The Lean Business Practices of a Deli

In the Business901 podcast, The Aroma of a Good Vision Ari Weinzweig, CEO and co-founding partner of Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, MI shared the “secrets” that have helped take Zingerman’s from a 25-seat, 4-person start up to a nationally known, $40,000,000-organization employing over 500 people. this is a transcription of the podcast.

In the book series, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, part 1 offered up the “secrets” behind Building a Great Business, and now part 2, takes a look at the leadership style that has helped make Zingerman’s such a special place to work and to eat. While everything in the book draws on what Ari and others have learned and live at Zingerman’s over the three decades since the Deli first opened back in 1982, all of the material is totally applicable to organizations of all sizes and scopes—it is, as Ari says in the introduction, leading towards a new way to work.