Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalachieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellowledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode three eleven. In today's episode is a little different.
Speaker 2: It's inspired by one of my basic and original leadership
Speaker 2: concepts of studying other businesses. Call it a personal leadership
Speaker 2: field study. So when I go out to eat fast
Speaker 2: food or chain or even mom and pop restaurants, I
Speaker 2: love to just sit there and be a silent observer
Speaker 2: of the business, quietly watching the way these teams operate
Speaker 2: in real time. It's kind of like getting a front
Speaker 2: row seat to everyday leadership and action, the kind that
Speaker 2: isn't polished for a conference or prepared for a presentation.
Speaker 2: It's leadership on the front lines during lunch rushes, behind counters,
Speaker 2: and in drive through lanes. So in my mind, I
Speaker 2: have a simple, yet powerful leadership and efficiency scorecard that
Speaker 2: looks at the operation across five key areas leadership and management,
Speaker 2: team efficiency, in workflow, customer experience, crisis handling, in overall performance.
Speaker 2: So first up, as leadership and management. I love to
Speaker 2: watch for visible leadership. Is there a manager out front
Speaker 2: with their team or are they hiding in the office
Speaker 2: completely disconnected from the reality of what's happening in the
Speaker 2: front of the house. Are they giving clear direction to employees,
Speaker 2: seem comfortable approaching them? Are they solving problems quickly and professionally?
Speaker 2: And how is their temperament, their appearance, their confidence. Number
Speaker 2: two is team efficiency and workflow. