Nothing Bundt CEO Dolf Berle on Vulnerability in Leadership
Nothing Bundt Cakes CEO Dolf Berle says vulnerability helps leaders connect with their teams. In an interview with FOX Business, he also described lessons from…
ceo sunday nothing bundt: Dolf Berle says vulnerability helps leaders connect with their teams. The Nothing Bundt Cakes chief executive told FOX Business that lessons from his first job on a dairy farm still shape how he leads the company and cares for himself.
Berle said openness helps leaders understand and support their teams. He also prefers to deliver difficult news himself, explaining that he wants colleagues to understand why a decision is being made and how it serves the business and team.
“The best piece of career advice that I've received is that it's OK to be vulnerable because people connect through vulnerability,” Berle said.
Lessons from the dairy farm
Berle said the discipline he developed while working on a dairy farm as a young person continues to influence his approach. He described the routines he learned there as useful both for self-care and for running a business.
“For me, the habit that has made the biggest difference is the discipline around success routines – both in terms of self-care, but also running a business – that came out of my youth in dairy farming,” he told FOX Business.
Before leading Nothing Bundt Cakes, Berle held leadership roles at Topgolf, Dave & Buster's, Lucky Strike Lanes, House of Blues and ClubCorp. He earned degrees from Harvard University and the University of Zimbabwe, won world and national championship medals in pole vault, heptathlon and decathlon, and competed on “American Ninja Warrior,” according to FOX Business.
His advice has a practical consequence for workplace relationships: Berle links vulnerability with understanding what team members need, while taking responsibility for communicating difficult decisions directly. He said he wants to explain the reasons behind those decisions and remain considerate of their effect on the people receiving the news.
Why he handles difficult conversations himself
“When there's something very difficult or very hard that needs to be conveyed to a partner or to someone you're working with, I like to do that myself because I really want to explain why we're doing what we're doing,” Berle said.
He added that leaders should be compassionate about how difficult news affects people, while making clear that a decision is intended to benefit the business and team going forward. For Berle, that responsibility is part of the job rather than a task to pass along.
Berle also rejected the idea that the chief executive role is glamorous. He described it as a service role involving some of the most difficult work, while saying it can still be meaningful and fulfilling.
For people considering careers in food and beverage, he pointed to two priorities: finding the right people and joining a growing business. He called the industry a people business, saying workers should respect and enjoy time with their teams.
“And the second one is that I think the most joy comes from being part of a growing business,” Berle said. If he were not leading Nothing Bundt Cakes, he said, he would try to become the next Mr. Rogers.
Source: foxbusiness.com
