The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - Magic and Logic: What Project Leaders Can Learn from Coach’s Billion Dollar Growth

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

Magic and Logic: What Project Leaders Can Learn from Coach’s Billion Dollar GrowthIn this episode of OWN. MOVE. ANCHOR., Kevin explores the balance between “magic” and “logic” in leadership, project management, and organizational growth.Inspired by a story shared on Masters of Scale episode featuring Lew Frankfort and the rise of Coach from a $6 million company into a global public brand, this episode breaks down what leaders can learn from combining people, purpose, momentum, standards, and repeatable systems.Topics include:• Why project leadership is more than timelines and metrics• How “magic” creates momentum, culture, and belief• Why “logic” builds scalability, trust, and consistency• The importance of understanding the “why” behind the work• Leadership lessons from Simon Sinek and Viktor Frankl• How portfolio and project leaders can build stronger, healthier teamsStrong organizations need both structure and humanity. This episode discusses how leaders can bring both together to improve delivery, engagement, and long-term success.References:Master's of Scale: How Coach scaled from a single store into a global iconWebsite: ownmoveanchor.comInstagram and X: @thekevinpannellThat is who I am, thank you for being who you are, and remember each day to own your mind, move your body, and anchor your spirit.Godspeed y'all,Kevin

Magic and logic. These are two concepts that have been around for a while, but that Lou Frank, the former CEO of Coach, that took it from a $6 million business to billion dollar business household name, affordable luxury, our focus areas.

So we focused on the magic of the people, of sharing the why, of building up the right people for the right jobs, of the combined vision forward, of building teams that worked well together, that communicated openly, that were honest with each other. But then he also relied on logic. That's the data to stay informed

and to help drive decisions or support decisions, and then repeatable processes and standards. And together, he, as a young protege, under the founder of coach, just really made that business explode. But the first thing he focused on, just like we used to call podcast was people, right? People process and progress. So his first focus was that why that Simon

Siddick has made so famous and that we all know, you know, Nietzsche and Frankl talked about he who has a why can bear almost any how, right? But the magic is in seeing people understand this is why we're taking these actions. This is why we're not doing this work. This is why we're making this change. This is why this isn't working, right? All of that magic is the relationships people have that they build when they're honest with each other, the momentum they can create. And it's an astounding thing. And it's for me as a leader, something that I encourage, and I'm glad I listened to this Masters of Scale episode that he was on when I was on a road trip yesterday. And I'm on the road now going through some great construction. So there's no magic here in

this rainy weather. But there is magic in the ability for a leader to talk with their team's openly, to tell them what's happening, to not let them be surprised by changes. And then also use logic to hold the team to standards that helps create transparency and predictability and create confidence because we're not hiding what's going on, whether it's good or bad, we're not, you know, sugar-coding the ugly truth of what's working and what's not. And that logic has to balance, you know, the visionaries that are magical with the data-driven folks that are using a lot of logic and you have to have all those components on your team. So as you listen to this five-minute Friday today, which is going to be a bit shorter than five minutes, just consider how are you

fostering the magic within the people on your team to know why you're doing things, how you can have shared purpose, how you can meet that together? Do you have the right people in the right roles, right? Or are they unhappy, are they not ready for it? Are they overqualified for it? There's a whole mix of that that it takes as a leader to look at. And then look at any logic that you're using or logic that you're not using. Are you not using data to help support discussions and decisions? Are you looking at the wrong data? You're just looking at, look at these numbers we're making of stuff we're getting done,

but how is that actually affecting the people? So how does the logic you're using circle back, and does it really create magic or does it just create a good-looking slide deck? But that's up to you and your teams. But I highly suggest you go listen to that Masters of Scale episode with Lou Frankfurt, who, again, took coach from $6 million to billions of dollars, took them public, broke out of their partnership that they had with Sarah Lee company, which was another thing I didn't know is that Sarah Lee helped pull coach up, but then Lou had to help build the company large enough so that they could break out or buy themselves out and go public. So if it worked for a brand as recognizable and as efficient as coach, they can probably work for our project teams, right, in our portfolio management and our department.

So highly suggest that you look for that episode of Masters of Scale. And in general, that podcast is really helpful. And then also go to own moveanchor.com for more from me, from other folks that have interviewed, books that I've written, Stability Equation, and People Process to Progress and Project Management. You can follow me on Exit Instagram at the Kevin Padnell. That's how I am. Thank you for being who you are.

Remember each day to try and own your mind, move your body, and anchor your spirit. God's meet you all. Thank you.