[00:00:00] So there is no shortage of information out there for how to be a better leader. I have certainly done plenty of episodes about leadership and the difference between leadership and management, but I know what you need are some quick wins. So today, on today's episode 8, Quick no Fluff Leadership tips. Things that you can put into practice right away to be a more effective leader in the year 2026. Don't go anywhere.
[00:00:26] There's an old saying that goes something like this. You'll only find three kinds of people in the world. Those who see, those who will never see, and those who can see when shown. This is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast with answers for anyone who's looking.
[00:00:57] Hey. Hey everyone. Thanks for tuning in. My name is Chip Close. This is the Restaurant Strategy podcast. We put out two new episodes every single week. If you know me, you know I wrote a book. It's called the Restaurant Marketing Mindset. I give talks all over the world. I have a membership community, it's called Restaurant Foundations and I host a Mastermind program. The P3 mastermind is geared towards independent restaurant owners that struggle with profitability. If that sounds like you, if you are still stuck at single digit profits, we we help you generate target consistent, predictable 20% returns. The best way to get started is to just have a conversation. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com Schedule. You'll see a calendar link. You grab time on the calendar. You'll chat with me or someone from my team so we can see if you're a good fit. We're going to ask you a bunch of questions. You're going to ask us a bunch of questions and we'll see where we go from there. Again. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com schedule that link is in the show notes. And I mean it. There has never been a better time to join. We have grown this program to about 150 members. Members as of today, we've got four different groups. Members get two calls every single week. A one hour marketing boot camp, right? So one hour every week laser focused on a different topic and then a two hour operations call. And that's where we really dig into your budgeting, your forecasting, your scheduling, your ordering, all of that. If you're ready to level up in the year ahead, if you're ready to make serious money, that's how you do it. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com Schedule and yes, again, that link is in the show notes.
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[00:03:33] Okay, so today I want to share with you 8 quick, no fluff leadership tips. The these are specifically catered towards restaurant owners and operators because I know you can go out and read books on leadership and you know, sometimes it deals with like sort of corporate structure and you feel like, ah, this doesn't really apply to me. So let's get super specific. That's why you tune into a show like this, so we can get really, really specific. Now I've done episodes on leadership and you can go back and find those. And I think being a good leader is different than being a good manager. I like to think of them as two different hats and sometimes, yes, you gotta wear one hat and sometimes you gotta wear the other. Very rarely will you wear them both at the same time over the course of the day. You might be switching roles multiple times throughout the day. If you are like most small business owners, you are responsible for a lot of different things. But being a good leader, setting a good example, creating vision and guiding your team is crucial. So today, no particular order, these are just the eight that come to mind. And the eight that I find I'm spending a lot of time talking about with the members of the P3 mastermind. Here they are, number one, be predictably calm. We don't spend enough time talking about this, but chaos happens. Chaos is everywhere in our dining rooms. And a great leader doesn't add to it. You know what they do, they absorb it. And in many ways the best leaders out there steady the room. They, they, they ground people. So be predictably calm, calm. And I know that's easier Said than done. But just being intentional about it by. By thinking about it, I promise you, you will be better at doing it. That's the first one.
[00:05:11] Number two, Set the standard in public and then you correct in private. What does that mean? That means praise loudly and coach quietly. So, you know, pump people up, gear them, and do that in front of everybody else so that, that becomes infectious. And when there's criticism, make sure it's.
[00:05:32] And it happens behind closed doors in private so you don't wound ego, so you don't lose people so that they know you're not trying to embarrass them, but you're just trying to get them better. Praise loudly, coach quietly. Your culture listens to how you handle both.
[00:05:49] Number three. Decide faster than you feel. Ready. This is something I've had to internalize a lot over the last, I'll say, 18 months. Indecision is more exhausting to a team than a wrong decision, right? Because a wrong decision can get corrected quickly. But indecision, stewing on something, debating it over and over, that is exhausting. It's exhausting to your team and they feel like you don't know where they're going, you don't know where you're going, and therefore they are unsure where they're going. So defi. Decide faster than you feel. Ready. Move before you feel ready. I mean, I mean, jump without a net. There's so many analogies out there, but that's the third one.
[00:06:29] Number four. And I've talked about this on this show before, but I'm just going to highlight here in the, you know, over the course of this episode. Say thank you all the time, way more than you think you should.
[00:06:42] Effort noticed is effort repeated, especially in a high stress environment like our restaurants.
[00:06:49] Say thank you all the time. Be the one that leads with grace and gratefulness. Acknowledge people's contributions.
[00:06:58] You're the head of the pyramid. You get all of the rewards, and hopefully there are rewards in your. In your restaurant. But I can't tell you how rewarding it is for people to feel seen and acknowledged. Be the person that walks around, seeing the people around. Those are the top four.
