Red Lobster’s 36-year-old CEO recently said he’s plotting the restaurant industry’s greatest comeback story ever. Now he’s handing out sage advice to other young leaders.
In a recent How Leaders Lead With David Novak podcast episode, Damola Adamolekun said the key to success as a leader is being a better person.
“Leadership is self-improvement,” Adamolekun said. “Understand yourself and what your strengths are and where you can be better. Because the stronger you are as a person, the more people are going to want to follow you.
“So if you want to be a better leader, become a better person,” he continued.
Adamolekun took the helm of Red Lobster in August 2024 after a series of misfortunes at the once-failing casual-dining chain. The company had gone bankrupt, closed dozens of locations, and lost millions related to an endless shrimp promotion. The endless shrimp debacle came before Adamolekun’s time, and he said he would never bring it back because he “know[s] how to do math.”
Adamolekun, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, has become a sensation as a young chief executive who means business—and is turning Red Lobster’s ship around. He was even named to Fortune’s inaugural 100 Most Powerful People list, which is based on the size and health of leaders’ businesses as well as their innovation, influence, trajectory, and impact.
“My life is my work. My work is my life,” he told Fortune in 2023 when he was CEO of Asian-fusion restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s.
Adamolekun has a proven track record for breathing life back into struggling restaurant chains, having steered P.F. Chang’s through a major turnaround after its 2019 buyout. He focused on store remodels, menu and tech upgrades, and tighter operations that boosted sales and profitability. Under his leadership, P.F. Chang’s started generating revenues of about $1 billion, according to the National Restaurant Association.
He’s bringing much of that playbook to Red Lobster.
“I think this is going to be the greatest comeback in the history of the restaurant industry,” Adamolekun recently told Fortune’s Ruth Umoh in her new vodcast series, The CEO Playbook. “Of course it’s risky; I took over a company that’s bankrupt and had a lot of problems.”
Damola Adamolekun’s plans for Red Lobster and his leadership
Before Adamolekun even officially took the CEO role, he got a head start on his vision for the chain by secretly visiting restaurants around the country, snacking on crab legs and lobster tails. He did this to connect with and better understand the brand and its customers.
Customers “just want quality food in a comfortable setting and to connect with the history of the brand,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “That’s the first step.”
Although dozens of restaurants closed during the bankruptcy period, Adamolekun said the company intends to refrain from shuttering any more locations, and only plans “to grow from here in terms of the business.” They’re also planning to improve existing locations by fixing broken HVAC systems, torn carpets, and chairs, as well as streamlining menus.
That’s all part of the company’s $60 million plan to keep the seafood chain afloat, and he’s stacking his C-suite with restaurant-industry veterans. His vision is to “inject more energy” into the restaurant locations, Adamolekun told Today, through new lighting, music, and decor.
But fully seeing through massive plans like this isn’t for the faint of heart. Adamolekun also advised on the How Leaders Lead podcast that taking criticism is all part of the job of being a successful leader.
“The problem is most people are sensitive, and they don’t want to be criticized,” he said. “At some point, you have to not take it personally. It’s almost like you have to separate yourself from yourself.”
Being self-critical is important, he said, “because that’s how you improve, right?”
