May 26, 2025 • 45 mins
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What if the secret to reducing restaurant employee turnover wasn't about higher wages or better perks, but instead about how you show up as a leader?
In this compelling coaching session, I work with Emily, a restaurant COO navigating a significant leadership transition as her business partner embarks on a sabbatical.
Together, we craft a leadership development plan that starts with self-awareness and builds toward team empowerment. Emily candidly shares her journey, identifying five essential leadership characteristics she wants to embody: being motivational, direct, approachable, empowering, and energetic. Through thoughtful self-assessment, she discovers that empowerment represents her greatest growth opportunity – and potentially the key to reducing turnover in her restaurants.
The conversation reveals a powerful truth about restaurant leadership: when team members feel genuinely empowered, they take ownership, communicate more openly, and ultimately stay with the organization longer. For Emily personally, this shift from micromanagement to empowerment promises greater freedom, including the ability to step away from the business for meaningful personal time without constant worry.
What makes this episode particularly valuable is the practical framework provided for assessing your own leadership style, setting meaningful growth goals, and taking concrete steps toward becoming the leader your team needs. By modeling leadership development herself before asking her team to do the same, Emily demonstrates how creating a culture of growth and personal responsibility can transform restaurant operations.
Whether you're a restaurant owner, general manager, or aspiring leader, this episode offers both inspiration and actionable tools to help you develop your leadership skills and build a more stable, engaged team. Listen now, and discover how focusing on your own leadership growth might be the retention strategy you've been missing.
P.S. Ready to take your restaurant to the next level? Here are 3 ways I can support you:
- One-on-One Coaching - Work directly with me to tackle your biggest leadership challenges and scale your operations with confidence. Learn more at christinmarvin.com
- Multi-Unit Mastery Book - Get the complete Independent Restaurant Framework that's helped countless owners build thriving multi-location brands. Grab your copy at https://www.IRFbook.com
- Group Coaching & Leadership Workshops - Join other passionate restaurant leaders in transformative group sessions designed to elevate your entire team. Details at christinmarvin.com
Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
In today's episode, I'm going to show you how to
reduce the risk of employeeturnover.
I'm working with Emily, who's aclient of mine, on designing
her leadership style andcreating a leadership
development plan for her so shecan lead by example, and then
what we're going to do is do thesame exercise with her entire
leadership team.
So there's accountability,commitment and empowerment and
(00:32):
community through growing as aleader in their organization.
The results of this are goingto be absolutely outstanding and
it's going to open upcommunication, it's going to
enhance problem solving and it'sgoing to make leadership
development be a 50-50 path andpartnership path for both the
(00:53):
owner of the restaurant andevery leadership layer within
the organization.
Enjoy Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, the show
where restaurant leaders learntools, tactics and habits from
the world's greatest operators.
I'm your host, kristen Marvin,with Solutions by Kristen.
I've spent the last two decadesin the restaurant industry and
(01:16):
now partner with restaurantowners to develop their leaders
and scale their businessesthrough powerful one-on-one
coaching, group coaching andleadership workshops.
This show is complete withepisodes around coaching,
leadership development andinterviews with powerful
industry leaders.
(01:37):
You can now engage with me onthe show and share topics you'd
like to hear about leadership,lessons you want to learn and
any feedback you have.
Simply click the link at thetop of the show notes and I will
give you a shout out on afuture episode.
Thanks so much for listeningand I look forward to connecting
.
(02:01):
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(03:08):
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Again, that's gorti-inccomslash restaurant leadership
podcast.
Emily, we are going to spendsome time today coaching through
how you want to show up as aleader, and we've been working
(03:32):
together for a while.
This is going to be fun torevisit.
We've talked about it in shortsentences and in many, many ways
, many times, but what isimportant to you today about
understanding how you want toshow up as a leader?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You know, the thing that's really important to me
today and right now, honestly,is that I'm in this kind of
pretty big transition as aleader at the moment, and so
part of this has really been, Iguess, redefining who it is that
I want to be as a leader,because of a new role, as well
(04:13):
as and as I'm like I'm preparingfor this meeting with my whole
leadership team tomorrow, wherewe really are kicking off this
next part of the journey of mebeing in this new role, are
kicking off this next part ofthe journey of me being in this
new role as well as kind oftrying to revisit some things
that maybe we used to do that wereally enjoyed and things that
(04:33):
I used to do as a leader that Ireally enjoy that maybe we want
to get back to.
So it's a little bit of kind ofcolumn A and column B, which
seem a little like they mightfight kind of, because some of
it is like new and growth anddevelopment and new role, but
then some of it is stuff that Ifeel like was really great.
You know, I've been in my rolefor 19 years with my company and
(04:55):
so some things that I thoughtwere really great from 10 years
ago that I really missed.
That I also want to bring backas a leader as well.
So a little, a little bit ofit's a very wide spectrum.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, can we talk a little bit about your current
position and this transitionthat you're getting ready to go
through?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, totally so.
I, as you know, I'm currentlythe COO of Secret Sauce and I've
been in that role and slowly soand have been in that role and
(05:34):
slowly, gradually working upinto that role for 19 years
really, since we opened Stupid'sUptown.
Owner of the company is now onsabbatical and really kind of
handing officially, unofficiallyhanding the reins over and
really not having the kind ofpresence that he has had before.
(05:56):
And the reason that it's a bigdeal is the day-to-day and the
logistical like.
I've been doing this job for avery long time, so it's not one
of those where people are goingto be like, oh, this is going to
be brand new as far as likewhat my day-to-day looks like,
but Josh's voice, which hasalways been very present in the
company is is gone, like he's,he's fully I.
(06:20):
I terminated him out of all ofour systems yesterday or two
days ago.
Like he literally can't find, hecan't access financial
statements, he can't get intotoast, like, even if he wanted
to, he couldn't because I he isnot an employee on any of our
systems anymore.
So so it's a pretty bigtransition just in terms of.
I think it's more kind offiguratively than operationally,
(06:44):
because I'm now, I'm the, I'mthe last, last tier, whereas
there's always been, there'salways been kind of just one
more tier of of things that I,of people, that I could bounce
ideas off of, or if it wassomething that, quite frankly,
that either I didn't feelequipped to deal with or didn't
care to deal with, I could kindof like shovel it over to him.
(07:04):
And I don't have that personright now, which is a big deal.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
If you are feeling the pressure of rising costs and
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The truth is, the economicforecast may be shifting, but
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That's why I'm headed to the2025 National Restaurant
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(07:31):
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(07:55):
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(08:16):
The 2025 show is where thefuture of food service comes to
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Don't miss it, and I hope tosee you there.
And you've been going throughsome incredible changes and
structure.
You know different leadership,structure changes in order to
get ready for this, and soyou've brought on a you know, a
new director of operations.
Your role is changing and yourleaders.
(08:37):
Things are going to change alittle bit for them too.
So we're going to start withdoing this exercise with you
today, and then the goal is thatwe do this with with your
leadership team too.
What, what's the hope and theimpact that you you really want
to see from their perspective?
In terms of working with you orJust in terms of identifying
(09:01):
their, their leadership styleand really building a leadership
development plan for themselves.
Is I?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
really want to strengthen the teams to where
they have the focus and theskills and the empowerment to
(09:29):
function the two restaurants asindependently functioning
restaurants, if that makes sense.
For years and years, forever,we've always had this extra
layer, this secret sauce layerthat has functioned as
everything from HR to shiftcoverage to really everything
that they need and unfortunatelyit's been beautiful on a lot of
(09:50):
levels.
But there's also been this levelof where my GMs haven't 100%
been able to develop into GMsbecause there's always been me
or always been somethingsomewhat another layer to deal
with, maybe some things the GMsshould deal with, and same with
chefs and things like that.
So the first part is reallysome greater empowerment on how
(10:13):
to make it to where Steuben'sjust operates as Steuben's and
they don't care whether I'maround or not and Ace operates
as Ace and they're just kind ofthese functioning restaurants
that just take care ofthemselves.
Would be a really big deal.
