21st Century Leadership
Toconnicer Parker

Abstract
Gigi Butler, also known as the Cupcake Queen, is an entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of the World Famous Gigi’s Cupcakes, a multi million dollar company with over 90 locations in 23 states across America. Gigi’s Cupcakes has established itself as the premiere cupcake company in the Unites States and can boast of 35 million dollars in annual sales. The company as a whole staffs over 500 employees through 90 and counting franchise stores and two original stores owned by Gigi Butler herself. Gigi’s directive leadership style, her attitude of not giving up and her talent to brand her business model to not favor anyone else’s has made her a standout and given her the ability to corner the cupcake market.
21st Century Leadership Gigi Butler is a proven leader. At the young age of 15, Gigi knew she didn’t want to work for anyone else. She wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and have complete ownership of her business. This plan led her to open her own cleaning company. Her life’s dream was to become a famous country singer and the best way to support that dream was her cleaning business. She packed up everything and moved to Tennessee where she thought her dreams could definitely become a reality. Fast forward 10 years and she’s stuck in the same place. She gets a phone call from her brother with an idea about a cupcake shop and she takes it from there. Little did she know what was in store for her. Gigi took a risk and made the game changing move to open her own cupcake business. At the age of 30, she left her cleaning business and singing career lurking in the shadows. In order to be successful and effectively manage this much business, leadership skills have to come into play. Gigi’s ability to let the employees and franchisees know what is expected from them, set standards and work ethics to comply with her brand and giving guidelines for task completions all determine that Gigi Butler is definitely a “directive leader”. In an interview with The Little Pink Book, which is a blogging website that interviews leaders who offer encouragement and inspiration to others, Gigi advised that her leadership style is that of a multi-tasker and delegator. Because of her hands-on approach, she also teacher her employees – in a positive way – to be multi taskers as well. Gigi inspires her employees to achieve certain goals for the success of the business. She portrays an instructional type of leadership style where she tells them exactly what she needs for them to do and exactly how they need to get it done. This is a leader that makes sure she guides her group as to avoid uncertainty. The organizational structure of Gigi’s cupcakes is a simple one. Behaviors and values contribute to the environment’s organization;. This includes the expectations Gigi expects from her employees and franchise owners as well as what they can expect from her. Gigi also recognizes that value is what holds a company together. One value is how the company deals with its customers. When a new store opens, Gigi poses a few questions to the new franchise owners. How do you want people to see Gigi’s cupcakes? When someone mentions the store, are they speaking about it in a positive light? How do you want them to feel each time they walk in? How do you want them to feel when they leave? She’s instilling in these new owners that she wants them to portray a positive self-image. Let the store and the experience the customer receives speak for itself and make sure it’s positive. So positive that if someone mentions cupcakes, Gigi’s will be the first company that comes to mind. Another organizational structure and culture of her company includes her inner workings. This details who is in charge and what person is delegated to perform what task. This culture eliminates the cause for any confusion and lets employees know their goals and objectives. Gigi makes it very clear what is expected of each franchise owner and employee. On a recent episode of “Undercover Boss” where Gigi’s cupcakes were showcased, the culture of her business was vastly discussed. Gigi wants things done her way, which is a reflection of her directive leadership. She treats her employees fairly but also wants to make sure guidelines are followed to a tee. This includes not straying from recipes and making sure her signature swirl is always executed properly. Her employee development plan and human capital approach is to make sure each employee and franchise owner receive proper training and development. Once that’s done, the talent is placed in the correct position. She states that “you want to have the right person doing the right job”. Therefore, proper evaluation of skills are assessed. A person with a great personality and attitude will most likely be in the front of the store since that person has now become the face of Gigi’s cupcake and can now make or break the customer experience. Gigi’s hands on approach leadership has definitely enhanced workplace productivity. She makes sure all franchise owners and employees have complete knowledge of the business and are accountable for their stores. She makes sure each store is setup to comply with the brand and that everything is uniformed across the board, including recipes. Another way she improves productivity is to recognize, motivate, encourage and reward her employees and encourage her franchise owners to do the same for a job well done. On an interview, she stated” I like to show up at every opening. When I show up and have my apron on and frosting all over my face and I’m working my butt off, that motivates people. Gigi Butler is an effective leader. The meaning of leadership according to the Management Textbook is that “it’s the process of influencing others to achieve group or organizational goals”. She has a sharp perception and can perceive how others view her and her company. She know her organization because she founded it. She know the purpose and goals of the company and how to achieve them because she created them. Emitting these strategies to employees and franchise owners takes good communication skills. This includes motivation teams, a lot of risk taking, and more importantly, setting visions. She informs them of where they are going as a company and how they are going to get there. This also assists in gaining customer loyalty. When you first walk into a Gigi’s cupcake shop, it smells like sugar and ice cream at the pool and immediately takes you back to those carefree summers frolicking around the pool at a birthday party and they’ve just rolled a freshly baked cake out on a cart. The stores are whimsical, beautifully decorated and actually a pleasure to be in. Then there’s this vast of amount of magnificent and exquisite cupcakes that leave you gasping for air at the mere sight of them all. Once you’ve selected you little explicit joy, its presented to you in the cutest little treasure box. That’s what called giving a customer more than they expect. Another way she gains customer loyalty is to stay in touch with the customers via emails and various offers for discounts. Gigi wants to ensure that you don’t forget her company and that her company doesn’t forget you. She wants her name to be synonymous with cupcakes. There are all sorts of ways you can motivate your employees and transform your company into an employee powerhouse. Gigi gets to know her employees and franchise owners on a personal level. She chats with them and gets to know their personal lives, but not too personal. Working closely with the employees at the two stores she actually owns – all other stores are franchises – Gigi works right along with the staff whenever possible. She has to maintain a balance between work, family and travel. This move makes the employee feel you can be trusted and will make them work harder to keep and maintain that trust. Another way to motivate the employee is to create a pleasant atmosphere. Gigi’s cupcake stores are such a pleasure to visit, I’m sure its awesome to work there as well. The ambience is fun and family friendly. If other leaders want this environment, they have to make adjustments to the workplace. For instance, keeping the office at a reasonable temperature. Too hot and the workers feel sleepy and intimidated. Too cold and the workers can’t produce as effectively and this also tends to make the workplace seems less friendly. Keeping the noise to a minimum which means eliminating problematic sounds and disruptions also causing a slow down in productivity. Also, greenery help because it creates an atmosphere of being at home or someplace other than a dreadful beige and brown cubicled office with black leather chairs that’s supposed to be ergonomically correct. Lastly, motivate employees by promoting team work and ensuring that people enjoy and value their jobs. Enthusiasm is the key to success in this area. Be actively involved and engaged with your employees. This will make them more dedicated to you and will make them feel as though they have a personal investment in the company, therefore, producing far greater results than those that feel alienated and disconnected. After reading reviews of what its like to work for Gigi’s cupcakes, 90% of the responses were that it was fun and the people were great. They regretted not having any other type benefits other than free cupcakes, but the overall consensus was that they enjoyed their experience and would recommend the job to other young people as long as you were still covered by your parents insurance because Gigi’s does not offer a benefits package. This is okay for young people, but when its time to get into the real world, benefits will be a major factor in finding employment. Other business leaders can learn from this by making sure they offer desirable benefits packages. Pay is also a major factor as well, but most often than not, a potential employee will be loyal if the benefits are worth having. Sections can have subsections with headings. For example, a Method section might have Participants, Materials, and Procedure subsections. The sixth of the APA manual, unlike earlier editions, tells you to bold headings (but not the title above or anything on the title page). Below are examples.

