The past few weeks have been a violent wake-up alarm that ended fleeting dreams of “best-case” COVID-19 scenarios. Negativity and challenges can be overwhelming. Like me, do you have strong feelings about the missed opportunities that have made this crisis much worse than it could have been? Instead, focus on the indicators that tell you … Continued
The COVID-19 crisis has spread chaos throughout your top line, bottom line, life’s work, savings, and future. While you think deeply about repairing those things, never forget how this has impacted the managers and staff who make your business go every day. What you say to them – and how you talk to them – … Continued
Over three seasons of Ozark on Netflix, Jason Bateman’s character Marty Byrde has always seemed a minute or two from death because of his career choice to be a money launderer for a drug cartel. He actually does surprisingly well considering the situation. But you? You are not wired to live large portions of your life endlessly … Continued
Are you and your organization clear on the difference between task and management? Last week, I had three similar conversations with three different clients – all of whom own restaurants and companies anyone would envy. It was like a hazy art film where, no matter where I went, I heard the same voices repeating the … Continued
My second-grade daughter – and all the second-graders in the Dallas Independent School District – are spending time learning the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. When Stephen Covey’s book first came out in 1989, it was revolutionary, cutting-edge thought about how to live your life. I used 7 Habits in my business, taking my nightclub management teams … Continued
How do you do that? Simple. Make sure all your managers get better every year. If you want to run great restaurants in the current labor market, you have no other choice. “We all strive to be better every day, and that includes me.” When I start working with successful owners of multi-unit independent restaurant … Continued
In over 30 years in this business I have never seen anything like it. Restaurant managers. The shortage. Last week I heard about a new restaurant that opened two months late: Everything was ready to go—but there were no managers. You Can’t Order the GM Robot on Amazon…Yet The hamburger-flipping robot may be here, but … Continued
A very talented general manager in one of my client companies looked like the frustration emoji when telling me, “Our weekly operations meetings, it is the same thing every week—it feels like Groundhog Day.” The issue? Getting together yielded no process to develop the people in attendance. Want your managers to stay, and your restaurants … Continued
What would your employees text you—the successful owner of an independent, multi-unit restaurant group—if they had the chance? Michael Lastoria, CEO and founder &pizza, gave every one of his 750 employees at his 35-units his cell number—and the open invitation to text him. You may have read about him last week in Nation’s Restaurant News … Continued
Nothing happens in a restaurant dining room until someone creates a recipe, orders the food, preps and cooks the food, and an expediter puts the order together. The best successful multi-unit independent restaurant companies create enthusiasm and loyalty with their back-of-house personnel by constantly telling them – through shift meetings, staff meetings, or just one-on-one … Continued