And then the other part, on theleadership side of things and
you and I have talked about thisbefore is this idea of
(10:35):
sustainability and getting backto slash, creating new slash,
opening lines of communication,whatever that looks like to
where my team is feelingsupported by this environment in
a way that it is sustainablefor them to be here happily and
(10:57):
productively for a very longtime.
And those are two.
Those are like my two big ones.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Love it Well.
Kudos to you for showing uphere first and doing the work
yourself and then and leading byexample.
This will be, I think, reallyexciting for them to listen to
and for you to share yourdevelopment plan with them and
to hopefully motivate andinspire them to really take this
seriously and lead with thatthat focus and clarity to help
the business be more sustainableand inspire them to really take
this seriously and lead withthat focus and clarity to help
(11:26):
the business be more sustainableand empower them to be even
better leaders than they aretoday, which is really exciting.
Love it, Okay, Good, good, Well, let's jump in.
So let's start with a leaderthat's really made a huge impact
in your world.
This could be someone that youknow in the community, someone
(11:49):
that you've worked with, someoneyou know, a boss, or someone
that you've led, uh, that youjust really admire.
Let's talk about that person.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Um, I mean, I guess I have two, so it depends on
which one fits more kind ofwhich direction you want to go.
I mean, am I allowed to say,Josh, even though I'm kicking
him out of my world, you can saywhoever you want.
You know, josh has had thehands down the most biggest
impact on my life of any leader,and that's both professional
and personal.
You can after working withsomeone for 19 years and knowing
(12:22):
him I mean, my ex-husbandworked for him before I started
working for him for five yearsbefore that, so I've known Josh
for 25 years, right, um, so Iwould say he he's had a huge
impact on me as an individual.
The other one that comes to mindwould be my general manager, my
old general manager at ACE.
(12:43):
Her name was Kate.
Is Katie was.
She's still around, she's justnot my GM anymore.
Her name's Katie.
Um, she moved out to Portlandand, um, she just had a huge
impact on me just in terms ofseeing the power of being a
really awesome mentor forsomeone which I was with her.
I really took her under my wingfor like a full two years
(13:05):
almost.
She had never been a GM beforeand when she left us was the
best GM we've ever had and westill have a great relationship
and she still runs things by meand she still says thank you for
everything that she learnedhere.
So that was pretty, prettyempowering, and seeing where
she's at now and what she'sdoing with her life is really
inspiring as well.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Awesome, those are great.
What leadership characteristicsdoes Josh embody?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Um, you know, he, he has this eye for he just he sees
things that no one else sees.
That Well, sometimes you'relike, oh my gosh, every single
time you come in and you seesomething, which can sometimes
be like soul crushing.
(13:54):
But at the end of the day, he'salso not wrong, Right, and he
just he has this attention todetail.
Um, he has very specific ideain mind of how he likes things
done, Um, but he also is willingto um to bend based on what's
(14:15):
best for the team and best forthe company If it, if it doesn't
quite fit in with what his headis at, where his head's at.
So I would say eye for detailand seeing everything,
flexibility.
And he asks a lot of reallygreat questions, sometimes
(14:39):
almost to a fault, where you'relike, oh my God, can you please
stop asking questions, Just letme do my thing.
But again, at the end of theday, he's not wrong with all his
questions, which makes him justvery thoughtful.
He's not money-driven.
It's always been about thepeople and the culture and the
love of what we do.
(15:00):
Okay, and that's a really gooddeal too.
So we've got attention to detail, flexible I wrote down curious,
thoughtful people focused,culture focused, anything else.
(15:21):
I mean I could say a million,but those are.
Those are probably the big ones.
I mean, I have always said thathe really taught me how to how
to do business the right way.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Okay, how about katie ?
What characteristics would youuse to describe her?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
um dedication, um high energy, um she had a way of
she could, her team would doanything for her.
She had this way of just likerallying and it could be like
let's go scrub the dumpsters.
(15:59):
And they'd be like, yay, welove Katie Right, like the worst
thing possible and it didn'tmatter because they just loved
her so much.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
How would you describe that?
What's that?
How would you describe that inone word?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
What the staff felt, or or that characteristic of
hers that characteristic of hersin one word, kristen.
Um, I mean, that's a leader,right, that's a leader.
To have people willing tofollow you anywhere and
everywhere and do whatever,whatever needs to happen, is
(16:36):
pretty like amazing.
Her team was so, was sodedicated to her.
It was really like aweinspiring.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
What was it about Katie that inspired them to to
follow it like that?
Um?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
I mean, part of it was her age.
I mean she's closer, she's veryclose, right, she's young, so
they can relate, which I mean.
That just is what it is.
But she was always verypositive, always very excited
about what was going on, excitedabout trying new things, would
(17:12):
call them on their bullshit,which I think was a big deal,
and not in like a shitty way andjust like a hey, don't do that
Right, and they'd be like, okay,you're right.
Um, she also and this wasn'tthis is not necessarily a
positive thing, but she was here, she loved Ace so much so she
(17:34):
was here to the point where Iwould have to like kick her out,
be like you have to take a dayoff, but she just loved being
here and I think her team couldsense that that she, she just
loved ace and she wanted to makeit the best, greatest, most
awesome place.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, so I've got dedication, high energy,
relatable, positive, excited,direct slash, tough love and
present yes, okay.
Hey there.
Podcast friends.
I hope you're enjoying theseimpactful conversations and
(18:12):
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What you think?
(18:58):
Thanks a million for beingawesome listeners.
If you were going to pick fiveof these characteristics that
you wanted to embody or you mayhave your own list from based
off the work that we've donetogether, of how you want to
show up as a leader what wouldthose five characteristics be?
Speaker 2 (19:14):
characteristics be?
I'll think of five.
They may live.
I can't remember what's on thatlist, but I'm 47 years old.
I can't remember anything.
I would say the things that Iwant to out of that list or
what's in my head the fivebiggest ones for me list, or
(19:46):
what's in my head the fivebiggest ones for me, um,
motivational, um.
What was the one for?
Like holding people accountable, but in like a good way like
direct slash, tough love.
Yeah, yeah, something like that,yes okay, direct, direct,
uh-huh, motivational, direct, um, relatable, which to me, on my
level, I think, just means morelike accessible, um.
(20:10):
You know, I know that I'm notnecessarily going to relate on
the same level that katie did toher 23 year old peers, but I do
want to make sure that there'sa comfort or comfortability with
addressing me, um, or coming tome with there's, with there's
things, um, um, uh.
(20:30):
Empowering, I think, is areally big deal for me.
I tend to want to do everythingmyself and I think it's a
really big deal in this new rolethat I'm empowering other
people to do the things thathonestly they should be doing
anyway, and probably high, Ithink, probably high energy,
(20:56):
like I want to make.
I want to make sure that I canexude just how dedicated and
committed and excited I am formaking these books.
It's greater than they are.
So I don't know if that's inthe high end or I don't know
what that is, but yeah, okay, sowe've got motivational For me.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
That's good.
Yes, yeah, we've gotmotivational direct.
Um.
And then I wrote accessible,slash, approachable, yeah, one
of those words speaking to youmore than the other I'd say
approachable okay.
And then empowering andenergetic yes, okay.
I'm going to ask you now torate each of these on a scale of
(21:36):
one to 10.
So one is it's hardly showingup at all.
10 is you feel like it's firingon all cylinders every day.
So what's?
Speaker 2 (21:45):
happening currently.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yep, yes, okay, yeah, where you're at today, exactly.
So let's start with motivationMotivational when would you rate
that on a scale of one to 10?
Speaker 2 (21:55):
let's start with motivation.
Motivational when would yourate that?
On a scale of one to 10?
Um, I'd put that as a.
I put that probably an eight.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
How about direct Um?
I'd also put that at an eight,Okay.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Approachable.
You know this one's a funny one.
I'd like to say 10 because I'malways just like come and talk
to me and I'm here and I'mliterally in the buildings all
the time and the staff has mycell phone and my email, but
anytime I check in with someonethey're like I didn't.
I was scared to talk to you, soI don't.
(22:34):
I don't know, that's a, that'sa funny one, cause my
perspective is different than,and not my management team.
So much, but, like the rest ofthe staff, Okay, sure, how about
?
Speaker 1 (22:44):
how about empowering?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Oh, I'm working, I'm getting there.
