing to watch, frankly. It really is.

Sara Best: 26:44

Well, I I want to just say to the people that are listening, you know, this this could be you too. This growth and this clarity and the environment that you're able to cultivate for your people, this could be you too. If it isn't now, don't panic. Uh, there are people who are showing us how to do it every day. Mike, you're one of them. This is so great. Um, and I know I mean I can't remember. You have a whole mess of kids, if I remember. Like four of them. Four kiddos. And they're a little bit older now, but they're probably in the thick of it too. They're playing their sports and doing their stuff.

Mike McFall: 27:16

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got a 19-year-old and an 18-year-old, and I've got an eight-year-old, a five-year-old.

Sara Best: 27:21

Oh, yeah, that's right.

Mike McFall: 27:22

They still have the little ones. Yeah, they're they're but they're they're banging away. It's amazing. It's amazing.

Sara Best: 27:27

Well, it is just such a delight. I am so glad that we got to reconnect and I'm so glad to share, continue to share what you're up to with our listeners.

Mike McFall: 27:36

Yeah, thank you.

Sara Best: 27:36

Because it's really powerful. And uh, I'll be tracking you down again. Uh anytime.

Mike McFall: 27:41

I love it.

Sara Best: 27:42

Yeah. Uh when when the next book comes out or when you rewrite a different one, whatever you're doing, we'll be following. And Mike, we wish you the very best. Thank you for joining us today.

Mike McFall: 27:50

Thanks, sir. I appreciate it.

Sara Best: 27:51

Yeah, you bet. We'll see you next time on the Bosshole Chronicles.

Announcer: 27:59

Thanks very much for checking out this episode of the Bosshole Chronicles. It was so good to have you here. And if you have your own Bosshole story that you want to share with the Bosshole Transformation Nation, just reach out. You can email us at mystory at the Bosshole Chronicles.com. Again, my story at the Bosshole Chronicles.com. We'll see you next time.