Have You Unwittingly Become the Cracker Barrel of Energy Leadership?
Are you unwittingly becoming a soulless & sterile leader akin to Cracker Barrel’s new logo?
What image do people see when they think of you, your company, or your industry?
How will a tasty giveaway at the 2025 Women's Energy Network Shale Insight Happy hour remind you to take a serious look at your brand of leadership?
For help answering those questions, check out Episode 119 of The Energy Detox.
Then register for:
1) The September 17, 2025 WEN happy hour, sponsored in part by Witting Partners; and
2) The Marcellus Shale Coalition’s SHALE INSIGHT® 2025 conference
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Did you know that the Haymaker brothers who drilled the well were in search of oil, not gas?
Did you know that there are two cocktails inspired by natural gas that can serve as refreshing reminders of how you can be a more effective leader?
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Inspired by the Marcellus Shale Coalition's SHALE INSIGHT® 2024 conference, 400 bottles of maple syrup, and Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point, Episode 94 of The Energy Detox will help you answer those three questions.
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Transcript
(AI training in progress; please excuse any errors)
One of the biggest stories of the past week has to be Cracker Barrel's decision to change its logo from what you see behind me to something that many have described as soulless, cold and not necessarily representative of what you might think of when you think of Cracker Barrel. And so today on The Energy Detox, we're going to take advantage of those headlines and not necessarily opine upon Cracker Barrels decision to change or the impact, the negative impact on its stock price following the announced changes.
00:28
But instead, we're going to take advantage of those headlines so that you, as a leader in the energy industry, can better control what people see when they hear your name or the name of your company or the name of your industry. But in addition to those things, a couple other goals today, one of which is to spend a little bit of time opining or at least offering some insights on my own company's logo, that being the light bulb that companies most of the materials that I put out there associated with winning partners. And the other related item today is to talk about a logo related giveaway that will be occurring at the shale insight conference as part of the women's energy network Happy Hour occurring on September 17, that ties together the logo of winning partners and the vision, the goal, the mission, of so many people involved in the natural gas industry who will be gathering in Erie, Pennsylvania as part of the shale insight conference.
01:22
And so we'll actually start right there first with a bit of a plug for the women's energy network happy hour that, again, will be occurring on Wednesday, September 17, because it is one heck of an event that's been occurring now for the last several years. And as part of that event, winning partners is once again a signature drink sponsor. So in addition to a signature drink that's still coming together. One thing I do know for sure is that I'll be giving away a couple 100 of these little light bulbs here that, again, somewhat mirror the image the logo of Witting Partners, but hold a lot more significance now. That significance we'll get into a little bit more as we get closer to the event. But in essence, it's a reminder that you know what the light bulbs in your house, the light bulbs that are powering Well, a lot of society, they all hinge on energy, and in particular, natural gas. And again, we'll save more of that explanation for another day, and we'll save some of the tie ins between all these light bulbs that will be filled with M & M's. In full disclosure, here, they're filled with a combination of M & M's and Skittles that I could find around the house that are at least yellowish in color, with a few brown ones sprinkled in to, of course, match the old and new Cracker Barrel logo.
02:28
But again, most important thing is, I'll put a link here in the show notes so that you can go ahead and register for that event. Even if you're not formally attending the Shale Insight conference, you're more than welcome to attend (the WEN event). It's a free event. And again, winning partners is happy for the fourth year in a row now to be a proud sponsor of that women's energy network event. That being said, what is the giveaway? Why am I giving away light bulbs here? What's the significance of the light bulb in the winning partners logo?
02:54
Well, when the company was formed back in 2019 there were many people who said, You know what, Joe, a light bulb is a bit cliche. There is no shortage of companies that have light bulbs, but nevertheless, I felt it important to have something that signified energy, especially the end result of energy. Again, I don't think there's any better end result than the lights that allow us to enjoy or not enjoy a 24/7 existence here in 2025 so the energy tie in was clear. But in addition to that, one of my goals as a coach and starting a coaching firm, of course, was to shine light on the many ways that people might be unwittingly limiting their odds of success, unwittingly putting their foot in their mouth, unwittingly doing things that are damaging their teams, their company, and perhaps even their industry. And so part of my job is to ask questions and to, again, bring in insights that help people see more clearly, a pathway to sustained success.
03:48
But beyond that, and beyond, again, the tie ins to the light bulb. If you look at the logo in more detail, you'll see a W in the middle, which, of course, stands for winning partners, although, after the fact, I realized it could also stand for West Orange, New Jersey. That W there. West Orange, New Jersey. My hometown, which also happens to be where you can find the Edison National Park, the Edison Museum and laboratory and Thomas Edison's home, where, of course, you will find no shortage of tie ins to what the light bulb, in addition to all of that inside the logo, you'll see including the W lots of sort of a hub and spoke, lots of little connections there, little dots, little things connecting things together, again signifying the importance of identifying those small connections, especially those hidden connections that, again, could be stifling your success, that could be weaker than you realize. In addition to that, in the middle of the light bulb, you'll see something that is reminiscent of both a tree and a brain.
