José Cil -- WSJ
August 17 2019 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
CEO, Restaurant Brands International Inc.
By Heather Haddon
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 17, 2019).
Less than a year after José Cil secured a regional-manager job
at Walmart, the former Burger King executive got a call from the
new head of his old company. Daniel Schwartz, the then-30-year-old
CEO installed by private-equity firm 3G Capital LLC to shake up the
fast-food chain, was trying to lure him back.
"I thought it was crazy. I had just left," Mr. Cil said.
Mr. Cil returned, and he credits Mr. Schwartz with changing his
career's trajectory and teaching him the importance of personal
involvement in hiring. As the new chief executive of Restaurant
Brands International Inc., Mr. Cil says he seeks counsel from
advisers including a Jesuit priest and a pizza-chain executive
about the right questions to ask, not necessarily what he should
do.
Here, four trusted advisers:
Daniel Schwartz
Co-chairman of Restaurant Brands' board
When Mr. Schwartz called upon him to return to Burger King, Mr.
Cil said, the burger chain's new owners didn't know much about
running restaurants, but they understood the importance of tapping
talent.
"A lot of folks outsource the acquisition of talent to search
firm, recruitment firms," he said. "The most powerful resource to
bring in talent is me, it's Dan, it's us. We are our own chief
people officers."
Messrs. Cil and Schwartz have since traveled the world together
scouting for new places and people to open Burger Kings.
Father Guillermo "Willie" Garcia-Tuñon
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School president, Jesuit priest
Mr. Cil and Father Garcia-Tuñon attended the same Miami Catholic
school founded by Cuban immigrants, and he turns to the Jesuit
priest for counsel on "major fork-of-the-road decisions" in life.
"He's been instrumental, not so much in telling me what to do, but
guiding me through his questions," Mr. Cil said.
Jim Hyatt
Chief Executive Officer, California Pizza Kitchen
Mr. Hyatt was Burger King's chief operating officer when he
encouraged Mr. Cil to shift to operations from legal. He has
instilled the importance of keeping franchisees happy to stay
profitable in a fast-food company, Mr. Cil said. "He's instilled in
me how important it is to appreciate and respect what franchisees
do. They are investing their own blood, sweat, tears and money into
the business," he said.
Elsie Romero
Chief Administrative Officer, Restaurant Services Inc.
Ms. Romero hired Mr. Cil for his first in-house counsel job at
Burger King, and has helped him understand the importance of
emotional intelligence since, he said. "I didn't understand the
power of relationships and connections," he said. Now an executive
for Burger King's supplier cooperative, Ms. Romero led a forum at
Burger King that helped women advance at the company. Mr. Cil said
it exemplifies 3G's focus on leadership culture.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 17, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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