I put that one maybe a littlebit lower, maybe like a seven.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Okay, and energetic.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
I say a nine Okay.
And energetic, um, I'd say anine Okay.
My energy is really good rightnow.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Okay, how are you showing up today as a
motivational leader at an eight?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
You know where.
Why it's not higher is.
I think that I'm working on mystyle in terms of what's.
What I continue to realize andI think this is something that
we've learned as leaders foryears, and we continue to learn
and learn is that everyone ismotivated differently, and
(23:29):
whether that's from an email ora text or a let's grab a drink
or whatever that is.
So I think it's only at aneight, because I do know that I
need to put some more work intoreally making some additional
connections, at least with myleadership team, on how they're
(23:52):
best motivated so that I canwork.
I can work to do that betterfor them.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Okay, how are you showing up as an eight as far as
a direct leader goes, Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
You know I've always been really direct, um, but the
interesting kind of shift thathas sometimes takes place is, as
a leader and depending on thetiming and what your team looks
like and the world and all thatkind of stuff, sometimes you get
a little worried to be toodirect because, um, you're
(24:29):
scared of losing someone, ifthat makes sense, um.
So again, I think, circling backto kind of just communication
styles with the team and makingsure that I'm resonating there,
but making sure that I amconnecting on a personal level
with my leadership team, becausethen if we already have that
(24:53):
connection, then having thetough conversations is easier.
That makes sense.
So, you know, if there'ssomeone that you haven't asked
how they're doing in a few weeks, and then you just go up to
them and be like, hey, you suck,the directness doesn't work
right.
But if you've got, if you'vedone some vibe checks, you've
done some energy checks and youknow what's going on in their
(25:15):
world, and then you go up andsay, hey, you know, I know
you're going through it withyour grandma, cause we talked
about that yesterday when I justchecked in on how you were
doing.
But these are some things thatslipped through the crack
yesterday that directness gets alittle bit easier and that fear
of them being like fuck thisplace and I'm walking out starts
to kind of like dwindle.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
So how about uh approachable at an eight?
How are you showing up today?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
I don't know.
I feel like I show up reallygood.
Kristen, Like I said, like my,I'm in the restaurants all the
time.
I chat with the staff, I say hito them.
They have my contactinformation.
I'm always saying like let meknow if you need anything.
And maybe you know, likethere's this theme that keeps
(26:03):
coming back from.
The other two is maybe justmore of those me going to
individual staff members andjust doing quick, me initiating
first and then maybe that makesthe my approachability a little
bit closer to what I think it isversus what they think it is.
Okay, yeah, so I think there's.
That's probably the opportunitythere as well.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Okay, how about empowering at a seven?
Speaker 2 (26:29):
I'm getting there, you know, with Ben, my new
director of ops.
He's only been here with mesince the middle of December and
, like I've shared with youbefore, he's only been here with
me since the middle of december.
Um, and, like I've shared withyou before, he's awesome and
he's he's showing up in greatways and I've been really
pleased with where we've landedwith him.
Um, but a it takes a while tobuild a new dynamic, and so my,
(26:53):
my ability to empower him to domore it.
It honestly, it lies more on meas well as just building a new
team dynamic than anything else.
So, you know, maybe I don'tknow, you call it trust issues I
don't know what you call itwith him, but then also, but
also then, with my, with my team.
You know, it's actually funnythat you asked this question.
(27:15):
Um is a lot.
Yesterday, I spent probably 45minutes of my day sending emails
to people and these are peoplethat are on my team as well as
external people that I'm waitingon things for literally saying
the same thing hey, justfollowing up.
(27:35):
Hey, just want to see wherewe're at with this.
Hey, you know, just just sayinghi, you owed me this and I hate
it.
It's like the worst part of myjob is having to follow up with
people because inherently I'msomeone that will say do this or
I need this, and I trust thatit's going to happen.
And I'm not great about thefollow-up because I just assume
(27:58):
that everyone else in the worldis going to follow up and do
their job, but then they don't,and so then I don't trust that
it's going to happen.
And then so then a hard timeempowering them to do more or do
anything, because somewhere inthe back of my mind I'm like
well, you know what?
I asked you to do this thing andI had to follow up three times.
So here's where we're at Right,um, but maybe I just need to
(28:26):
empower.
I mean, I guess then that's Benneeds to be the follow-upper.
He can spend 45 minutes a dayon the email saying just follow
it up, just follow it up, andthen I just I just follow up
with Ben.
But again, it's such a new,it's a new relationship that
we're still we're stilldeveloping in a really good way,
(28:46):
though it's not because there'sanything wrong, it's just time.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, okay, okay.
Um, how about energetic at anine?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
I'm feeling good.
Yeah, I think I'm.
I'm pulling a lot of energy outof this transition into um Josh
going on sabbatical and itfeels it feels really good.
You know, I would say it's notat a 10 because I don't think
anything can ever really be at a10.
There's always an opportunityfor for some improvement and
(29:15):
honestly energy level.
10 might be a lot Um, so maybe anine is good Um, but but
overall and I think I you knowJosh definitely sensed it before
he left I don't think he wouldhave left if I was at the same
kind of energy level that I waslast fall with everything.
His comfort level of taking thesabbatical would not have been
(29:38):
there.
But I think I'm showing up in areally positive, great way.
That feels really good Okay.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Awesome, yeah.
Unlock the skills to transformyour leadership with the
Hospitality Leaders Roadmap Movefrom ordinary to extraordinary,
packed with practicalstrategies to lead with
confidence and create lastingimpact in your restaurant.
Visit kristinmarvincom slashaudio to download your free
(30:10):
audio book today.
Let's talk about where you wantto be.
So, again, let's go back to thescale of one to 10.
So you're currently at an eightin terms of motivation.
Where do you want to be?
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Um, I mean better at all of them.
I mean again, I don't think.
I don't know that I would eversay 10 on everything, on
anything, because to me 10indicates that I don't have any
room for improvement, and Idon't think that that's ever the
case.
Um so bumping, I mean bumpingall of these eights to nines.
(30:47):
Bumping everything to a ninewould be, I think, to me
probably the highest rating thatI would ever put out there for
myself, if we're not doingdecimals, which I'm not doing-
Okay, so we've got motivational,direct, approachable,
empowering and energetic all ata nine.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, okay, that would feel great.
Who?
Speaker 2 (31:14):
are you at a nine?
From a motivational perspective, I'm really confident because I
see that my team is feelingmotivated and when they're
feeling motivated then they'regetting things done and then I'm
able to empower them to doother things because they're
motivated and then I have theconfidence to.
(31:35):
I have the confidence to trustthat they're, that it's all
happening Okay.
So I think confident, yeah, ofthem, right.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
How about?
About direct?
Who are you when you're directat a nine?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
I mean, I think it's a really similar theme.
I'm direct, so that I'm holdingpeople accountable and you hold
people accountable and theyfeel empowered and motivated,
they get shit done and then Itrust them to do other things.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
How about approachable?
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Gosh, I feel like it's all the same word.
It's all confident, right.
Because when you'reapproachable, you feel confident
that your team regardless ofwhether it's a server or a
busser or the director of opsyou feel confident that they
will come to you when there isan issue that they feel like
they need your support on.
(32:40):
And that's a really big deal,right, because we've all been
blindsided by that manager thatcomes to you and is like here's
my two week notice and you'relike Whoa, I thought we were all
good and they're like well, no,I've been fucking miserable and
I got to get out of here andlike, oh my God, if you'd only
talked to me a month ago wecould have fixed this.
Um, and that's that shakes yourconfidence right Cause then all
(33:04):
of a sudden you're lookingaround at your entire rest of
your team.
You're like who's about to quit?
Anyone could walk out at anymoment.
But if I'm feeling fullyapproachable by my team, then
I'll have that level ofconfidence that we're really
solid and that fear that they'reall just going to walk out on,
and not that I like I don'tfunction in that, but you know
(33:25):
what I mean.
I don't wake up every morninglike bracing myself that my
entire team's walking out.
That certainly doesn't likecross my mind.
But yeah, it's happened to allof us before.
Sucks.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
How about empowering who are you at a nine?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Um, you know, if my, if I'm empowering my team, then
I'm also feeling empowered to dothe things that, honestly, I
should be doing, rather than thethings I'm doing that I haven't
trusted to give to someone else.
Um, so I'm, I'm I'm more in myrole in terms of what, what I
should be doing, more bigpicture thinking, more working
on the business versus in thebusiness.
(34:16):
Um, enjoying my days off andnot having to plug in and check
in and see what's going on.
Um, so I have more energy andI'm feeling rested and balanced.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
It sounds like there's a sense of freedom.
Yeah, yeah, happy.
It was a big deal.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
It's funny that you say that because you know I've
been working.
My oldest daughter isgraduating from high school this
year and I'd like to take herout of town this summer, so it's
like a celebratory trip beforeshe moves to college.
And I'd like to be.
I'd like to be gone for twoweeks, and I don't.
(35:05):
I haven't booked, I haven'tbeen able to pull the trigger
yet on buying these tickets, um,because I'm still don't feel
like I have the freedom to do soyet.
Um, so that's something.
Yeah, that'll be a.
That'll be a moment tocelebrate when I push the the
(35:25):
buy.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Love it.
You have to share that with me.
And in energetic we talkedabout, you feel like you're at a
nine and you want to stayconsistent there.
So which, if you were to pickone of these characteristics to
focus time and energy on movingthat needle from where you're
currently at to where you wantto be, which one would have the
greatest impact on yourleadership?
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Empowering.
Okay, say more, you know thatone Um, if my team is empowered,
(36:09):
then my energy is great.
And if my team is empowered,they are also motivated because
they are feeling like they theyhave the empowerment to do what
it is that they are feelingmotivated that they wanted to do
.
Um, if my team is empowered,they're feeling empowered to
come to me with good things orbad things, and know that it's
(36:32):
safe to do so.
So the empowerment is a reallybig deal on their end.
And if I'm feeling like I haveproperly empowered my team, then
my energy feels great and myconfidence feels great and we're
getting things done.
And and and it's funny, right,you think about this that there
hasn't been a mention of, like,any financial situation here,
(36:54):
right, um, but at the end of theday, I know that if my team is
empowered to do what they needto do, then the finances will
follow suit.
Yeah, and that would be great.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Yeah, that's one of your big goals too.
It is, I mean, I know, that's abig deal as a business owner
and as a leader.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
I mean yes, you want all the altruistic, lovely,
amazing things, which I adoreand, honestly, is why I do what
I do, but ultimately, if youcan't do all of this and have a
financially sustainable business, then what are you doing?
That's not going to last long,right.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
So what's one tiny step you can take to move the
needle on empowerment from aseven to a nine?
Speaker 2 (37:44):
from a seven to a nine Clear communication of my
expectations and then followthrough on those.
If I can say to my chef youknow what, for the last 19 years
(38:09):
I have, I have analyzed foodcost every week to make sure
that we're all, everything'sgreat.
I don't want to do that anymore.
I'm going to show you what I do.
I'll show you what myexpectations are on a weekly
basis for it, and I would likeyou to do it moving forward,
right.
So communicate what needs tohappen, share any kind of skill
(38:34):
development that needs to happenaround that, explain what I'd
like to see and then move on.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
What's the expectation that you need to
communicate clearly right now.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
That this is going to happen, that I'm, that I'm
going to start empowering peoplemore.
I guess the the I need to givethe expectation, that's the more
big picture expectation ofhere's what, here's what's going
to change and why.
So you know, coming at you withsome conversations and some
AORs and some expectations, um,and this is what's going to
(39:15):
happen in terms of follow-up andall of that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
And when?
Would you like to communicatethat and how?
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Uh, that's happening tomorrow.
I love when I can answer yourquestion with something I've
already put together.
That's happening.
It's happening tomorrow.
Um, it's my first full kind ofleadership meeting, um, that I'm
hosting since Josh is onsabbatical, and, um, a lot of it
is just my vision of what's, ofsome changes that I want to
(39:45):
make, and nothing sweeping,nothing like ACE is a pizza
restaurant now I'm not an Asianrestaurant or anything wild like
that but, um, just how I wantto see the dynamic be and what
the expectations are.
So, uh, I will be communicatingthat as a full team meeting
tomorrow at 9am, um, and I'mreally excited about it.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Perfect.
So in 35 minutes we've justcreated a development plan for
you and you're going to be ableto communicate to the team that
your main priority from aleadership development
perspective is to work onempowering your team, and you're
going to set very clearexpectations for them tomorrow
and then start delegating andteaching them the skills and
(40:24):
following up to make sure thatthings are getting done as they
need to, to your level ofexpectations and standards.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
Correct.
Okay, yes, we were veryefficient because my computer is
about to die.
Okay, perfect, maybe it's thisprogram, I don't.
I was at half battery and nowit's like red.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
I don't know, it might be the.
The video drains it.
So these plans are beautifulbecause you can take this.
You've got five characteristicsto move the needle on.
You're starting with one.
You can come back to this planover and over and over again,
each year multiple times andcontinue to move the needle.
So now you've got a personaldevelopment plan for yourself.
You can share this with yourteam so they know what you're
(41:06):
working on.
We're going to build these foryour team and they can share
them with you too.
So this is it's all about onetiny step just creating that
awareness around how you want toshow up as a leader,
understanding where you're attoday, building a vision on
where you want to go and thenjust creating that path, which
is, with each of those tinysteps.
This is development.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Cool, cool, cool, awesome.
One question on that with theteam, and I'm so excited that my
team is going to have a chanceto do this with you.
It makes me, like, really happy, are you?
Is it as the employer and theperson that is funding, funding
these sessions, do we?
I mean, is it a requirementthat they share with me, or do
you give them that choice?
Or like, what's the?
What's the confidentialityexpectation with all of this?
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Yeah, typically, because I do, because I so I've
done this exercise with groupsbefore.
If I, if this is a ticketedevent and it's kind of open to
the public and I invite peopleto come in and do this as a
group, I challenge them to takethese plans back to their direct
boss and share them so thatthere's collaboration and
partnership together on thisdevelopment, because it's
(42:16):
wonderful if a leader can sayhere's what I want, but then the
person that's leading them alsoneeds to have a say, in my
opinion, of being able to sayhere's how I'm going to support
you and help you with this,whether that's through
accountability and check-ins orproviding additional resources
in order to help thatdevelopment come to success and
fruition.
Now, if somebody is doing acoaching session with me
(42:39):
one-on-one, as you know, there'salways confidentiality, unless
we're recording, of course, forthe show.
There's always confidentialitythere, and so, but also as part
of that, I do challenge them todo the same thing and take this
back to their boss because,again, just same thing as I said
, there's responsibility.
I believe leadershipdevelopment, the responsibility
(43:01):
falls on both the employee andthe employer, and so you can't.
You know it's going to be a lotmore difficult if an employee
holds that leadershipdevelopment plan to themselves
and there's so much moreopportunity and potential if
they're sharing it with otherpeople so that they can
celebrate those things andfigure out what's getting in
their way of being the leaderthat they want and then figure
(43:24):
out how to overcome thosechallenges.
So if somebody can reallymaster a plan like this and then
turn around and start teachingthis to their other hourly
employees or their other leadersthat they're overseeing and
create a culture of developmentthroughout the entire
organization, that's the goal.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Yeah, okay, yeah, no, that makes total sense.
You know, we've done a lot ofvisioning in the past and
writing visions, whether it'spersonal visions or professional
visions, and one thing that Ialways wrap up with when I'm
introducing the concept ofvisioning to people that are new
is, you know, of course it's upto you, but I always encourage
sharing it with someone so thatyou have kind of an
(44:03):
accountability buddy, someonethat can like ask you like, hey,
how's it going with that kindof an accountability buddy?
Someone that can like ask youlike, hey, how's it going with
that?
Whatever you know learning howto macrame or whatever is on
your vision, how's it going withthat?
Yeah, splash and I love this andthis is something that you and
I work have worked on so much UmI'm getting so much better
about is just someone that youcan celebrate your wins with Um,
(44:25):
and that's a really big, that'sa really big deal, and if you
don't share it with anyone, thenyou don't have anyone to call
you on your shit and you alsodon't have anyone to be like
look what I did, so cool.
