Dave Keil

4-time franchise CEO. Mission: honoring God by loving my family well, sharing life lessons and scaling companies for good.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

I will retire on October 1st after 38 years of leading teams at Frito-Lay, General Mills Ecolab, Haagen-Dazs, HoneyBaked Ham, Pure Barre, The Lash Lounge and Franworth.

My next chapter will focus on family, relationships, coaching CE0s and advising companies who are scaling - both non-profits and those in franchising.

Over the next 30 days I’ll share a few lessons learned along this journey - in hopes it provides an insight or sparks an action or change in you. Check out at https://t.co/sjPYDLD7Uc for more.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

@TylerPurcell24 Happy birthday Tyler!

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Congrats @pronounced_kyle! What a perfect fit for your skill and value set, and can't wait to see your impact at @a16z

[Christian Keil @pronounced_kyle]

https://t.co/6si9W60a2j

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

@pronounced_kyle Congratulations! As your dad, I'm blessed to have witnessed the formation of your value set as optimist, father, builder, communicator and thought leader. As a business leader, seeing you in this role makes me very optimistic for our future, and I can’t wait to see your impact

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

@pronounced_kyle Congratulations on an incredible run, the embodiment of 'ad astra per aspera'; I will never forget watching the launch last year with you. Astranis was the perfect role for this phase of your career, and it warms my heart to know that you and the team did it the right way.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

@pronounced_kyle Thanks for keeping your father as a connection ;)

[Christian Keil @pronounced_kyle]

hosted a Chipotle dinner in SF and everybody went to public school

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

@ChiragP1021 Congrats @ChiragP1021, can’t wait to come visit!

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

My grandson has things at Cape Canaveral in good shape as @Astranis and @SpaceX launch 4 satellites this evening!

[Christian Keil @pronounced_kyle]

Don't worry folks.

The rocket is in good hands.

[Ti Morse @ti_morse]

Here's my conversation with Christian Keil (@pronounced_kyle) a VP at Astranis and host of First Principles

Christian is helping connect the world using high-orbit satellites at Astranis while creating a hardtech startup playbook with his podcast First Principles

It's here on X and also on YouTube and Spotify. Links in the comment.

Timestamps:
0:40 Pronounced Kyle
3:42 Christian’s Parents
6:36 Religion
8:56 Science Fiction & Anti Memes
11:28 Sports & Debate
17:54 University Of Michigan
21:10 Target & Deloitte
28:36 Why He Left Consulting
32:01 Business School
35:24 Logo & Design Businesses
38:42 His First Startup: Drect
50:29 Joining Astranis
56:17 How Astranis Finds Great People
1:05:31 Working At The Chaos Stage Of A Startup
1:07:02 Creating The Hardware Startup Playbook
1:14:51 First Principles
1:21:58 Hardest Thing He’s Overcome

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #30: Joy

As I head into a season of retirement, this is the last of 30 lessons on purpose. Thanks for following along. Check out https://t.co/sjPYDLD7Uc for more

Here are a few lessons I have learned about how to bring more Joy into your life:
•Get outside of yourself: I have found that caring for others, versus myself, brings more joy

•Take responsibility: those who take responsibility for their lives are more joyful than those who constantly blame others or ‘circumstances.’  When we ‘own’ our joy, then we can start adding to it

•Be Thankful not Wishful: I work to relish the blessings I have, versus wishing or hoping for other things.  The great Stoic, Seneca said it well; ‘A wise man is content with his lot, .. without wishing for what he has not’

•Simplify desires: satisfaction may be defined as what we have ÷ by what we want. To seek Joy the trick is reducing the denominator, focusing on the few things that bring true Joy, not seeking more to have or having a bucket list of desires

• Watch what you watch: to increase Joy we should arrange our lives so that joy is natural and sin and greed are not.  Our brains need to process what we put into them, via what we read and watch, so consider the connection between the joy you feel in your soul, versus the content you see and hear. My (unscientific) finding is that joy, and what you see and read are very closely related

•Be present: Satori is a Zen concept that teaches attention on resting in the present moment, allowing the body to become alert, relaxed allowing emotions to be free and open.  Our greatest blessings in this life are within us, or just within our reach, if we pay attention them

•Stop: Nathaniel Hawthorne likens joy to a butterfly that ‘when pursued is always beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you’.

Happiness (or sadness) is often an emotional response, a reaction to some external thing, akin to a laugh at a funny joke.  It can be sought, and fun – but is often shallow and fleeting.  

