Read an Excerpt: Notes from the President and COO of Coca-Cola Consolidated, Dave Katz
In Gravitude, author Mark Bowling includes valuable insights on gratitude in the workplace from accomplished executives and entrepreneurs. Among these notable contributors is Dave Katz, the President and COO of Coca-Cola Consolidated. Dave’s reflections in the book offer a profound look into the company's mission, values, and its dedicated efforts to cultivate a culture of gratitude in their own unique way.
Who Is Dave Katz?
Dave Katz serves as the President and COO of Coca-Cola Consolidated, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. Even though Dave oversees a vast operation in his role, he still emphasizes the importance of maintaining a friendly, caring, and personal environment within the company. In Chapter 5 of Gravitude, Dave discusses the company's mission and values, highlighting their commitment to fostering a culture of trust and gratitude. His insights provide a glimpse into how Coca-Cola Consolidated integrates these principles into their daily operations and leadership practices, culminating in a healthier, happier, and more successful workplace.
Read an Excerpt by Dave Katz
“Currently, we have around 17,000 teammatesemployees. It's a big company, but we try to keep a personal, familial aspect. We strive to establish and maintain a culture of trust. Part of that culture is honoring our people and expressing gratitude for their hard work.
When it comes to actual day-to-day operations, our leaders spend a lot of time out in the field. Probably 15,500 of our teammates work in frontline positions. They work in the plants. They're in grocery stores. They're in our warehouses. Having leaders connect with teammates in the field creates relational equity that helps build trust.
A great example of this is what happened with frontline workers during the pandemic. Other companies were aggressively recruiting our teammates for their frontline positions. Over time, we have started to see some of our teammates come back. When we asked these teammates why they came back, a lot of what we heard concerned culture, such as: ‘I really appreciate the culture here. You guys look out for me. You look out for my family. You invest in the community.’
All these considerations go into building the type of culture that brought those folks back. Not all of them, but enough to say there's something here. You use the term ‘gratitude’ or ‘the force of Gravitude.’ We have our own term connoting something analogous. We call it celebrate.
It's a way to recognize teammates for a job well done. Geared around our corporate values, we habitually thank others for their contributions. For instance, we send out Celebrate awards. It can be as simple as just a card. I got one from a teammate the other day. It's not a gift. It's like a greeting card. In it the person thanked me for serving the team. Likewise, a manager could give one to a teammatean employee saying, ‘I'm going to celebrate you for your honesty and integrity because I saw what happened. That customer of yours asked you to do something outside of our values and you stood your ground and said, ‘No, I can't do that, even though it might’ve cost us some short-term business.’”
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To read the full interview with Dave Katz, which includes an inspiring story that exemplifies Coca-Cola Consolidated’s concept of celebrate (their version of gravitude!), grab a copy of Mark Bowling’s book.
Gravitude also features contributions from other thought leaders and seasoned businesspeople, offering a wide-ranging collection of perspectives on gratitude. These diverse voices provide the book with more nuance and novel ideas about the concept of gravitude. Don't miss out on these invaluable insights that are sure to inspire you and improve your workplace—order your copy of Gravitude today!
If your organizational culture is an example of Gravitude in action, please contact me. I would like to feature your story in future blog posts.
Gravitude can be found wherever books are sold! My favorites are:
Barnes & Noble (still love to support the brick and mortar)
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