Okay, I like that.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Yeah, I love it.
It's also just really inspiringright To be around people that
are working on themselves andwanting to get better and make
the organization better.
And who doesn't want to be inan environment like that?
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
Awesome.
Well, emily, thank you forshowing up as powerfully as you
did, really appreciate your timeand can't wait to share this
with the world, and that isgoing to do it for us this week.
So, for anybody listening,please share this exercise with
anyone that you know in theindustry that could benefit.
If you're driving, I challengeyou to pull over, grab a pen and
(45:10):
paper, do this exercise foryourself.
Yeah, be safe and we will talkto you all next week.
Thanks so much, awesome.
Thanks, kristen.
In today's episode, I'm going to show you how to
reduce the risk of employeeturnover.
I'm working with Emily, who's aclient of mine, on designing
her leadership style andcreating a leadership
development plan for her so shecan lead by example, and then
what we're going to do is do thesame exercise with her entire
leadership team.
So there's accountability,commitment and empowerment and
(00:32):
community through growing as aleader in their organization.
The results of this are goingto be absolutely outstanding and
it's going to open upcommunication, it's going to
enhance problem solving and it'sgoing to make leadership
development be a 50-50 path andpartnership path for both the
(00:53):
owner of the restaurant andevery leadership layer within
the organization.
Enjoy Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, the show
where restaurant leaders learntools, tactics and habits from
the world's greatest operators.
I'm your host, kristen Marvin,with Solutions by Kristen.
I've spent the last two decadesin the restaurant industry and
(01:16):
now partner with restaurantowners to develop their leaders
and scale their businessesthrough powerful one-on-one
coaching, group coaching andleadership workshops.
This show is complete withepisodes around coaching,
leadership development andinterviews with powerful
industry leaders.
(01:37):
You can now engage with me onthe show and share topics you'd
like to hear about leadership,lessons you want to learn and
any feedback you have.
Simply click the link at thetop of the show notes and I will
give you a shout out on afuture episode.
Thanks so much for listeningand I look forward to connecting
.
(02:01):
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If you're curious about this andwant to learn more about how it
could work in your space, visitgorti-inccom slash restaurant
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leadership podcast.
Again, that's gorti-inccomslash restaurant leadership
podcast.
Emily, we are going to spendsome time today coaching through
how you want to show up as aleader, and we've been working
(03:32):
together for a while.
This is going to be fun torevisit.
We've talked about it in shortsentences and in many, many ways
, many times, but what isimportant to you today about
understanding how you want toshow up as a leader?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You know, the thing that's really important to me
today and right now, honestly,is that I'm in this kind of
pretty big transition as aleader at the moment, and so
part of this has really been, Iguess, redefining who it is that
I want to be as a leader,because of a new role, as well
(04:13):
as and as I'm like I'm preparingfor this meeting with my whole
leadership team tomorrow, wherewe really are kicking off this
next part of the journey of mebeing in this new role, are
kicking off this next part ofthe journey of me being in this
new role as well as kind oftrying to revisit some things
that maybe we used to do that wereally enjoyed and things that
(04:33):
I used to do as a leader that Ireally enjoy that maybe we want
to get back to.
So it's a little bit of kind ofcolumn A and column B, which
seem a little like they mightfight kind of, because some of
it is like new and growth anddevelopment and new role, but
then some of it is stuff that Ifeel like was really great.
You know, I've been in my rolefor 19 years with my company and
(04:55):
so some things that I thoughtwere really great from 10 years
ago that I really missed.
That I also want to bring backas a leader as well.
So a little, a little bit ofit's a very wide spectrum.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, can we talk a little bit about your current
position and this transitionthat you're getting ready to go
through?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, totally so.
I, as you know, I'm currentlythe COO of Secret Sauce and I've
been in that role and slowly soand have been in that role and
(05:34):
slowly, gradually working upinto that role for 19 years
really, since we opened Stupid'sUptown.
Owner of the company is now onsabbatical and really kind of
handing officially, unofficiallyhanding the reins over and
really not having the kind ofpresence that he has had before.
(05:56):
And the reason that it's a bigdeal is the day-to-day and the
logistical like.
I've been doing this job for avery long time, so it's not one
of those where people are goingto be like, oh, this is going to
be brand new as far as likewhat my day-to-day looks like,
but Josh's voice, which hasalways been very present in the
company is is gone, like he's,he's fully I.
(06:20):
I terminated him out of all ofour systems yesterday or two
days ago.
Like he literally can't find, hecan't access financial
statements, he can't get intotoast, like, even if he wanted
to, he couldn't because I he isnot an employee on any of our
systems anymore.
So so it's a pretty bigtransition just in terms of.
I think it's more kind offiguratively than operationally,
(06:44):
because I'm now, I'm the, I'mthe last, last tier, whereas
there's always been, there'salways been kind of just one
more tier of of things that I,of people, that I could bounce
ideas off of, or if it wassomething that, quite frankly,
that either I didn't feelequipped to deal with or didn't
care to deal with, I could kindof like shovel it over to him.
(07:04):
And I don't have that personright now, which is a big deal.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
If you are feeling the pressure of rising costs and
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The truth is, the economicforecast may be shifting, but
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That's why I'm headed to the2025 National Restaurant
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Plus, you'll get access tocutting-edge technology, menu
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be there, and I'd love to seeyou too.
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(08:16):
The 2025 show is where thefuture of food service comes to
life.
Don't miss it, and I hope tosee you there.
And you've been going throughsome incredible changes and
structure.
You know different leadership,structure changes in order to
get ready for this, and soyou've brought on a you know, a
new director of operations.
Your role is changing and yourleaders.
(08:37):
Things are going to change alittle bit for them too.
So we're going to start withdoing this exercise with you
today, and then the goal is thatwe do this with with your
leadership team too.
What, what's the hope and theimpact that you you really want
to see from their perspective?
In terms of working with you orJust in terms of identifying
(09:01):
their, their leadership styleand really building a leadership
development plan for themselves.
Is I?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
really want to strengthen the teams to where
they have the focus and theskills and the empowerment to
(09:29):
function the two restaurants asindependently functioning
restaurants, if that makes sense.
For years and years, forever,we've always had this extra
layer, this secret sauce layerthat has functioned as
everything from HR to shiftcoverage to really everything
that they need and unfortunatelyit's been beautiful on a lot of
(09:50):
levels.
But there's also been this levelof where my GMs haven't 100%
been able to develop into GMsbecause there's always been me
or always been somethingsomewhat another layer to deal
with, maybe some things the GMsshould deal with, and same with
chefs and things like that.
So the first part is reallysome greater empowerment on how
(10:13):
to make it to where Steuben'sjust operates as Steuben's and
they don't care whether I'maround or not and Ace operates
as Ace and they're just kind ofthese functioning restaurants
that just take care ofthemselves.
Would be a really big deal.
And then the other part, on theleadership side of things and
you and I have talked about thisbefore is this idea of
(10:35):
sustainability and getting backto slash, creating new slash,
opening lines of communication,whatever that looks like to
where my team is feelingsupported by this environment in
a way that it is sustainablefor them to be here happily and
(10:57):
productively for a very longtime.
And those are two.
Those are like my two big ones.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Love it Well.
Kudos to you for showing uphere first and doing the work
yourself and then and leading byexample.
This will be, I think, reallyexciting for them to listen to
and for you to share yourdevelopment plan with them and
to hopefully motivate andinspire them to really take this
seriously and lead with thatthat focus and clarity to help
the business be more sustainableand inspire them to really take
this seriously and lead withthat focus and clarity to help
(11:26):
the business be more sustainableand empower them to be even
better leaders than they aretoday, which is really exciting.
Love it, Okay, Good, good, Well, let's jump in.
So let's start with a leaderthat's really made a huge impact
in your world.
This could be someone that youknow in the community, someone
(11:49):
that you've worked with, someoneyou know, a boss, or someone
that you've led, uh, that youjust really admire.
Let's talk about that person.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Um, I mean, I guess I have two, so it depends on
which one fits more kind ofwhich direction you want to go.