The cool part of Joy is that it becomes part of you when developed and nurtured; it is not something you just feel, it is who you are.  I feel a sense of calm, peace and joy when I do the things above – and with practice believe Joy can be part of each of our natures – forever.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #29: Joy vs Happiness

Happiness and joy are two different things. 

Happiness depends on happenings, the events and circumstances in our lives, and is fleeting.  No one can be truly happy all the time, as none of us are immune to bad or sad things in our lives.  What we can learn is that Joy is deeper and can last forever. 

Today we will explore this idea of Joy vs Happiness, tomorrow I will share ideas on seeing more joy:

1.Self:  most of us spend most waking hours, and often many sleeping hours, thinking of ourselves.  This isn’t bad – we view life though our own eyes and experiences, control our decisions and actions, and ‘me’ is the only actor we get to be in the ‘play of life’. Happiness is a victory for the lead actor in our play – we are happy for that promotion, our kids report card, our team winning or when someone is kind to us.  Joy can transcend self – and is akin to love. We feel joy when we know the love of a spouse or child, or a feeling of belonging or security – this feeling isn’t fleeting, but deep-set and permanent.    

2.Time:  if you seek to be happy, then you will always be moving from here to there – seeking happiness.  The feeling when you get a new car or pair of shoes fades over time, and we need new things to make us happy. Joy is being here, and still, and at peace with what you have – not chasing.

3.Western worldview: the US was founded with a mission, our ‘pursuit of happiness’. I am a product, and understand the power, of capitalism and meritocracy that reward a select few over others based on how they perform in achievement and earnings.  Certainly, physical possessions and money can bring us happiness, but only to a point.  A Daniel Kahneman study shows that earnings over $75,000 do not make us happier.  While you may find that hard to believe, the point is that our Western worldview has conditioned us to believe that money, power and status bring us happiness.  Some of the most joyful people I have ever met – some ‘disabled’ or ‘poor’ as defined by society – are among the most joyous.

4.The Science: Arthur C Brooks wrote about happiness and joy and believes between 44-52% of happiness comes from our genes, 10-40% is based on our circumstances and 8-46% based on our habits.  Part of the variation on the stuff we can control, our habits/behaviors, is that we quickly get used to our circumstances (physiological homeostatis) – so even when we get new things, happiness wanes as we get used to the new state.

Our shot at Joy is focusing on habits that transcend self – areas of faith, family and friends, all with an underpinning of love, are the essence of breaking though the uncontrollable and getting off the ‘hedonic treadmill’.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #28: Stoic lessons

I have faced tragedy and hardship in my life.  I also face each day with thankfulness and joy, in part due to my faith, family and friends, and by using teachings from the Stoics.  

Stoics taught that most of what people seek in life – health, wealth, pleasure and power – are not inherently good nor bad, but that virtues, like justice, courage, wisdom and discipline are the only ‘good’. 

While we don’t control what happens in our lives, but we can control how we react to what happens.  Here are a few of the ways I have incorporated Stoic life lessons into my own approach to life:

1.Acceptance is important: 
I have found that angst and fear come in the hiding of issues rather than facing them head on. 

Stoics teach us to love fate (Amor Fati in Latin) an attitude of seeing everything that happens in our lives, even pain and suffering, as good, or at least necessary. 

I truly believe that there is always a WAY through a tragedy or hardship – and that optimism and and belief in the way through makes a solution 10x more likely.

2. Build an Inner Citadel:
The Stoics believed that we should build an Inner Citadel, a cache of tools and thinking that can be called upon in times of need.   I think of it as a place inside me of peace and contentment, despite what is going on outside. 

For me these tools include breathing, exercise, walks in nature, waking up every day thanking God for the positive things in my life, and always believing that a positive outcome is possible in every situation.  

3.Action is key:
What I enjoy most about Stoicism is that it is a philosophy of action, not just contemplation.  Stoics teach thought, action and then acceptance. They don’t just dream, expect and wait.  

Some of the most unhappy people whom I have met I would describe as ‘stuck’.  Stuck in unhealthy habits, relationships – stuck waiting for something to change – stuck watching the news, wallowing in the evil and bad in the world.  My experience has shown that those most joyful are not those who have seen no tragedy, but those who have faced adversity – and moved their way though it.

https://t.co/aEE5a0y2Bt Joy: A Stoic phrase often used today is Memento Mori, and another way I have used to ‘unstick’ myself. A Latin phrase meaning ‘remember you must die’.  While it sounds morbid, I believe that remembering that we are not immortal reminds us to seek the joy in life, that every day is a gift, and that we must actively seek to

I hope these ideas may be helpful for you to see the world from a new perspective, accept and adopt to the challenges you face, and act – doing what you can.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #27: Exit Well

There is a right (and wrong) way to exit an employee from a business.  I have personally experienced leaving a company well, with a heartfelt gathering of co-workers saying farewell, telling stories and celebrating my contributions; I have also left a company over a weekend and had my office contents shipped to me in boxes. 

Lessons for the company:
* Endings are important: Any change, like an employee leaving a company, is a form of loss.  Humans need milestones in times of change (e.g. birthday or New Years’ celebrations) emotionally allowing us to move from the end of something to the beginning of another.  While not as traditional as an employee onboarding – a formal exit ceremony, or at least a clear memo, is important to signal an employee’s exit. 

* Honoring those leaving, honors those who remain: I like to hold a small event reminiscing about an employees’ accomplishments, saying thank you and just saying farewell.  Treating someone with dignity and grace says much to those who remain; it reinforces the culture and character of a team that care for one another.  

* The business world is small: If you send an employee off well, chances are they will refer future employees or clients to you, and will speak fondly of their time under your employ – even if leaving was not their idea. 

* Exit interview: Holding an exit interview is a simple way to solicit insights from someone who has nothing to lose by giving you honest feedback.  Some of the best feedback on my leadership style and unseen issues at the company have come from my simple questions to someone leaving the firm.

Lessons for the one exiting:
* Land it well: Last impressions are lasting, so if you leave with positivity, your former work associates will maintain a more favorable lasting impression of you, and enhance your brand in their eyes.

* One box rule: I once had 9 boxes of files, pictures, deal trophies and notebooks transited between offices. No one needs 9 boxes of stuff, so I have since vowed to keep keep no more than one box of personal effects at my place of work.  As much as you love your company, you are hired to do a job, are replaceable and there is rarely a need to have so many personal belongings surrounding you. 

* Keep work and home information separate: For years I used my work email and shared files to conduct personal business – legal, financial and family stuff.  These emails are property of your company – so keep a separate email and filing system for work and personal items.

I hope this proves helpful as you leave, or celebrate someone leaving, your place of work – with grace.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #26: Over Communicate

Clear communication is critically important in any organization and the larger the organization the more simple, clear and consistent messages need be.

A few communication tips I have adopted over my career:
- High order first: I always start communications (presentations, zoom meetings, org announcements) with the company vision or mission, key objective or big hairy audacious goal

- Frequency: I like a cadence of weekly direction and priority reinforcement and monthly all-hands meetings with results reviews and strategy/key initiative updates

- Variety: my style is formal memos and emails, but I mix in long form notes, presentations and video as folks consume messages differently

- Repeat / repeat: while it may seem redundant, I believe leaders need to repeat messages 3x more than they think necessary to ensure clarity and penetration into the organization

- Themes: linking prioritizes to an overall theme is helpful and can rally the team - and allow the leader to have fun

- Honest and open: the most important point is to be open, transparent and honest with communications. Fessing up to mistakes is a great way to build trust vs always being polished

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons On Purpose September series #25: Meeting Rule Book

Meetings are powerful when used well, and an incredible waste of time if done poorly.

Some grounding:
-       American workers attend 35-50 million meetings each day, some 3 per manager per day, over 5 per day for executives and about 1 per days for everyone else
-      Poor meetings are like a sporting event with no game clock, no score and no field.   Who would do that?
-       Most of us spend 2+ full days per week in meetings with no agreed tenets, or rules of engagement
-       Meetings would be much more effective and even enjoyable if we all agreed to abide by these simple rules

Meeting Rule Book: 
1.    Define the purpose: every meeting should begin with ‘the purpose of this meeting is …”  This principle ensures alignment and significant improves focus and outcome. It is OK to have different meeting purposes: some are information sharing, others for making decisions or creating new solutions. But every meeting must start with a well defined purpose. 

2.    Ensure proper attendance: everyone attending a meeting should know why they are there, and attendance should include no more nor fewer people than required to achieve the purpose.  It is taboo in some companies to miss a meeting, and I have seen many ‘over-attended’ meetings, where people want to just ‘see what happens’ or fear missing out.  If people do not speak during a meeting, it is a good indication that their attendance was not required and their time could have been better spent adding value in another way. 

