Transcript
Introduction
Patrick
My guest today is Frank Blake. Frank is the former Chairman and CEO of Home Depot. I recently interviewed Home Depot Co-Founder, Ken Langone, and became fascinated by the business's impressive lineup of leaders through the decades. Frank led the company from 2007 to 2014 and shares how he carried on the legacy of Ken and others, upholding their culture of an inverted hierarchy and producing seven consecutive years of growth for the largest home improvement retailer in America.
We discuss his hyper-focus on solving their customers' problems before their own, investing time into the employee experience and his intentionality with how he is perceived as a leader. Please enjoy this discussion with Frank Blake.
The Inverted Pyramid
Patrick
When I did my episode with Ken Langone, he talked a little bit about this notion of the inverted pyramid that was so incredibly powerful at Home Depot. But then when I have learned and asked around since then, I've learned that really you were an architect and steward of that concept. I would love to spend literally as long as we can or you would like to on this very powerful idea in all of its ins and outs, not just at the consultant PowerPoint level but at the deep nitty-gritty level of why this is such a powerful way of thinking about leadership.