5 Things Your Staff Hates About You

Five things your staff hates about you Being a leader in a restaurant business is far from easy. Today we're going to talk about those blind spots that you have that drives your team crazy and how to fix it. Hey, Donald Burns, the restaurant coach and founder of the Restaurant Coach University. You know, it's been said that being a leader is somewhat like being a bull rider. Some days you ride the bull, other days bull. Raju. Yeah, here you are, still getting back out there day after day, going for another round with the beast. I mean, you love the business deep down for all the good and bad that it has to offer. You even love your team, even though you complain about them. What? Complain? Me? Yes, you. Come on, don't play innocent. Your love for your team is at times a torrid affair. And that has you watching episodes of C. BSI wondering how you might dispose of a body. Well, here's some good news you might not be aware of. Your team probably has very similar thoughts about you. For all the good things you do as a leader, there's a list that your team keeps about all those things that they wish you would stop doing and why they hate you. Now, in order to keep your team from plotting your death, I'm going to share five of these things with you. Now, take this all to heart or risk ending up as a missing person on the side of a milk cart. Number one, you're late more than they are. Nothing is worse in the eyes of your team than a hypocrite. They love when you say one rule for them and do your own thing. The days of do what I say and not what I do are way gone. Leadership is about accountability and that starts with your own personal accountability, and that's on you. Your words and your actions must be aligned or you're going to be risked being called a jerk. Now, with the market saturated as it is and plenty of job openings in your market, being a jerk is not really conductive to attracting, hiring, or retaining top talent. Being a jerk, you actually kind of get the bottom feeders of the labor pool because water does seek its own level. Time to stop talking a good game with your team and actually step up and claim your spot as their leader. No more double talk, white lies, straight up bs. You keep telling them why they can't do this or they can't do that. Sorry to break it to you, but no one really cares about your problems. You see, they're too busy worrying about their own problems. And that's right, you're not special. No matter what your mom said to you, you play favorites even though you say you don't. Now, if anyone has children, you know where I'm going with it. There is always a favorite team member. It's okay. It's completely natural. The key is you have to be very conscientious about this and not let it have a major impact on your effectiveness as a leader. The worst offense is the dreaded double standard. That's when you have one set of standards for one team member and you have, you know, another set of expectations for your favorite. Let's say there's a hostess named Kayla who's your favorite and she routinely walks in 15, 20 minutes late and you never say a word to her. Now, Sarah, on the other hand, comes in one time eight minutes late, and you go into a 20 minute lecture about punctuality. The downside of this behavior is it really has a ripple effect and it really has a big impact on the culture. See, soon Kayla is going to be alienated by the team because she's one of your favorites. Kayla then loses social connection with the team and she also then soon becomes disengaged at work. Shortly after this happens, Kayla gives her notes to leave. See, great leaders are always aware of the social dynamics of their team. Number three, you leave when it gets busy. And here's the thing, your banker's hours just pisses them off. Yes, I understand as a leader, you've worked long and hard for your current executive position. But don't forget what got you there. It's not long hours and hard work. It's the way the team looked at you as a leader. Now allow me to digress onto a little rant about hard work. You are not paid to work hard. You are paid for the results in the impact you have on the brand. As a leader, kind of saying that you've paid your dues, that's a warning sign that you're about to slide into mediocrity. Success is not a one time payment. It's like rent. And rent is due every damn day. I mean, I know quite a few general managers, director of operations, and executive chefs that work in their restaurants serving lunch and dinner. Yet their hours are 8 to 4. Why? Now, I understand paperwork is kind of a big part of upper management, but it's presence and visibility that separates managers from real leaders. Without a leader, the team tends to do what they like. Being on the floor or being in the kitchen during peak times is critical to team success. They need a leader to look up to, someone who keeps them focused Someone who keeps kind of the panic under control when the rush comes in and all hell breaks loose. If you're not the leader, then who? Now you're not going to like this next statement. If you're not going to step out in front and be the leader, then why does the owner need you? If you're not working with your team to develop them, make them better, then you're just dead weight on the payroll. Number four, you hide in the office. Trust me, it doesn't take eight hours to write a schedule. Now, this one kind of ties in close to the one I just talked about. You can't hide in your office all day. Say you're working on projects when you're really doing is avoiding the team and the guests. Stop hiding from leadership and step into it. Many people think. Well, I guess more like assume that becoming a leader means less communication with the team and more time. Just kind of kick back and kind of dabble at work on a computer. Knock it off. Your team's out there working to ensure the guests are ecstatic with the dining experience. Or maybe they aren't. You don't know what the pulse is of your restaurant if you sit in the office and allow things just to kind of happen as they organically do. Outstanding service is not organic. It's carefully orchestrated, it's carefully crafted, and it's rehearsed. And with the market overflowing with restaurant options, you better be out there training your team like your life depends on it. If you're not training your team consistently failure, do so consistently, put your brand at risk. If you really want to see how effective you are, then start a time journal for a week. Just jot down all the things that you do in a week. If you're really honest with yourself, you're going to see there's quite amount of time that you spend on tasks that are not moving your brand or your life forward. I want you just to realize that sometimes you're spinning around and around like a hamster wheel. Eventually you're either going to burn out or you're going to change jobs and change jobs, either voluntary or involuntarily. And reason number five, your team hates you is you're afraid to fire the slackers. Just step up and be the damn leader right now. If you're honest, you have at least one person on your team that you should let go of. Your team knows it, you know it. But by not stepping up and being the true leader, you create a tidal wave of negativity that runs through Your culture and that culture becomes toxic and selfish with every person starting to look out for their own. Well, being toxic cultures really suck. You don't want one, Trust me. The team is constantly fighting amongst themselves. Just, they kind of come in just to watch the drama unfold like it's a real life reality TV show. So why don't you fire these people? The truth is, you're afraid. And that fear has you paralyzed from taking action. Being a leader means making tough decisions. It means facing the fear and taking action in spite of it. When you fail to act as a leader, you lose trust and respect from your team. And seriously, who wants to follow someone who can't make the right decisions for what's best for the brand? Oh, and if you can't manage your own life, do you really think your team trusts you to run a restaurant? I mean, being a leader means being a positive example. Is that fair? No. That's how life is. So deal with it. Now, the final question I need to ask you today is what are you going to do with this information I just told you about? Most are going to do nothing. But here's the thing. I sense that you're not like most people because you actually listened to the end of this video and that shows character. Now get out there and make the changes that you must make to get the restaurant and life that you want. Be the leader that your team needs. Be the leader that you know you can become. Hey, make sure to hit the like and subscribe button before your competition does. And in my next video, I'm going to share how the art of a simple menu can make you a lot and lot of money.