3.    Have an agenda: every meeting must have an agenda, sent out at least 24 hours in advance.  This ensures pre-thought by the meeting organizer – on purpose, attendees, expected outcomes and timing.

4.    Start and end on time: most meetings are typically set for one hour in duration.  In my experience most ‘one-hour’ meetings could accomplish just as much within 30 minutes – if organized in advance.  Having time tension is a good thing when multiple people are gathered together, particularly in information sharing, or decision making settings.  The creative process may take longer – but think before you default to 60-minute meeting times, do the math: 2% of someone’s workweek x 10 attendees = one full time equivalent work day

5.    Crisp actions and dates:  this clarity is what is missing from most meetings. Leaders should ensure a clear list of what is required, by whom and when as part of meeting notes, communicated within 12 hours of meeting adjournment.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #24: Endurance

As a young business leader, I operated as if speed was the key to success; with age and experience I now believe endurance and excellence in execution are more important than speed.  

I’ve led many projects that rushed to get a business plan and funding in place, and I’ve seen several partnerships entered into too quickly.  In each case, these ‘speedy’ projects required rework, and took more time than if we had slowed down and built the program to endure.  Slowing down and creating time to think and plan creates a depth of understanding that impacts my own well-being, adds joy and results with lasting business impact.

Here are a few lessons I have learned on building enduring value in our businesses, and in ourselves:
1)     Endurance is the steak, not just the sizzle: I challenge teams to focus on adding value to our end consumer and to build products and programs to last (the steak), versus only building demand and marketing our idea (the sizzle).  

2)     Endurance is aiming before firing: Often the energy and excitement of starting a new venture (workout, diet, project, …) is more invigorating than thinking about the details necessary to bring it to life.  But enduring value starts by clearly defining the end goal (or problem to be solved).   The first step I take as a leader is to set a very clear, simple goal, that is widely understood.  This ‘aiming’ allows the whole team to execute together. Ready (create the idea), aim (establish the end goal), then fire (execute) creates enduring value.

3)     Endurance is living with uncertainty and grit: David Brooks, author and NYTimes columnist, suggests that endurance in our lives is “remaining quiet in the face of uncertainty because no conjecture will really tell you what is coming. Endurance is the knowledge that the only way out is through and whatever must be borne will be borne.

4)     Endurance is execution. My experience in consumer-packaged goods and retail has convinced me that there aren’t that many truly new ideas.  The winners, in the long run, are those who execute best.  A perfectly executed OK idea trumps a poorly executed perfect idea all day long.  Focus on execution for lasting impact.  

One of my favorite leadership stories is that of Ernest Shackleton, who led an expedition to the South Pole in 1914-1916, in his boat named Endurance. He started by seeking a first-mover advantage; he wanted to be the first person to walk across Antarctica to get to the South Pole. When his team of 28 encountered serious issues, he re-aimed, and re-invented the team’s goals, executed the plan, kept things simple and survived seemingly insurmountable odds.

He wasn’t the first to get to the South Pole, in fact his team never even made it to the continent. But Shackleton endured – he adjusted his aim from the South Pole to survival of 29 people.  He never wavered from that higher level goal, and led the men in activities that maintained their sanity and established order in times of uncertainty; they kept a strict routine of duties, ensured good interpersonal interactions and a sense of camaraderie.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #23: Lotion Your Knees

I just met up with a good friend from 30 years ago. We were close, and he helped me through the toughest experience of my life - the death of our second child.

He said he wanted to share a life lesson I shared that had stuck with him for over 30 years. I was flattered - maybe it was how best to deal with a loss, something I shared about relationships, or a deeper faith issue? I have made sharing life lessons part of my mission on this earth, have a blog at https://t.co/KbRdPHD9Mm and do it to help others. So I now was to hear what impact it had on my friend…

His reply: ‘You taught me to lotion my knees.’

What?! ‘Yeah, lotion your knees so they don’t get sunburned while playing golf or sitting in the stands of a game. ‘

This advice was alright I suppose, but not groundbreaking or life changing.

That exchange reminded me of a few things:
⁃Our words matter and people remember what you share
⁃It isn’t up to us to define what is impactful in others. Our role is to give and offer help - and it is received how it is received

The most important insight = don’t take ourselves so seriously. We do our best and take the wins and impact with joy not expectation.

As a bonus - I’ll bet my friend hasn’t had sunburned knees for 30+ years!

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #22: Dangers of Inbox Prioritization

Don’t let others set your to do list.

