Adam Markel leads a workshop-style discussion about making 'busy lives better' by turning purpose and promises into concrete actions. He stresses showing up fully, vulnerability as a means to build trust (citing Brené Brown), and that small behaviors reflect larger character ('How you do anything is how you do everything'). Participants discuss respecting customers' time, making employees part of the solution, and define 'better' as smoother days reflected in guest and team smiles.
Chapters
So we need to drill down and get clear. It's not just a platitude making busy lives better. Sounds great, but what the heck does it mean and how do we use it more importantly? To change people's lives, to transform lives. You guys are in a life transforming business, whether you know it or not. People have to eat, they want to, they have to fill up their tank. They need energy. They've got stuff going on in their lives. They need people on their side. You fulfill a fundamental function that's so important. So what does busy mean? Let's talk about that. Let's explore that for a few minutes so that it's concrete, it's real, it's not just a statement on a plaque. I'm going to ask you to work with a partner at your table. And look, here's the thing. You can do this any way you want, right? We all get to show up in our own lives the way we want. That's our choice. Yes, that's our choice. I love the Zen saying. There's a Zen teacher that I followed, she says this, she says, how you do anything is how you do everything. That's worth writing down, that's worth remembering. How you do anything is how you do everything. In fact, it's something you could even share with your teams. Because one of the things I look at when I'm working with people is how do they speak to a waitress or a waiter in a restaurant? How do they speak to people that aren't maybe somebody that they're going to ask for money or a job or something?
Right?
How you do anything is how you do everything. So how you play in here, how you engage other people in this room is exactly how you engage and play in your life. Does that make sense? So I believe that you show up in this present moment at 100%, no matter what's going on, that you give your 100% best. How many of you are willing to just give your 100% best? Raise your hand if that's you. Fantastic. Anybody? Not anybody. Not willing to do that? Wonderful. You know what's great about this is that you get an opportunity to do something so powerful, to build the muscle of your heart and the muscle of your head, and that is to be vulnerable. I love the work of Brene Brown when she speaks about vulnerability is strength. Vulnerability is a way to develop trust. You want your teams to trust you, you want to be trusted. Vulnerability leads to trust. That's my philosophy. You're in a group right now. Maybe there's People in your table that you've never met before, people that maybe you haven't seen in a while. You're just. It's a reunion type of thing. My suggestion is that you be vulnerable. Share whatever you've written about what it feels like to be busy in your own life, what you think it means to your customers, and what you believe it means to your employees. Employees to your teams. To be busy, to be in a busy life and come from that vulnerable place. And I'll tell you something. If emotion starts to show up, great. You don't need to kind of suppress it because it's strength. You're getting a message, which is a wonderful opportunity. So go ahead now with one other question. So first of all, did you learn something there? Beautiful. We'll take a couple of quick shares. If you would like to share, just go ahead and raise your hand. Or somebody that's holding a microphone just kind of tug on their apron. Who'd like to share? Somebody right over there. Beautiful. Good. Stand up and share your name.
Hi. Good morning.
Good morning.
My name is. Hi.
Hi.
Hi.
What's better than that? Awesome.
All right, we'll go with our team answers for the first one. For us or for me? Time is important for our guests and for our employees. I have to lead, so that is for me. Second one is for our guests. Our guests are trusting us with their precious time. Out of many things they have to do, we have to respect that.
Respect.
The last thing is that for our team, our team has to be part of the solution to make busy lives better. That's all we have.
Beautiful. Give them a round of applause. Awesome.
Well done.
The first thing is for us is to make sure that we all spoke over here, and our time is very important for the customer. It's the same concept for the employee is how do we make their lives easy? Scheduling, whatever we need to do to make them come to work and provide to the guests and all of us save each other time.
Yes. Beautiful. Give her a round of applause, everyone. What does better mean? Again, it's. These are not just words. It's not just a concept. It's something real in everybody's life. So what does better mean for you? What does better mean for the people that are showing up at your restaurant? For your guests, your customers? And what does better mean? What does it look like for your teams, your employees? So go ahead, take two minutes right now. Write down what better looks like. What does better mean? Let's quantify it so that it's not some Abstract thing that we don't understand. Beautiful. You may begin. A few more seconds. Beautiful. All right, give your partner. Give your partner, your partner a high five. Say, you're so smart. You're very smart. All right, quick couple of shares. Who'd like to share from your team what better looks like? Feels like this.
Hi, I'm Mary Effiem from Austin, Texas.
Beautiful.
Better for me means that things go smoother than the day before. And you feel it and see it not only in yourself, but in those you serve through their smiles.
Yeah. Will you repeat? Was that. Did everybody get that? That's worth repeating that.
Did I hear that?
Yeah, let's repeat that.
You want me to repeat it? Okay. Better for me means that things go smoother than the day before, and you feel it and see it in yourself and those you serve. You see it in their smiles. Guest smiles. Team smiles. Everyone around you that smiles.
What we're really talking about is living the message, right? When we're talking about purpose, we're talking about promises. You know, unkept promises. I'm a parent, got four kids. As I said, blessed. I don't know about you, but our parents. Our parents. That's funny. Our kids, they don't listen to a word we say. They never have. They never have. Not really. You know what they do? They watch. They watch everything we do. Hello.
Yes.
And so do your customers, so do your teams, which.
