How Did I Get Here?

Gene Lee

President and chief executive officer, Darden Restaurants
from
  • Education
  • Framingham North High School, Framingham, Mass., class of 1979
  • Worcester State University, Worcester, Mass.
  • Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University, Boston, class of 1996
  • Work Experience
  • 1976–88
    Busboy, dishwasher, chef, manager, general manager, director of operations, York Steak House
  • 1988–96
    GM, vice president, senior VP for operations, Pizzeria Uno
  • 1997–2007
    Executive VP for operations, chief operations officer, president, Rare Hospitality International
  • 2007–13
    President of specialty restaurants, Darden Restaurants
  • 2013–Present
    President, chief operating officer, interim CEO, CEO, Darden
  • Life Lessons
  • “Leaders define reality and provide hope.”
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  • “Sleep on your big decisions and then be decisive.”
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  • “Be around people you like to be around.”
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  • As a Pop Warner player, 1971
    “I was a wannabe athlete. I thought I was going to be a football coach, because my uncle was a successful one.”
  • “I went for one year and decided to go into a management-training program at York Steak House. My father didn’t talk to me for about three months.”
  • “Five York Steak Houses were sold to Pizzeria Uno. I had to start all over again as a manager in training. It was humbling.”
  • With Olive Garden team members, 2015
  • Darden acquires Rare Hospitality, 2007
  • “We’re at $7 billion in revenue, 150,000 employees, and 1,550 restaurants. Our culinary innovation is what gets me excited, like our Olive Garden breadstick sandwiches. There are always a couple things coming out at each brand.”
  • “There are so many parallels to sports: It’s competitive to see how many guests you can do and how low a labor cost you can run, and managing was like coaching.”
  • Ringing Nasdaq’s opening bell to celebrate Rare’s 25th anniversary, 2006
  • “We owned LongHorn Steakhouse, Capital Grille, and Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse. Our primary challenge was how to get control of all these restaurants with our brand name on them that franchisees owned and operated.”
  • “It was a difficult transition—I gave up responsibility for LongHorn, which was like giving away a child.”
  • With his wife, Amy, and daughters Samantha (far right) and Jamie, 2012