The Five Rules: Transform Your Culture for Yourself, Your Team and Your Family

By Stephen D. Black

What if you could simplify your leadership and life down to 5 simple rules?

Culture transformation is not some complex, unattainable goal. It starts with a doable plan that can be repeated throughout an organization or home to pave the way for a cultural reset.

The 5 Rules, author Steve Black shares 5 rules he learned over 45 years of leading thousands of employees and teams across the United States. He boils each rule down to only the essential principles that produce results for professionals. Steve and his wife have also used these same 5 rules for decades to strengthen the family bond and to develop strong, generational leadership.

For those looking for rock-solid advice on transforming any culture, The 5 Rules is the place to start!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Release date: Dec 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781636982021

Stephen D. Black

Author Stephen D. Black is a leadership-focused coach with over 45 years of experience in the conventional and organic space of retail grocery. He is the founder and CEO of A Brighter Day, a business and leadership coaching firm based in Colorado, where he brings together his business expertise and his passion for fostering personal and team growth. He is actively involved with the National Grocers Association and the Retailer Owned Food Distributors and Associates. He and his wife, Melanie, along with their daughter Taylor live in Colorado and enjoy spending time outdoors on their four-wheelers, trout fishing, photography, and traveling to see their two sons, daughters-in-law, and six grandchildren.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Wouldn’t you love it if everyone in your life followed the same set of rules?

In The 5 Rules: Transform Your Culture for Yourself, Your Team and Your Family, I set out a simple set of expected behaviors, behaviors you can expect from yourself and others. Once you truly understand the depth and simplicity of them, you can use them in your daily life and in all your relationships, both professional and personal.

The 5 Rules have served me well now for over two decades. These rules are very alive and well in my family, my sons’ families, and those of my grandchildren. They have also leveled the playing field in my work life. I have decades of testimony from people who have implemented these rules in their businesses and personal lives, and they’ve truly made a difference. I hope they will do the same for you.

A former business associate of mine, Mr. Tony Stafford, who worked for Valu Merchandisers, a subsidiary of Associated Wholesale Grocers out of Kansas City, Kansas, first introduced me to his three rules. He allowed me to borrow a couple of them and expand them to my five rules.

I have discovered these rules over my 45-year career in the retail grocery space, where I went from managing stores in one state to managing stores in 14 states. My humble beginnings were as a produce manager in Weatherford, Oklahoma, managing just a few people. Recently, I retired from my role as President and Chief Operating Officer for a Gulf Coast grocery chain operating in three states. In this role, I have had the privilege to serve over seven thousand team members out of our headquarters in Thibodaux, Louisiana. During my work life, I was fortunate enough to lead many business departments, including operations, marketing, information technology, and sales and purchasing. I have discovered that the best part of the 5 Rules is that they are effective in all locations and in all departments. I’ve always said, We are in the people business; we just happen to sell groceries!

We are in the people business; we just happen to sell groceries!

Expected Behaviors, which are the foundation of each rule, are a challenge in our world today. People come from different backgrounds and have different upbringings and personal histories, and their worldviews vary greatly. These rules have a way of bringing everyone together on one page. They allow us to hold each other accountable. When anyone breaks one of the five rules, we can have a calm conversation and discuss our level of commitment to the rules. They also give us a path to move forward, unified and resolved that our lives will be better as we follow