blue bell, greg bustin executive leadership blog

For Whom The (Blue) Bell Tolls

  1. July 7th, 2015  | 

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Published in Organization Health

There’s no Blue Bell ice cream this summer.

Blue Bell issued a general recall in April after products tested positive for Listeria.

The recall forced the company – the nation’s third largest ice cream company behind Nestle’s (makers of Häagen-Dazs and Dreyer’s) and Unilever (makers of Ben and Jerry’s and Klondike) – to lay off 1,450 of its 3,900 employees and furlough another 1,400 employees.

What makes the recall even worse is that reports indicate bacteria problems have existed at Blue Bell since 2010. FDA reports paint an environment where warning signs were underestimated or ignored.

What warning signs might you be ignoring in your business?

“No man is an island,” wrote English poet John Dunne in 1624. “Any man’s death diminishes me…therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

About the Author: Greg Bustin advises some of the world’s most admired companies and leaders, and he’s dedicated a career to working with CEOs and the leadership teams of hundreds of companies in a range of industries. He’s facilitated more than 250 strategic planning sessions, he’s delivered more than 600 keynotes and workshops on every continent except Antarctica, and he coaches leaders who are inspired to take their career to the next level. His fourth leadership book— Accountability: The Key to Driving a High-Performance Culture (McGraw-Hill) —is a Soundview Executive Best Business Book.

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