Throughout my 30-plus years as an operating executive and public board chair, I have worked with countless organizations in the restaurant, retail, and consumer packaged goods industries. From my role as CEO of Jamba Juice, to high-level executive roles at multinationals like Gillette and Nestlé Purina, I have been all over the world and worked with many talented leaders. But one of the most impressive CEOs I’ve ever known is Todd Schnuck, the CEO of regional supermarket chain Schnucks, from my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Why? Because he has been dedicated to thoughtfully and methodically designing culture in his organization throughout his entire tenure.
In 1939, Anna Schnuck started a small corner confectionary in north St. Louis. A shining example of investing in organizational culture over time, Schnucks Supermarkets is still family-owned and operated and has grown to 115 stores throughout the Midwest. Schnucks is a familiar brand in my hometown and I have been grateful that his position on the board has given him more excuses to spend time with his family there. I’ve also been impressed with the vision evident in Schnucks’ leadership.
After 85 years in business, third-generation CEO Todd Schnuck is looking ahead to year 100. Since he took the helm as CEO a decade ago, and particularly in the last several years, Schnuck has put a renewed attention on the company’s mission to nourish people’s lives. As he did research on the company at the start of his tenure as CEO, he came across a striking line in an obituary from his father’s passing in 1991. “Don Schnuck did more than feed people. He nourished the community.” This inspired him to carry on this legacy and codifying nourishing people’s lives as the company’s True North.
While this has been their stated focus for years, it is only recently that there has been an energy throughout the company of truly living this value. Schnuck knew from the outset that this realignment would be a long-term project. His advisory board told him, “You’re just going to have to keep talking about this and talking about this and talking about this before it finally resonates.”He followed their advice, remaining dedicated to nourishing the lives of his employees, customers, and communities. It has paid off, with team members and the public alike taking notice of his efforts to build an intentional, beautiful culture by design.
The work the team has done of late has emphasized and nurtured what was always present. The company’s solid foundations are exemplified by the long tenures of their employees, including VP of Retail Operations Stacy Brandt, who started working at a Schnucks store 27 years ago. While Brandt originally thought of her position as simply a part-time job to help pay for school, she quickly realized she could build a career for herself at Schnucks. The roles she had as she took on wider responsibilities through the years gave her the opportunity to connect with people every day and explore many different aspects of the business. Brandt made the point that Schnucks is not only a family business but also a business of families. Case in point: she met her husband while they were both working at Schnucks.
During our interview, Brandt and Schnuck talked to us about the impact of the work they’ve been doing with the Center for Intentional Leadership, facilitated by Mike Whitehead, the firm’s founder. They’ve implemented new feedback mechanisms to drive culture and performance. One is the Live 360, a process in which each key leader on the executive team receives live cross-functional feedback from their peers to increase their awareness of how their strengths and weaknesses are perceived by colleagues, and to accelerate the agility of decision making and collaboration. The other is their sports-inspired “Game Film” review, used to review the implementation of big projects like building a store or launching a new product or marketing campaign. A force multiplier for the culture design they’ve already done, the work around intentional leadership has three central pillars: be present, be relational, and be at cause. As we are faced with a constant stream of distractions, it has never been more difficult or more important to practice remaining present.
Schnuck and Brandt both have plaques on their desks reading “Be Here Now,” a reminder to fully commit to their work and teammates. The words appear around the office and living this value has made a difference, with one employee even putting up a “Be Here Now” sign on his back door at home to remind him to be present with his family. Schnuck told us, “People have commented about how it’s had an impact on their entire life and that goes back to nourishing people’s lives.”With this kind of dedication to people and humanity, I envision Schnucks Supermarkets nourishing people’s lives for many years to come. If you care about the long term success of your company, you should take a page out of their book and make continuous, thoughtful investments in designing your culture.
Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from Culture Design: How to Build a High-Performing, Resilient Organization with Purpose . Copyright 2025 James D. White and Krista White. All rights reserved.
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