Many of us begin our day at our workspace or mobile device by checking email. The task is rewarding, you start your day by taking action – deleting junk emails, responding to requests for your counsel or approval, catching up – and it feels good as you feel productive.  I love the feeling of trimming the email inbox, and have often set a target of getting them down to one page on the home email screen.  

Dangers: However good it feels, there are dangers with email driving the first minutes or hour of your day:
•Rabbit trails: what begins as a desire to pick off a few easy emails, often leads to diving into a matter and chasing it.  One email becomes a chain or emails, setting off a new body of work or discussion.  Before you know it you are solving new issues, setting up new meetings and working on a matter that is certainly urgent but perhaps not important.
•Prioritization: checking emails allows other to set your priorities versus you setting them.  Whomever sent you an email at 2am, is now creating the first thing you see when you start your day, and before you know it, their urgent request is driving how you engage in your work day, and prioritize.

Solution: to avoid the dangers of your inbox driving your prioritization is to start your day by sitting in a quiet place and creating a list of what you will accomplish today.  Use a small piece of paper, or electronic version, and you decide what will get your attention and time today.

Several best practices:
•split to-do lists into those involving communicating with others: calls, emails, setting meetings or other correspondence and those requiring your time working, thinking, writing, developing, leading etc.  
•create your priority list at the end of the prior work day, when your brain is engaged, allowing for a quick review and refresh as you start a new day
•keep your list visible throughout your day – and check items off as you go
• consider reviewing Stephen Covey’s urgent/important 2×2 matrix – a great tool that helps segment tasks into those urgent and important (needing attention now), and prioritizing those important yet not urgent, ver those urgent yet not important

This practice of being intentional about what you will accomplish in a given day will improve productivity and performance, allowing you to proactively drive your day vs being driven by reacting to emails other have sent you.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #21: Admonish in Private

Praise in public and admonish in private is a great mantra for performance feedback.

I am naturally an encourager, catching people doing things well and recognizing them for it, and I believe most people enjoy an encouraging word and being recognized by their peers.

Coaching someone for improvement is more tricky. I was scolded in front of others during a union grievance meeting over 35 years ago, and swore to not manage via verbal chastisement in public.

A few tips:
⁃Coach in private, where the target of the coaching won’t be embarrassed or challenging, but open to receive it
⁃It must be delivered in a timely manner, and is less effective if delayed, even 24 hours
⁃Give examples in themes and specific instances
⁃Provide feedback in writing, for those leaders who need time to process or mull it over. I frequently take notes of area for improvement during a meeting and provide it directly after.
⁃Seek feedback from a leaders’ peers to add depth and legitimacy to your coaching. I typically keep it simple asking what advice peers would give to a co-worker to start, stop and continue.
⁃Be clear: I remember firing someone who didn’t realized they were being fired until they asked me if that was happening. Now I lead with ‘I have bad news, today will be your last with the company.’ Then I get to the ‘why’ and ‘what now’
⁃Be vulnerable and share ideas you have received similar feedback that you are giving, and examples of how you improved
⁃Be direct

You know you nailed it when someone thanks you for providing coaching or admonishment. Most folks seek to improve, and the best performers love constructive feedback - and it is key to building a high-performing team.

[Dave Keil @DavidAKeil]

Lessons on Purpose September series #20: Imperfect Information

Executives and entrepreneurs make decisions based on imperfect and incomplete information every day.

It took me a while to understand this. As a high school and college student, and then an engineer, things were black and white. There is a right answer in math, chemistry, physics - a science to decision making using statistical process controls.

I remember the first time I was in the room with a CEO of a Fortune 200 company, and saw that he made a decision on incomplete data, weighing capital market response, human impact and return on investments, and didn’t read my very detailed analysis. He trusted my proposal.

My approach to decision making as a business leader:
⁃Proximity: I believe those on the team closest to the end consumer have the best insights

⁃Data: open data sharing facilitates better decision making, and increases speed

⁃Problem: I ensure that the problem is well defined before we try to solve it

⁃Sharing: I often share how I came to a decision, to teach others so they understand

⁃Trust: I delegate and make deliverables clear, and trust my team to make decisions

⁃Analysis: in business, often 80% of the data is sufficient to make a good decision and speed and quality of execution are more critical drivers of value (and sure this calculus is different for surgeons and rocket scientists)

⁃Getting to yes: I often ask folks to give me something to say ‘yes’ to, to ensure that their pitch is focused

Good analysis is imperative to business decision making, but these other factors are as influential in many executives’ minds as they weigh decisions.