[00:07:17] The next four. Number five. Coach. The why not just the what, right? So people don't commit to tasks. They commit to purpose. You are the exact same way, and your employees will follow suit. So, yes, tell them what they need to do, tell them how they need to do it, tell them when it needs to be done, but do not stop there. You have to make sure they understand why this is what we do. This is how I want you to do it. This is when it has to be done. But let me explain to you why it's so important that you do the thing that I'm asking you to do. If people understand how that connects to the greater goals, they will have greater purpose going through the day. I promise you it will help. And if people still ignore you, if people still don't do what you need them to do in the way that you need them to do it, after they understand the why, then they are not your people. And it's very clear then who needs to go. It will become very clear who stays and who goes. Coach the why, not just the what, the how and the when.
[00:08:19] Now, next one, protect your best people from burnout. Your schedule can be a leadership tool, not just a staffing solution. Yes, now, our restaurants are big and busy and they need a lot of personnel to, you know, to operate the machine.
[00:08:35] But you can also use that as a way to lead the way you utilize your people because they are people.
[00:08:42] They need to sleep, they need to eat. They need time with their family and friends. They need time to relax.
[00:08:47] Make sure you're getting the best of them by not taking all of them.
[00:08:53] Number seven. And I've talked about this a lot as well. This is something that I got from a mentor of mine as I was coming up in the industry.
[00:08:59] Own the Mrs. And own them loudly, out loud. Accountability from the top gives everyone else permission to make mistakes and acknowledge their mistakes and therefore to improve. Right. I always say, if you own the problem, you get to own the solution. So one of the things my mentor would do, and he pretty much went out of his way to do it, at least once a day, he would say, my bad. That was my fault. I made a bad decision there. I told you to do this, but that was wrong. I should have told you to do that.
[00:09:27] Own the myth misses out loud. What happens is that that provides accountability and it makes everyone else want to take accountability. Right. It becomes infectious. That's number seven.
[00:09:39] Finally, number eight. And this is something I'm spending a lot of time talking about as we go into the year 2026. Work on your business visibly in front of your team.
[00:09:51] When they see you planning and training and trying to improve, not just firefighting, not just running around telling people what to do or cleaning up the problems, but when they see you anticipating problems and being proactive, I promise you they will follow suit. And when you ask them to do it, they will see you doing it and go oh yeah, that's what we do, right? Seth Godin always talks about culture. Culture is seven words and it's so closely connected to marketing. Right? Culture is people like us do things like this.
[00:10:23] So people who spend time to be proactive, to plan, to work, to train, to level up and improve, right? Those are the kind of people who work here.
[00:10:33] People who work here do things like this. We are constantly leveling up, focusing on personal development, focusing on improving, on planning, on being proactive by anticipating issues, not just walking around, running around and being reactive, but being proactive with a meaningful amount of your day. It changes the way your restaurant operates. And that's it. Those are the eight. Let me go through them again. Number one, be predictably calm. You get to calm so much of the chaos that exists. Number two, set the standard in public, meaning praise loudly and then correct in private, which means coach constructively but quietly behind closed doors. Number three, decide faster than you feel ready. Right? Indecision can be exhausting. Just make the decision and if it's wrong, correct course.
[00:11:22] Number four, say thank you all the time. Number five, coach not just on the what, the how and the when, but also the why.
[00:11:31] Number six, protect your best people from burnout. Use that schedule as part of a leadership tool. Number seven, own the misses out loud. Take responsibility for the things that you mess up. And number eight, work on the business in front of your team. Let them see you planning, training, improving, leveling up.
[00:11:51] When you are proactive, not just reactive, they will see that that is part of their job and that's how they should conduct themselves. And that's it. If you want eight quick, no fluff, leadership tips that you can start, internalize and bring into your day to day. There they are again. I'll finish the same way I started here. I run something called the P3 mastermind. It's a group coaching program for independent restaurant owners where we help you implement so many of the things we talk about. But we go deeper and I connect you to a larger network of restaurant owners and operators from all over the country. Everybody is focused on increasing profitability. Everybody makes each other better. There is literally nothing like it that I've ever seen in my life. This is the coolest thing that I've ever had the privilege of doing and I invite you to, to join us. If it's not right, we'll know that. But we start by just having a conversation. RestaurantStrategyPodcast.com Schedule. You grab time on the calendar, you ask us a bunch of questions, we get to ask you some questions and we see if you're a good fit. If you're a good fit, we'll talk about how we move forward. And if you're not a good fit, we'll hopefully be able to point you in the right direction. That's it, guys. Let's make 2026 the best year yet. Thank you for tuning in, and I will see you next time. Time, Sam.
