It’s one of those ideas that, once you truly see it, permanently changes how you think about the grocery business. You may even look back later and realize it was one of those moments that quietly—but decisively—turned the tide in your leadership style.
Over the last few months, you’ve heard some consistent themes:
This month’s lesson ties all three together in a very practical way. This isn’t theory. It isn’t motivational fluff.
It’s about how leaders think.
It’s about how leaders decide.
And it’s about how leaders treat the company’s money.
Because leadership shows up most clearly in the decisions we make when no one is watching—especially when numbers are involved.
The Simple Formula for Business Success
The #1 formula for success in business has not changed and I’ve shared it many times:
We take care of our team members.
Our team members take care of our customers.
Our customers reward our shareholders.
This formula works and only in this order. It always has.
But here’s the reality:
Great culture without financial discipline doesn’t last.
Strong financial results without leadership discipline don’t scale.
Both matter.
The Numbers Side of the Formula: Data
If you know me at all, you know this already—I’m a data freak. And I mean that in a good way.
Data doesn’t replace leadership instinct.
It sharpens it.
Data doesn’t remove judgment.
It informs it.
I validate my thinking and expand my understanding of the business through data. When leaders consistently use data as the foundation for financial decisions, they dramatically increase the odds of making the right call.
Data is the starting point—not the finish line.
But it has to be translated correctly.
Percentages feel soft. And you don’t take percentages to the bank.
Dollars feel real. And you take dollars to the bank.
If you don’t know how many dollars your percentage represents, you don’t really know the number you need to focus on
A Lesson from the Front End: Cashing Checks
Early in my career as a store director at United in Oklahoma, we cashed checks in every lane.
One of the stores I ran sat right on I-40, which meant we saw people from all over the country driving through. It was always amazing to me the checks we would accept that looked completely bogus.
But we were a customer-driven company, and we didn’t like telling customers no.
The result?
We’d sometimes get hit with runs of bad checks—several in a day or across a short stretch of time.
So I gave my management team a simple rule:
“If you would pull out your own billfold and cash that check, then cash it. If you wouldn’t—don’t.”
That one sentence changed behavior immediately.
Why? Because it forced leaders to mentally convert company money into personal money.
Suddenly the decision felt different.
Suddenly the risk felt real.
This lesson works great for many of my clients that are ESOP companies – because the reality in that world is in fact YOUR money – so it’s easier to treat it that way!
The Same Rule Applies to Buying
Later in my career, when I was leading center store purchasing teams, I’d walk stores and see product that stopped me in my tracks, and I couldn’t believe we bought it to sell.
High-dollar items that barely sold.
Quantities that tied up cash for weeks or months.
Product that looked good on paper but didn’t make sense.
So, I introduced another rule—almost identical to the check rule:
“If you’d pull out your own checkbook and write a check for all this product, then it’s probably a good buy.”
Again, behavior changed.
Not because people suddenly became expert merchants—but because the decision now carried ownership.
Leadership isn’t just approving purchases.
Leadership is asking the right questions before the purchase is made.
The Danger of Percentages Without Dollars
Here’s where things get uncomfortable.
We have leaders responsible for making the company financially successful who lose thousands of dollars through:
And too often, the reaction is… casual.
Why?
Because percentages don’t hurt the way dollars do.
A half-point of margin doesn’t sound like much.
Until you convert it to dollars.
Shrink doesn’t sting.
Until you see it on the P&L.
We must always know how many dollars the percentage equals. Always.
Inspect What You Expect—Everywhere
Think about this.
We check in bread vendors at the back door with a fine-tooth comb. Every loaf. Every discrepancy. Every dollar.
Yet we’ll unload a wholesaler truck worth tens of thousands of dollars, assume everything is correct, and immediately start working the load to the shelves.
That makes no sense.
The issue isn’t trust.
It’s discipline.
Leadership requires consistency—especially when money is involved.
When Margin Misses Become “Normal”
We’ve all heard it.
A department misses margin week after week, period after period. When questioned, the explanations and excuses come quickly:
Here’s the leadership question that cuts through all of it:
What if this was your money?
If someone dipped into your checking account every week and pulled out thousands of dollars, you wouldn’t rationalize it.
You wouldn’t normalize it.
You wouldn’t wait months.
You’d act immediately.
And yet, that’s exactly what’s happening to the company’s checking account—every single day.
Delayed reactions turn small problems into big ones.
Leadership Requires Urgency
True leadership creates urgency without panic.
It recognizes issues early.
It responds quickly.
It puts guardrails in place.
Missed margin, poor buying, excessive shrink, and labor misses aren’t just operational issues.
They are leadership issues.
And standards that aren’t enforced eventually disappear.
The Weekly Leadership Challenge
Here’s the challenge—not just for this week, but going forward:
Treat the company’s money like it’s your money.
Because a dollar is a dollar—no matter who owns it.
If leaders at every level embraced that mindset, the numbers would change. I guarantee it.
Where else does a single store manager or buyer have the ability to influence thousands—or millions—of dollars with no personal financial risk?
Nowhere that I can think of.
That trust is a privilege.
And it carries responsibility.
Rule #1 and Rule #5: The Math Version
This lesson connects directly to two core leadership rules from my book on The 5 Rules:
Rule #1: Do Your Job (Math Version)
Know your numbers. Understand the dollars behind the percentages. Act quickly.
Rule #5: Protect the Brand
The future of the brand depends on leaders treating company dollars with the same care as their own.
Every bad buy weakens the brand.
Every missed margin erodes trust.
Every disciplined decision strengthens the future.
Final Thought
Leadership isn’t just about people, although that should always be our number one focus.
It’s about stewardship.
When leaders think like owners, act like owners, and decide like owners, everyone wins—the team, the customer, and the company.
Remember this:
A dollar is a dollar—no matter who owns it.
And how you treat that dollar says more about your leadership stewardship than anything else.
