Golden Corral CEO Lance Trenary on the Leadership Habit He Refuses to Abandon After Four Decades

After 41 years with Golden Corral, CEO Lance Trenary attributes his leadership philosophy to a foundation built on faith, family, and a relentless focus on the customer.

In an interview with FOX Business, Trenary explained that his daily routine is anchored by personal priorities. “One of the key things for me is saying a prayer,” he said. “My personal faith is really important to me, and my family is incredibly important to me. So faith, family and purpose always lead my day.”

Equally critical to his approach is a habit he has maintained throughout his tenure: spending time inside the company’s restaurants engaging directly with franchisees, employees, and guests.

Golden Corral CEO Lance Trenary said staying close to the customer is “really important.” (FOX Business)

“Staying very close to the customer is really important,” he said. “I like being out in our restaurants. I’ve been with Golden Corral for 41 years, and I love traveling to restaurants. I know every franchisee, I know every manager in the stores, and I love visiting them.”

Trenary emphasized that these visits yield the most candid insights. “That’s when you get the unfiltered truth about what’s really going on — the way people really think about you and your brand,” he said. “And so staying close to the customer is a habit that I’ll never break. I think that’s critically important.”

He credits the company’s resilience to the strength of its leadership team and franchise partners. “If you can surround yourself, if you will, with great people, then that gives you the opportunity to find successful answers in whatever situation you’re facing,” he said.

Trenary credited Golden Corral’s leadership team and franchisees with helping the company navigate both good times and difficult ones. (Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Despite facing a challenging year—the first in several, he noted—Trenary remains confident in the organization’s ability to adapt. “We’re having a difficult year this year,” he said. “This is the first year in several that we’ve had some challenges, but at the end of the day, I don’t get too nervous about it because I’ve got such an incredible team.”

Reflecting on his career, Trenary advised aspiring entrepreneurs to pursue work that ignites genuine passion. “If you don’t love what you’re doing, if you can’t get excited every morning, whatever time you get up — 5 or 6 a.m., whatever — and jump out of bed because you’re excited about going to face whatever challenges you might have in your business that day, then you’re probably not in the right business for you,” he said.

Even as the restaurant industry faces new challenges, Trenary said he’s confident in Golden Corral’s ability to adapt because of the strength of its people. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

He also urged future leaders to measure success not by personal accolades, but by the opportunities they create for others. “Success is not about something that I’ve been able to achieve or something that is an accolade for me as a leader,” he said. “It’s more about the people that I work with and the opportunities that I can create for them.”

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