I mean, am I allowed to say,Josh, even though I'm kicking
him out of my world, you can saywhoever you want.
You know, josh has had thehands down the most biggest
impact on my life of any leader,and that's both professional
and personal.
You can after working withsomeone for 19 years and knowing
(12:22):
him I mean, my ex-husbandworked for him before I started
working for him for five yearsbefore that, so I've known Josh
for 25 years, right, um, so Iwould say he he's had a huge
impact on me as an individual.
The other one that comes to mindwould be my general manager, my
old general manager at ACE.
(12:43):
Her name was Kate.
Is Katie was.
She's still around, she's justnot my GM anymore.
Her name's Katie.
Um, she moved out to Portlandand, um, she just had a huge
impact on me just in terms ofseeing the power of being a
really awesome mentor forsomeone which I was with her.
I really took her under my wingfor like a full two years
(13:05):
almost.
She had never been a GM beforeand when she left us was the
best GM we've ever had and westill have a great relationship
and she still runs things by meand she still says thank you for
everything that she learnedhere.
So that was pretty, prettyempowering, and seeing where
she's at now and what she'sdoing with her life is really
inspiring as well.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Awesome, those are great.
What leadership characteristicsdoes Josh embody?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Um, you know, he, he has this eye for he just he sees
things that no one else sees.
That Well, sometimes you'relike, oh my gosh, every single
time you come in and you seesomething, which can sometimes
be like soul crushing.
(13:54):
But at the end of the day, he'salso not wrong, Right, and he
just he has this attention todetail.
Um, he has very specific ideain mind of how he likes things
done, Um, but he also is willingto um to bend based on what's
(14:15):
best for the team and best forthe company If it, if it doesn't
quite fit in with what his headis at, where his head's at.
So I would say eye for detailand seeing everything,
flexibility.
And he asks a lot of reallygreat questions, sometimes
(14:39):
almost to a fault, where you'relike, oh my God, can you please
stop asking questions, Just letme do my thing.
But again, at the end of theday, he's not wrong with all his
questions, which makes him justvery thoughtful.
He's not money-driven.
It's always been about thepeople and the culture and the
love of what we do.
(15:00):
Okay, and that's a really gooddeal too.
So we've got attention to detail, flexible I wrote down curious,
thoughtful people focused,culture focused, anything else.
(15:21):
I mean I could say a million,but those are.
Those are probably the big ones.
I mean, I have always said thathe really taught me how to how
to do business the right way.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Okay, how about katie ?
What characteristics would youuse to describe her?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
um dedication, um high energy, um she had a way of
she could, her team would doanything for her.
She had this way of just likerallying and it could be like
let's go scrub the dumpsters.
(15:59):
And they'd be like, yay, welove Katie Right, like the worst
thing possible and it didn'tmatter because they just loved
her so much.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
How would you describe that?
What's that?
How would you describe that inone word?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
What the staff felt, or or that characteristic of
hers that characteristic of hersin one word, kristen.
Um, I mean, that's a leader,right, that's a leader.
To have people willing tofollow you anywhere and
everywhere and do whatever,whatever needs to happen, is
(16:36):
pretty like amazing.
Her team was so, was sodedicated to her.
It was really like aweinspiring.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
What was it about Katie that inspired them to to
follow it like that?
Um?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
I mean, part of it was her age.
I mean she's closer, she's veryclose, right, she's young, so
they can relate, which I mean.
That just is what it is.
But she was always verypositive, always very excited
about what was going on, excitedabout trying new things, would
(17:12):
call them on their bullshit,which I think was a big deal,
and not in like a shitty way andjust like a hey, don't do that
Right, and they'd be like, okay,you're right.
Um, she also and this wasn'tthis is not necessarily a
positive thing, but she was here, she loved Ace so much so she
(17:34):
was here to the point where Iwould have to like kick her out,
be like you have to take a dayoff, but she just loved being
here and I think her team couldsense that that she, she just
loved ace and she wanted to makeit the best, greatest, most
awesome place.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, so I've got dedication, high energy,
relatable, positive, excited,direct slash, tough love and
present yes, okay.
Hey there.
Podcast friends.
I hope you're enjoying theseimpactful conversations and
(18:12):
leadership insights I'm bringingyou each week.
Before we dive back into today'sepisode, I want to take a
moment and reach out and ask asmall favor.
That would go a long way insupporting the show.
If you've been loving thecontent I'm providing, please
take a moment to leave a ratingand review wherever you listen
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Not only does it make my day,but it also plays a pivotal role
(18:35):
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What you think?
(18:58):
Thanks a million for beingawesome listeners.
If you were going to pick fiveof these characteristics that
you wanted to embody or you mayhave your own list from based
off the work that we've donetogether, of how you want to
show up as a leader what wouldthose five characteristics be?
Speaker 2 (19:14):
characteristics be?
I'll think of five.
They may live.
I can't remember what's on thatlist, but I'm 47 years old.
I can't remember anything.
I would say the things that Iwant to out of that list or
what's in my head the fivebiggest ones for me list, or
(19:46):
what's in my head the fivebiggest ones for me, um,
motivational, um.
What was the one for?
Like holding people accountable, but in like a good way like
direct slash, tough love.
Yeah, yeah, something like that,yes okay, direct, direct,
uh-huh, motivational, direct, um, relatable, which to me, on my
level, I think, just means morelike accessible, um.
(20:10):
You know, I know that I'm notnecessarily going to relate on
the same level that katie did toher 23 year old peers, but I do
want to make sure that there'sa comfort or comfortability with
addressing me, um, or coming tome with there's, with there's
things, um, um, uh.
(20:30):
Empowering, I think, is areally big deal for me.
I tend to want to do everythingmyself and I think it's a
really big deal in this new rolethat I'm empowering other
people to do the things thathonestly they should be doing
anyway, and probably high, Ithink, probably high energy,
(20:56):
like I want to make.
I want to make sure that I canexude just how dedicated and
committed and excited I am formaking these books.
It's greater than they are.
So I don't know if that's inthe high end or I don't know
what that is, but yeah, okay, sowe've got motivational For me.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
That's good.
Yes, yeah, we've gotmotivational direct.
Um.
And then I wrote accessible,slash, approachable, yeah, one
of those words speaking to youmore than the other I'd say
approachable okay.
And then empowering andenergetic yes, okay.
I'm going to ask you now torate each of these on a scale of
(21:36):
one to 10.
So one is it's hardly showingup at all.
10 is you feel like it's firingon all cylinders every day.
So what's?
Speaker 2 (21:45):
happening currently.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yep, yes, okay, yeah, where you're at today, exactly.
So let's start with motivationMotivational when would you rate
that on a scale of one to 10?
Speaker 2 (21:55):
let's start with motivation.
Motivational when would yourate that?
On a scale of one to 10?
Um, I'd put that as a.
I put that probably an eight.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
How about direct Um?
I'd also put that at an eight,Okay.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Approachable.
You know this one's a funny one.
I'd like to say 10 because I'malways just like come and talk
to me and I'm here and I'mliterally in the buildings all
the time and the staff has mycell phone and my email, but
anytime I check in with someonethey're like I didn't.
I was scared to talk to you, soI don't.
(22:34):
I don't know, that's a, that'sa funny one, cause my
perspective is different than,and not my management team.
So much, but, like the rest ofthe staff, Okay, sure, how about
?
Speaker 1 (22:44):
how about empowering?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Oh, I'm working, I'm getting there.
I put that one maybe a littlebit lower, maybe like a seven.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Okay, and energetic.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
I say a nine Okay.
And energetic, um, I'd say anine Okay.
My energy is really good rightnow.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Okay, how are you showing up today as a
motivational leader at an eight?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
You know where.
Why it's not higher is.
I think that I'm working on mystyle in terms of what's.
What I continue to realize andI think this is something that
we've learned as leaders foryears, and we continue to learn
and learn is that everyone ismotivated differently, and
(23:29):
whether that's from an email ora text or a let's grab a drink
or whatever that is.
So I think it's only at aneight, because I do know that I
need to put some more work intoreally making some additional
connections, at least with myleadership team, on how they're
(23:52):
best motivated so that I canwork.
