Panera Bread Leadership Style

Having a great leadership and effective planning can occur in several different ways and can sometimes be misconstrued. Regardless if it is in a workplace setting or your personal life, we must always try to live by the word of God. Panera Bread’s leadership approach closely mirrors the company’s attitude towards fulfilling the consumer’s needs. In this paper I will provide a breakdown of Panera Bread’s leadership style and also look at the company’s unique practice that is similar to having a Christian World View.

Leadership

Panera’s viewpoint revolved around the idea of “being better than the guys across the street” (Gamble, Peteraf and Thompson, 2013, p.333). This idea gives you a look into how all companies really view the business operations and/or the accomplishments or lack thereof. All companies try to find its competitive advantage. Having the competitive advantage allows the business to stand-out amongst its competitors. Because Panera has been viewed as a company that follows servant leadership, it requires that the company rely on the following features: ability to listen, compassion, influence, forethought and responsibility. As stated by Spears, “servant leadership requires the aforementioned attributes to be present in order for

the leadership to be effective” (2004, pp.7-11).
Unique Practices
Panera Bread’s extremely effective practice began with the company dodging the “hard sell or in your face marketing approaches” (Gamble et al, 2013, p.340). Marketing has always been a driving force where consumers are concerned. Marketing can make or break a business depending on how innovative the business can be. It is all about the marketing approach that is used to entice a consumer to purchase a product. Using different marketing approaches can also be very risky if it does not prove to be successful. However, Panera’s strategy ended up being very effective for the company in the end. This in your face strategy is sometimes a detriment to a business and can do more harm than good. This requires a company to know and understand their customers when trying to come up with a good marketing strategy.
Panera Bread implemented a program that would reward their customers for their loyalty to the company.

When the MyPanera Loyalty program was created it proved to be beneficial to not only the customers but also to the company as a whole. It was vital for Panera’s management team to realize that the success of the company was dependent upon gaining customer loyalty. Understanding consumer demand was the key to Panera’s success. Corporate Social Responsibility is a great asset for all businesses to possess. CSR is relative to the servitude attribute that is notated in Mark 10:45 that states, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (New International

Version).
Features that replicate a Christian World View
Panera Bread follows a Christian World View in the manner it reaches out to the consumers. It would be disastrous for any company to neglect the needs of the community. Showing appreciation to the community in which the business serves could prove to be one of the best marketing strategies to use. Panera relies on the community to help grow the business. According to Panera Bread’s website, “We have always challenged ourselves to find new ways to help out in the communities we serve. Working with Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks, is one way we do just that.” This is exactly what the bible tells us to do. We must help our fellow man in times of need. Hebrews 13:16 states, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (New International Version).