References Gigi’s Cupcakes(2009, August) Employees Policies and Manual. Retrieved from: http://owner.gigiscupcakesusa.com/assets/1672/gigis_employee_policies_and_manual.pdf

Gigi’s Cupcakes (2014, February 13January) Gigi’s story. Retrieved from: http://www.gigiscupcakesusa.com/gigisstory

Schmidt, Brad (2015, February 11) Gigi’s Cupcakes CEO details “Undercover Boss” experience. Retrieved from: http://www.tennessean.com/story/life/food/2015/02/09/gigis-cupcakes-ceo-details-undercover-boss-experience/23118311/\

Cox, Carolyn (2013, May 20th) Little Pink Book – A beautiful Life. A beautiful career. Retrieved from: http://www.littlepinkbook.com/gigi-butler-founder-gigis-cupcakes/

Ewan, Beth (2015, January) Rocky Road to Stardom for Gigi’s cupcakes. Retrieved from: http://www.franchisetimes.com/January-2015/Rocky-Road-to-stardom-for-Gigis-Cupcakes/

Taylor, Kate (2015, February 18) Take it from a cupcake maker, Entrepreneurs are comfortable being uncomfortable. Retrieved from: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243049

Payne, Charles & Kazin, Matthew (2015, February 20) The Sweet smell of success of Gigi’s cupcakes Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2015/02/20/sweet-smell-success-gigis-cupcakes/

Faiwell, Sara (2015, February 04) Gigi’s cupcakes founder Gigi Butler gets Behind-The-Scene look at Bakery Franchise. Retrieved from: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150204005961/en/Gigi%E2%80%99s-Cupcakes-Founder-Gigi-Butler-Behind-the-Scenes-Bakery

Siegel, Josh (2013, Nov 6) Doing Business as Gigi’s Cupcakes. Retrieved from: http://www.yourobserver.com/article/doing-business-gigis-cupcakes