04:44
Now the tree on the inside there a greenish color signifies the tagline of winning partners, that being fueling sustainable leaders. And the tree is a nod to the conventional term for sustainability, that, of course, being friendly to the environment something that. So again, you can do in concert with the environment, and perhaps to even improve the environment, while also moving society forward, which of course, is what the natural gas industry that you can learn all about at Shell insight here in a couple weeks, will be doing. But in addition to that, that trio is also reminiscent of a brain, the brain your tool, your supercomputer, if you will, that you can train in many ways to be a more effective leader, which again, is my job as an executive coach, to get you to the point where your brain can act in a very conscious, intentional, but also fast manner, and also in a manner that produces sustainable results, positive results for you and everybody that you influence. So there you have it. That's the winning partners logo, the light bulb logo, that, again, is inspiring this giveaway here, which, again, will be filled with only M and M's not some combination of candy from Easter, and I think even Halloween that I was able to found, find in my house here.
05:53
But that being said, let's move on to the heart of the conversation today, that being you, that being your industry, that being your company, and while many episodes of the energy detox focus upon what you want other people to say, to think about when they hear your name, when they hear your company, when they hear the name of your industry, today we're going to focus on the image, because this is a great tool and a great exercise that I do with lots of different people. And that is, hey, if you have to draw an image or paint some sort of scene of what you want people to think of when they think of you, or what you want to think of yourself when you think of your personal and your professional life. What's in that scene? And again, it might seem like kind of a hokey exercise, but as we've seen here, thanks to the Cracker Barrel story, it's pretty critical, right? Cracker Barrel got rid of the scene. Was it uncle Hershel here behind me, that's no longer on their primary logo. Yes, they're going to preserve it on their menus and other areas, but that's what people see. If somebody says, Cracker Barrel, you can see Uncle Hershel. You can actually see the barrel, at least you used to be able to see it. So when it comes to you, what do people actually see? If they close their eyes and they hear your name, or again, your company's name, or your industry's name. What is it that they actually see? It's a great exercise, and thanks to the beauty of AI, now you can even plug in a verbal description of what you want them to see, and it can actually spit out some sort of image, what's in there, who's in there, to the extent they see you doing something, what is it that you're doing?
07:19
I mean, I know for myself. Obviously, I don't dish out homework without doing it myself. Without doing it myself. For me, it's the image of me, perhaps, as a silhouette sitting across from another individual, intently listening, focused on that individual, with lots of things sort of blurred in the background, the energy industry, scenes of the energy industry, all those things that are certainly on my mind that fuel my unique brand of coaching, but at the end of the day, it's me and another individual. And even to the extent it's a group of individuals, if you've been a part of any workshops or anything that I've done for larger audiences, it still attempts to boil down to those one on one connections, much like the connections there that make up the inside of that winning partner's light bulb, that, again, makes up my logo, my brand, the company of winning partners. So that being said, if you had to design a logo or, better yet, a painting, a scene, what would it look like? What would be in it? This is a great exercise. And again, if you happen to be listening or watching this, leave a comment, shoot me an email. I'd love to know what's in your scene. And better yet, I think you would want other people to know what's in your scene, because that's the point, right? What do you want them to see? What do you want them to think of when they see your logo?
08:28
For future visitors of Cracker Barrel again, who roll up here, they're not going to see this sign behind me. They're going to see something that doesn't really tell much of a story. Doesn't necessarily have the same tug, the same emotional impact that an image with a person and a barrel that people have been used to seeing for decades has you can do the same thing and you can avoid the mistake, or again, the, you know, maybe the downside of the decision that Cracker Barrel has made to rebrand in a way that has literally cost them one point upwards of $100 million I think the stock has recovered a bit since then, but again, it has very real ramifications, and those are the type of things that you can do right now with your own time here to make sure that you don't suffer the same unwitting consequences.
09:13
That being said, I'd be remiss not to point out that, you know, with all the tie ins here between my brand and what I do and the world of energy that the Cracker Barrel that I'm happening to be standing near today is also over my other shoulder, near one company headquarters that is synonymous with energy, synonymous with electricity, and that, of course, is Westinghouse, the Westinghouse business, and Westinghouse certainly in the news more over the last couple of weeks, thanks to the summit that occurred in Pennsylvania here recently about AI and energy, Westinghouse, again, has been at the forefront of the energy revolution, providing those crucial electrons to power light bulbs like this, or maybe not this light bulb, but certainly light bulbs like this that are also powered by the plastics that are made from two other companies. That are in the building over my shoulder there, that being PennEnergy Resources and Seneca Resources, two natural gas companies that, again, don't just produce things like the sign behind me and this plastic light bulb, but also help produce those electrons that power our lives.
10:13
So again, when you think of companies like Westinghouse, when you think of companies like Seneca resources or PennEnergy, again, you probably don't think about their taglines. You probably have some sort of image in your mind, whether it's the image of a nuclear reactor, whether it's the image of a drilling rig, whatever that happens to be, companies and brands want their stakeholders to have a positive, or at least representative image. Same thing for you, when you close your eyes, or when other people close their eyes and your name comes up. What do they see? That's your challenge. That's your homework. Again, that's the invitation to you to share with me and anybody else what you come up with for your image, both a verbal description or better yet, a visual. And with that, once again, the other invitation is to the shale insight conference, and in particular, the women's energy network shall incite happy hour that will be occurring on September 17, sponsored in part by Witting Partners, where you and all attendees, or at least the first 400 or so, can walk away with one of these light bulbs representing my company's logo, representing your connection to the energy industry that powers light, electricity and all kinds of wonders of our modern world, including powering restaurants like the one behind me here.
11:24
So that being said, as always, thank you for tuning in to The Energy Detox. Have a great rest of the day, and look forward to joining you here next time on this hopefully unique and entertaining podcast. With that, take care, thanks again, and bye for now.