Its freeing to put my thoughts into the either without the necessity of getting a response. Being in charge of something, anything really, can be lonely. Explaining a situation around the restaurant is a chore. The natural reaction is to give advice. Yea, that might be quality advice, thanks! But truly, all I want to do is just complain for a second. Honesty about something disappointing me does not tarnish the pride I have for the business and how I believe we represent ourselves to the public & coworkers. When I opened this place up, I felt immediately welcomed by the other small business owners. Unspokenly, it was known that we all went through a struggle of some sorts to get the first customer through the door. If there was a closed door confessional, accepting that there will always be an issue with something, is likely the business owners’ greatest strength. The way everyone goes about solving that problem provides the hue to the successes or failures of the business. Aside from several important documents, there is little difference between an honorable business owner and an excellent manager.
I am in the business of managing personalities and trying to give the people around me the absolute best opportunity to succeed. Its selfish. I will be frank about that. The more skills my people have, the easier it becomes for me to do my job well. Truthfully, I think that it is my greatest skill. When someone demonstrates the willingness to address a problem rather than pass it up to someone qualified, I pay attention. I only promote from within, and I give too long of a leash. I love when people take the reigns. It makes them accountable and allows them to learn through success and failures. It is worth it to me to see if my people can sink or swim. If they ask for advice, I am quick to listen & respond. If there is a proposed solution, I only prevent the implementation if I believe they have not appropriately considered other angles.
Who knows, but through this ethos of leadership I have allowed several to rise at a young age to positions they would not have applied for… and others who likely will no longer speak to me because once I feel as though they have reached a degree of unwillingness to try new things, I will let them go and thank them for their time spent.
I think a lot of running this place is putting bets on who will represent themselves with honor, and who will treat my customers and coworkers with respect. Management sets the hum of the tune for the day to day operations. Do our people look forward to coming to work? Or do they just keep coming because of the money and will jump as soon as something comes close. I have a feeling that now, at 2 years in, we are going to face a reckoning on culture, decisions were either correct and it is to my credit, or I will be spending a whole lot more time at the restaurant just to hold onto every wall to keep it up. Lets it rip, baby. Lets find out.
