In this interview segment, Donald Burns asks what leadership trait is essential for restaurant owners who want to thrive, not just survive. The guest, Speaker B, emphasizes that building a strong culture is the most critical trait. While many restaurants have good products, cultivating a positive, intentional culture differentiates successful businesses and shifts the mindset toward long‑term growth.
What do you think's like a leadership trait that every restaurant owner must develop if they really— I mean, if they really want to just not just survive but they want to thrive in the next couple years?
I would say, um, figuring out how to build culture.
That's it.
Yeah. Um, that's the biggest thing for me that, you know, you kind of changed my mindset on because, you know, we have a really good product. A lot, a lot of businesses, you know, a lot of restaurants have good products.
Yeah, yeah.
But it's just a matter of like, all right, now how do you— like, how can you step away and not have your restaurant, you know, fail, right? You know, putting those standards in place and making sure that people are held accountable and building up your team is, you know, one of the things that for me I've been focusing on the past few months. Um, because on a P&L you don't see, like, you don't see human capital, right? You see all variable costs, prime costs, right? Human capital is really like— it should be on the P&L. Like, you should really be concerned about, you know, your investment in people and training them and making sure that you know what they want, you know, what their goals are, what their aspirations are. Like, you have your goals, but do you know you know, your cook, your chefs, your, you know, the dishwasher, the people that are on your team, like, do you know their goals? And, you know, are you willing to invest in them? So I think like culture is super huge.
If your restaurant only works because you work 80 hours a week, it doesn't work.
