Here you are running your restaurant. A leader. Just living the dream...right? Maybe it’s not the dream you had. Perhaps some days it seems like a real nightmare that you can’t wake up from. What happened? How did you come to this?

It’s quite simple. You hit an obstacle you...

Here you are. Middle of the year and things are in either one of two conditions:

A. You are rocking it beyond your wildest expectations!

B. You are already looking forward to next year, you just need to survive until then. 

If you are in category A, congratulations—you may stop...

I get hundreds of email each week from frustrated restaurant owners and leaders (I hate the word manager because I feel it leads to just managing the shift and not leading the vision...sorry, I digress) asking for a way to get their team to follow directions.

My reply is always the same....you...

The restaurant industry has never been a low turnover kind of business. In 2017 the industry turnover rate was 73%! Some fast food restaurants are even higher at around 150%! Holy crap!  Now back in 2007, the turnover rate was a whopping 80.7! So, as an industry 2017 was better. It’s...

We all get frustrated from time to time working in restaurants and bars. Emotions can run rampant and things can escalate fairly quickly. If you’ve been in the industry for any amount of time (a veteran) you have surely heard a few things that would make some people do a double take. I know...

The relationship you have with your restaurant is like all the other relationships you’ve had in your life. They all have their ups and downs. When things are good, you are walking on sunshine. No clouds in the sky. The birds are singing and there is a rainbow in every direction.

When...

When your restaurant is running like a world championship team everything is amazing. All the training, all the hard work, all the time fine tuning your team and brand are paying off. You’re communicating, working together for a shared vision and mission. It’s a thing of pure beauty...

Have you ever seen a bucket full of crabs? 

The strange thing is that they don't put a lid on top to keep them from escaping. Why? The crabs keep each other from getting out.  As soon as one gets up above the rest, another crab will grab it and pull it back down into the...

Problems.

All restaurants have them. You probably have a few, too.

It’s okay.

Having problems is actually a good thing because they signal a gap from where you currently are to where you want your restaurant to be. The thing you do not want to do is ignore them. Problems can be a gift....

Your restaurant's culture is the life force of your brand. It creates energy. That energy transcends and influences your staff. That trickles down to encompass the guest experience. To those on the outside looking in, it can be either a beacon or a warning sign.

A toxic culture is a symptom of a...

You made it to the top! You are a leader in your restaurant.

Before you get too comfortable, let’s see if your leadership game is on point. Being called a leader and being a leader are at times not one and the same. With more and more restaurants opening each year the strain on the labor...