I can work to do that betterfor them.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Okay, how are you showing up as an eight as far as
a direct leader goes, Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
You know I've always been really direct, um, but the
interesting kind of shift thathas sometimes takes place is, as
a leader and depending on thetiming and what your team looks
like and the world and all thatkind of stuff, sometimes you get
a little worried to be toodirect because, um, you're
(24:29):
scared of losing someone, ifthat makes sense, um.
So again, I think, circling backto kind of just communication
styles with the team and makingsure that I'm resonating there,
but making sure that I amconnecting on a personal level
with my leadership team, becausethen if we already have that
(24:53):
connection, then having thetough conversations is easier.
That makes sense.
So, you know, if there'ssomeone that you haven't asked
how they're doing in a few weeks, and then you just go up to
them and be like, hey, you suck,the directness doesn't work
right.
But if you've got, if you'vedone some vibe checks, you've
done some energy checks and youknow what's going on in their
(25:15):
world, and then you go up andsay, hey, you know, I know
you're going through it withyour grandma, cause we talked
about that yesterday when I justchecked in on how you were
doing.
But these are some things thatslipped through the crack
yesterday that directness gets alittle bit easier and that fear
of them being like fuck thisplace and I'm walking out starts
to kind of like dwindle.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
So how about uh approachable at an eight?
How are you showing up today?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
I don't know.
I feel like I show up reallygood.
Kristen, Like I said, like my,I'm in the restaurants all the
time.
I chat with the staff, I say hito them.
They have my contactinformation.
I'm always saying like let meknow if you need anything.
And maybe you know, likethere's this theme that keeps
(26:03):
coming back from.
The other two is maybe justmore of those me going to
individual staff members andjust doing quick, me initiating
first and then maybe that makesthe my approachability a little
bit closer to what I think it isversus what they think it is.
Okay, yeah, so I think there's.
That's probably the opportunitythere as well.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Okay, how about empowering at a seven?
Speaker 2 (26:29):
I'm getting there, you know, with Ben, my new
director of ops.
He's only been here with mesince the middle of December and
, like I've shared with youbefore, he's only been here with
me since the middle of december.
Um, and, like I've shared withyou before, he's awesome and
he's he's showing up in greatways and I've been really
pleased with where we've landedwith him.
Um, but a it takes a while tobuild a new dynamic, and so my,
(26:53):
my ability to empower him to domore it.
It honestly, it lies more on meas well as just building a new
team dynamic than anything else.
So, you know, maybe I don'tknow, you call it trust issues I
don't know what you call itwith him, but then also, but
also then, with my, with my team.
You know, it's actually funnythat you asked this question.
(27:15):
Um is a lot.
Yesterday, I spent probably 45minutes of my day sending emails
to people and these are peoplethat are on my team as well as
external people that I'm waitingon things for literally saying
the same thing hey, justfollowing up.
(27:35):
Hey, just want to see wherewe're at with this.
Hey, you know, just just sayinghi, you owed me this and I hate
it.
It's like the worst part of myjob is having to follow up with
people because inherently I'msomeone that will say do this or
I need this, and I trust thatit's going to happen.
And I'm not great about thefollow-up because I just assume
(27:58):
that everyone else in the worldis going to follow up and do
their job, but then they don't,and so then I don't trust that
it's going to happen.
And then so then a hard timeempowering them to do more or do
anything, because somewhere inthe back of my mind I'm like
well, you know what?
I asked you to do this thing andI had to follow up three times.
So here's where we're at Right,um, but maybe I just need to
(28:26):
empower.
I mean, I guess then that's Benneeds to be the follow-upper.
He can spend 45 minutes a dayon the email saying just follow
it up, just follow it up, andthen I just I just follow up
with Ben.
But again, it's such a new,it's a new relationship that
we're still we're stilldeveloping in a really good way,
(28:46):
though it's not because there'sanything wrong, it's just time.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, okay, okay.
Um, how about energetic at anine?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
I'm feeling good.
Yeah, I think I'm.
I'm pulling a lot of energy outof this transition into um Josh
going on sabbatical and itfeels it feels really good.
You know, I would say it's notat a 10 because I don't think
anything can ever really be at a10.
There's always an opportunityfor for some improvement and
(29:15):
honestly energy level.
10 might be a lot Um, so maybe anine is good Um, but but
overall and I think I you knowJosh definitely sensed it before
he left I don't think he wouldhave left if I was at the same
kind of energy level that I waslast fall with everything.
His comfort level of taking thesabbatical would not have been
(29:38):
there.
But I think I'm showing up in areally positive, great way.
That feels really good Okay.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Awesome, yeah.
Unlock the skills to transformyour leadership with the
Hospitality Leaders Roadmap Movefrom ordinary to extraordinary,
packed with practicalstrategies to lead with
confidence and create lastingimpact in your restaurant.
Visit kristinmarvincom slashaudio to download your free
(30:10):
audio book today.
Let's talk about where you wantto be.
So, again, let's go back to thescale of one to 10.
So you're currently at an eightin terms of motivation.
Where do you want to be?
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Um, I mean better at all of them.
I mean again, I don't think.
I don't know that I would eversay 10 on everything, on
anything, because to me 10indicates that I don't have any
room for improvement, and Idon't think that that's ever the
case.
Um so bumping, I mean bumpingall of these eights to nines.
(30:47):
Bumping everything to a ninewould be, I think, to me
probably the highest rating thatI would ever put out there for
myself, if we're not doingdecimals, which I'm not doing-
Okay, so we've got motivational,direct, approachable,
empowering and energetic all ata nine.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, okay, that would feel great.
Who?
Speaker 2 (31:14):
are you at a nine?
From a motivational perspective, I'm really confident because I
see that my team is feelingmotivated and when they're
feeling motivated then they'regetting things done and then I'm
able to empower them to doother things because they're
motivated and then I have theconfidence to.
(31:35):
I have the confidence to trustthat they're, that it's all
happening Okay.
So I think confident, yeah, ofthem, right.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
How about?
About direct?
Who are you when you're directat a nine?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
I mean, I think it's a really similar theme.
I'm direct, so that I'm holdingpeople accountable and you hold
people accountable and theyfeel empowered and motivated,
they get shit done and then Itrust them to do other things.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
How about approachable?
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Gosh, I feel like it's all the same word.
It's all confident, right.
Because when you'reapproachable, you feel confident
that your team regardless ofwhether it's a server or a
busser or the director of opsyou feel confident that they
will come to you when there isan issue that they feel like
they need your support on.
(32:40):
And that's a really big deal,right, because we've all been
blindsided by that manager thatcomes to you and is like here's
my two week notice and you'relike Whoa, I thought we were all
good and they're like well, no,I've been fucking miserable and
I got to get out of here andlike, oh my God, if you'd only
talked to me a month ago wecould have fixed this.
Um, and that's that shakes yourconfidence right Cause then all
(33:04):
of a sudden you're lookingaround at your entire rest of
your team.
You're like who's about to quit?
Anyone could walk out at anymoment.
But if I'm feeling fullyapproachable by my team, then
I'll have that level ofconfidence that we're really
solid and that fear that they'reall just going to walk out on,
and not that I like I don'tfunction in that, but you know
(33:25):
what I mean.
I don't wake up every morninglike bracing myself that my
entire team's walking out.
That certainly doesn't likecross my mind.
But yeah, it's happened to allof us before.
Sucks.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
How about empowering who are you at a nine?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Um, you know, if my, if I'm empowering my team, then
I'm also feeling empowered to dothe things that, honestly, I
should be doing, rather than thethings I'm doing that I haven't
trusted to give to someone else.
Um, so I'm, I'm I'm more in myrole in terms of what, what I
should be doing, more bigpicture thinking, more working
on the business versus in thebusiness.
(34:16):
Um, enjoying my days off andnot having to plug in and check
in and see what's going on.
Um, so I have more energy andI'm feeling rested and balanced.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
It sounds like there's a sense of freedom.
Yeah, yeah, happy.
It was a big deal.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
It's funny that you say that because you know I've
been working.
My oldest daughter isgraduating from high school this
year and I'd like to take herout of town this summer, so it's
like a celebratory trip beforeshe moves to college.
And I'd like to be.
