The thing that is seemingly missing from a list of job duties (and is interwoven into each one) is defining culture and empowering employees to embrace their role.  This single concept will unite or divide and make the difference between an organization hanging together by a thread one that is well run.  Here are some obvious steps to take in daily operations.

• Take time during the hiring process to find team members that fit within your culture.  Even though it might be hard these days to find employees, it’s better to wait for the right person rather than deal with potential problems later.
• It is essential to nurture and invest in your management staff.  Have a supervisor on every shift to enforce the systems you put into place.  Consistency is critical whether there are 5 or 200 customers.
• When there is an issue with a particular employee or team, deal with that immediately.  They may be naysayers or underperformers.  Acknowledge the difficulties and address attitude issues.  Spend time training or explaining why things are done in a certain way.  Invest in education and coaching.  Listen to workers at all levels – ideas come from everywhere!
• Provide a career path.  Employees may leave because they feel they have nowhere to go in an organization.  Someone who clears tables or washes dishes can move up to prep cook with some encouragement. It’s sometimes easier to train an existing employee than to find a new one.

Step back periodically to take a look at the whole picture.  Use tools to evaluate whether your culture is working or must be adapted to the changing environment.

One’s role as a manager of a restaurant or other foodservice establishment is critical to its success.  They are in charge of making sure the establishment runs smoothly and efficiently.  This could involve:

• Administration – coordinating front and back-of-house operations, taking reservations, and handling any problems that arise
• Customer service – handling customer inquiries and complaints and ensuring the customers have a pleasant dining experience
• Human resources – hiring, training, and managing sufficient staff; optimizing workflow and productivity
• Supply chain and procurement – planning menus and ensuring the right food is ordered, the quality of the food, and its storage. It is making sure that inventory is in good order and abundant 
• Health & safety – could range from the safety of the food to procedures in the kitchen and ensuring there are no accidents
• Compliance – making sure all rules and regulations are followed and ensuring compliance with internal policies and procedures
• Accounting and marketing – checking bottom-line profits and promoting the restaurant
• Leadership – strong capacity for leading others while forging a path toward leadership readiness and visionary capability.

This can be challenging to juggle the many hats required for a successful operation. This is especially true for the manager who wants to be seen as having the ability to go beyond managing to becoming leadership material worthy of greater opportunities. Implementing systems such as checklists, item trackers, or waste trackers can help. Yet, leadership requires more.

I’ve learned a thing or two about hospitality and the food & beverage industries over time. I spent nearly twelve years covering the spectrum from working as a bag boy sacking groceries with a large corporate grocer to making pizza in a corporate restaurant chain. Then stepping into the gourmet catering industry which set me up for high end steak house restaurant chains that followed. Eventually I made my way into hospitality serving in the banquet departments of medium to upscale hotel chains.

Those experiences led me to more upscale restaurant concerns until I landed in five star dining rooms. I often quip that I’ve done just about everything from pizza to five star dining. Along the way I’ve been introduced to many approaches to leadership, largely due to my personal belief that we are all leaders in one capacity or another. As long as we are influencing others to follow our lead, in those moments we are essentially leading others who chose to follow. It’s a dance between those who aspire to lead and those who chose to allow us to do so by following.

How one manages the terrain of leading people effectively boils down to one overarching concept, credibility. Without which we have little to support us and less to back us up in the eyes of our followers. In the book, Credibility, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner the authors dive into leadership from the perspective that most people are driven by many of the same things. Essentially, people are energized by values and visions that give life meaning and purpose. Kouzes and Posner further note that we all vote for something even in the event it may not appear as clear cut as pulling a leaver, checking off a box with a candidate’s name or to support or not, an initiative or ideal whose time may have come.

You might think of your vote as something you stand for and are committed to, that serves as your NorthStar. In that light, the 14 leadership traits and 11 leadership principles of the Marine Corps provide us with guidelines. A set of ideals worth considering as we look at their impact in shaping our thoughts about effective leadership in any culture or industry.

The fourteen leadership traits can be remembered with the acronym, JJDIDTIEBUCKLE.

1. Justice
2. Judgement
3. Dependability
4. Initiative
5. Decisiveness
6. Tact
7. Integrity
8. Enthusiasm
9. Bearing or the carriage and movement a person possesses that leaves a favorable impression on others.
10. Unselfishness
11. Courage
12. Knowledge
13. Loyalty
14. Endurance

The eleven Leadership Principles are:

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement
2. Be technically and tactically proficient
3. Know your people and look out for their welfare
4. Keep your personnel informed
5. Set the example
6. Ensure that the task is understood, supervised and accomplished
7. Train your people as a team
8. Make sound and timely decisions
9. Develop a sense of responsibility among your subordinates
10. Employ your command within its capabilities
11. Seek responsibilities and take responsibility

As we transition to a new year, I will take a deeper dive into how each of these principles and traits play out and how you can tap into their genius to create your Leadership Advancement Plan (LAP). Click the button below and schedule a strategy session with me to determine how best to approach the next phase of your leadership journey and let’s map out your individual needs to round out a path that serves you and your people.