Four Exits. Five Owners. One Consistent Leadership Story: Jeff Kiesel, Restaurant Technologies

When November comes around, it signals the last meeting of the year for the Good Leadership Breakfast series. This year, I’m really excited to welcome Jeff Kiesel as the final speaker on November 13. Jeff is Chairman of the Board after recently retiring with 21 years as the President & CEO of Restaurant Technologies. Under his leadership, they grew from 12 to 41 markets nationwide, adding more than 1,200 employees – creating nearly $1 billion in annual revenue.  

The numbers are impressive, but the leadership story behind them is what interests me most.

Many mid-market CEOs guide a company through one ownership transition, but only a few lead through four successful private equity transactions. When I did a quick search, I couldn’t find any CEOs who earned confidence of five consecutive private equity ownership groups – Jeff did exactly that for over two decades.

Why does this matter?

Less than 50% of CEOs make it to the fourth year on the job – even with the same ownership. When ownership changes, the CEO is often the first to go, because new investors bring new expectations, financial performance is scrutinized, and leadership teams are evaluated. At every stage of that process, Jeff continued earning the opportunity to lead. For me, that represents a lesson in healthy accountability.

Healthy accountability is not about pressure, control, or compliance. It is about building trust through clear commitments and consistent results. Leaders who create cultures of healthy accountability get performance because their people and teams know where they fit, why they matter, and they help one another be accountable. 

Jeff’s track record reflects those principles.

Throughout his tenure, Jeff prioritized company culture, values, and community impact. He championed the RTI Educational Foundation, helping raise more than $1 million in scholarship funding for employees’ children. Restaurant Technologies also earned recognition as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces from Newsweek and received multiple Best Places to Work honors from the Minneapolis/St-Paul Business Journal and the Star Tribune. 

Those achievements raise important questions for leaders at every level:

• How do you create results in ways that build a healthy culture?
• What leadership behaviors sustain a balanced scorecard of confidence from employees, customers, investors, and communities?
• How do you stack up short-term wins into consistent long-term value for all stakeholders? 

On November 13, we’ll explore those questions in a candid conversation with Jeff. Together, we’ll discuss leadership, culture, growth, ownership transitions, and the disciplines required to create value year after year. If you lead people, influence culture, or carry responsibility for results, I believe you’ll find Jeff’s perspective both practical and thought-provoking.

I hope you’ll join us for breakfast, learning, and meaningful conversation as we continue to spread goodness through healthy accountability.