{"id":52,"date":"2013-10-01T19:28:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T19:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kindeconomy.wpengine.com\/?p=52"},"modified":"2018-08-02T20:17:37","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T20:17:37","slug":"getting-really-clear-remembering-fritzi-woods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/?p=52","title":{"rendered":"Getting Really Clear; Remembering Fritzi Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 18th<\/sup>, 2013, we lost one of the most beloved and respected leaders in\u00a0our industry.\u00a0 Fritzi Pikes Woods died unexpectedly at the age of 53, leaving behind a remarkable family, legions of friends, and multiple churches and communities that she served so faithfully throughout her life.\u00a0 Her impact on the foodservice industry, primarily through her leadership as CEO of the Women\u2019s Foodservice Forum, was extraordinary.\u00a0 In a remarkably short few years, she inspired and motivated literally thousands of men and women, transforming the organization into a premier leadership development engine. \u00a0\u00a0She called on all of us to \u201cAspire Higher\u201d, and to own our uniqueness and our potential.<\/p>\n

Mike Rawlings, former CEO of Pizza Hut, and current mayor of Dallas, talked about Fritzi\u2019s contributions to the city and her uncanny knack for knowing where the path should lead.\u00a0 He recounted that there were many times when she would gently remind him, \u201cWe can do better\u201d.\u00a0 Maybe it was that relentless belief that we can all do more, be more, give more, and love more that made her such a magnetic leader.\u00a0 She made everyone feel more capable and appreciated.<\/p>\n

In August at the Executive Summit, I shared a study group with Fritzi.\u00a0 Cheryl Bachelder was our speaker, the topic was servant leadership, and the exercise was remembering the best advice you ever received from a boss.\u00a0 Fritzi told me the story of an interview she had early in her career, for a position that she felt well qualified to fill.\u00a0 Ten minutes into the interview, the man conducting it cut it short, and sent her on her way.\u00a0 He admonished her to go home, and to get really clear \u2013 about why she wanted the job, what she believed she could contribute, and what she would need from him to succeed.\u00a0 She went home, got clear, went back, got the job, and her storied career is history.<\/p>\n

I vowed that day, to myself and to her, that I would do the hard work of getting really clear about some very important things.\u00a0 Now I believe that the only way for me personally to honor her legacy and her work is to constantly seek clarity, in my life and in my own work.\u00a0 Yesterday morning I sat in a room full of industry leaders who are working on the gargantuan but achievable task of ending childhood hunger in the US.\u00a0 Fritzi supported that mission; she was a tireless advocate for those who have less, and of course believed that we can do better.\u00a0 It occurred to me that it is becoming really clear that our industry should own ending childhood hunger.<\/p>\n

Clarity is a gift to us and to others.\u00a0 It creates a filter that starts to make setting direction, establishing priorities and making decisions easier.\u00a0 Of course if we are not clear, we may someday realize that our time is up, and that we have not really fulfilled our unique potential.\u00a0 It\u2019s not easy.\u00a0 But I am really clear, that I can do better.\u00a0 Thank you Fritzi.\u00a0 It will be a long time before the pain subsides, but in the interim you will be remembered as someone who inspired the best in all of us.<\/p>\n

All of us at People Report and Black Box Intelligence send our prayers and condolences to the remarkable Gouldsby, Pikes and Woods families.<\/p>\n

If you would like to contribute to a scholarship in Fritzi\u2019s honor,\u00a0please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 18th, 2013, we lost one of the most beloved and respected leaders in\u00a0our industry.\u00a0 Fritzi Pikes Woods died unexpectedly at the age of 53, leaving behind a remarkable family, legions of friends, and multiple churches and communities that she served so faithfully throughout her life.\u00a0 Her impact on the foodservice industry, primarily through her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":53,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekindnesseconomy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}