I'd like to be gone for twoweeks, and I don't.
(35:05):
I haven't booked, I haven'tbeen able to pull the trigger
yet on buying these tickets, um,because I'm still don't feel
like I have the freedom to do soyet.
Um, so that's something.
Yeah, that'll be a.
That'll be a moment tocelebrate when I push the the
(35:25):
buy.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Love it.
You have to share that with me.
And in energetic we talkedabout, you feel like you're at a
nine and you want to stayconsistent there.
So which, if you were to pickone of these characteristics to
focus time and energy on movingthat needle from where you're
currently at to where you wantto be, which one would have the
greatest impact on yourleadership?
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Empowering.
Okay, say more, you know thatone Um, if my team is empowered,
(36:09):
then my energy is great.
And if my team is empowered,they are also motivated because
they are feeling like they theyhave the empowerment to do what
it is that they are feelingmotivated that they wanted to do
.
Um, if my team is empowered,they're feeling empowered to
come to me with good things orbad things, and know that it's
(36:32):
safe to do so.
So the empowerment is a reallybig deal on their end.
And if I'm feeling like I haveproperly empowered my team, then
my energy feels great and myconfidence feels great and we're
getting things done.
And and and it's funny, right,you think about this that there
hasn't been a mention of, like,any financial situation here,
(36:54):
right, um, but at the end of theday, I know that if my team is
empowered to do what they needto do, then the finances will
follow suit.
Yeah, and that would be great.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Yeah, that's one of your big goals too.
It is, I mean, I know, that's abig deal as a business owner
and as a leader.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
I mean yes, you want all the altruistic, lovely,
amazing things, which I adoreand, honestly, is why I do what
I do, but ultimately, if youcan't do all of this and have a
financially sustainable business, then what are you doing?
That's not going to last long,right.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
So what's one tiny step you can take to move the
needle on empowerment from aseven to a nine?
Speaker 2 (37:44):
from a seven to a nine Clear communication of my
expectations and then followthrough on those.
If I can say to my chef youknow what, for the last 19 years
(38:09):
I have, I have analyzed foodcost every week to make sure
that we're all, everything'sgreat.
I don't want to do that anymore.
I'm going to show you what I do.
I'll show you what myexpectations are on a weekly
basis for it, and I would likeyou to do it moving forward,
right.
So communicate what needs tohappen, share any kind of skill
(38:34):
development that needs to happenaround that, explain what I'd
like to see and then move on.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
What's the expectation that you need to
communicate clearly right now.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
That this is going to happen, that I'm, that I'm
going to start empowering peoplemore.
I guess the the I need to givethe expectation, that's the more
big picture expectation ofhere's what, here's what's going
to change and why.
So you know, coming at you withsome conversations and some
AORs and some expectations, um,and this is what's going to
(39:15):
happen in terms of follow-up andall of that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
And when?
Would you like to communicatethat and how?
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Uh, that's happening tomorrow.
I love when I can answer yourquestion with something I've
already put together.
That's happening.
It's happening tomorrow.
Um, it's my first full kind ofleadership meeting, um, that I'm
hosting since Josh is onsabbatical, and, um, a lot of it
is just my vision of what's, ofsome changes that I want to
(39:45):
make, and nothing sweeping,nothing like ACE is a pizza
restaurant now I'm not an Asianrestaurant or anything wild like
that but, um, just how I wantto see the dynamic be and what
the expectations are.
So, uh, I will be communicatingthat as a full team meeting
tomorrow at 9am, um, and I'mreally excited about it.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Perfect.
So in 35 minutes we've justcreated a development plan for
you and you're going to be ableto communicate to the team that
your main priority from aleadership development
perspective is to work onempowering your team, and you're
going to set very clearexpectations for them tomorrow
and then start delegating andteaching them the skills and
(40:24):
following up to make sure thatthings are getting done as they
need to, to your level ofexpectations and standards.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
Correct.
Okay, yes, we were veryefficient because my computer is
about to die.
Okay, perfect, maybe it's thisprogram, I don't.
I was at half battery and nowit's like red.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
I don't know, it might be the.
The video drains it.
So these plans are beautifulbecause you can take this.
You've got five characteristicsto move the needle on.
You're starting with one.
You can come back to this planover and over and over again,
each year multiple times andcontinue to move the needle.
So now you've got a personaldevelopment plan for yourself.
You can share this with yourteam so they know what you're
(41:06):
working on.
We're going to build these foryour team and they can share
them with you too.
So this is it's all about onetiny step just creating that
awareness around how you want toshow up as a leader,
understanding where you're attoday, building a vision on
where you want to go and thenjust creating that path, which
is, with each of those tinysteps.
This is development.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Cool, cool, cool, awesome.
One question on that with theteam, and I'm so excited that my
team is going to have a chanceto do this with you.
It makes me, like, really happy, are you?
Is it as the employer and theperson that is funding, funding
these sessions, do we?
I mean, is it a requirementthat they share with me, or do
you give them that choice?
Or like, what's the?
What's the confidentialityexpectation with all of this?
Speaker 1 (41:52):
Yeah, typically, because I do, because I so I've
done this exercise with groupsbefore.
If I, if this is a ticketedevent and it's kind of open to
the public and I invite peopleto come in and do this as a
group, I challenge them to takethese plans back to their direct
boss and share them so thatthere's collaboration and
partnership together on thisdevelopment, because it's
(42:16):
wonderful if a leader can sayhere's what I want, but then the
person that's leading them alsoneeds to have a say, in my
opinion, of being able to sayhere's how I'm going to support
you and help you with this,whether that's through
accountability and check-ins orproviding additional resources
in order to help thatdevelopment come to success and
fruition.
Now, if somebody is doing acoaching session with me
(42:39):
one-on-one, as you know, there'salways confidentiality, unless
we're recording, of course, forthe show.
There's always confidentialitythere, and so, but also as part
of that, I do challenge them todo the same thing and take this
back to their boss because,again, just same thing as I said
, there's responsibility.
I believe leadershipdevelopment, the responsibility
(43:01):
falls on both the employee andthe employer, and so you can't.
You know it's going to be a lotmore difficult if an employee
holds that leadershipdevelopment plan to themselves
and there's so much moreopportunity and potential if
they're sharing it with otherpeople so that they can
celebrate those things andfigure out what's getting in
their way of being the leaderthat they want and then figure
(43:24):
out how to overcome thosechallenges.
So if somebody can reallymaster a plan like this and then
turn around and start teachingthis to their other hourly
employees or their other leadersthat they're overseeing and
create a culture of developmentthroughout the entire
organization, that's the goal.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Yeah, okay, yeah, no, that makes total sense.
You know, we've done a lot ofvisioning in the past and
writing visions, whether it'spersonal visions or professional
visions, and one thing that Ialways wrap up with when I'm
introducing the concept ofvisioning to people that are new
is, you know, of course it's upto you, but I always encourage
sharing it with someone so thatyou have kind of an
(44:03):
accountability buddy, someonethat can like ask you like, hey,
how's it going with that kindof an accountability buddy?
Someone that can like ask youlike, hey, how's it going with
that?
Whatever you know learning howto macrame or whatever is on
your vision, how's it going withthat?
Yeah, splash and I love this andthis is something that you and
I work have worked on so much UmI'm getting so much better
about is just someone that youcan celebrate your wins with Um,
(44:25):
and that's a really big, that'sa really big deal, and if you
don't share it with anyone, thenyou don't have anyone to call
you on your shit and you alsodon't have anyone to be like
look what I did, so cool.
Okay, I like that.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Yeah, I love it.
It's also just really inspiringright To be around people that
are working on themselves andwanting to get better and make
the organization better.
And who doesn't want to be inan environment like that?
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
Awesome.
Well, emily, thank you forshowing up as powerfully as you
did, really appreciate your timeand can't wait to share this
with the world, and that isgoing to do it for us this week.
So, for anybody listening,please share this exercise with
anyone that you know in theindustry that could benefit.
If you're driving, I challengeyou to pull over, grab a pen and
(45:10):
paper, do this exercise foryourself.
Yeah, be safe and we will talkto you all next week.
Thanks so much, awesome.
Thanks, kristen.
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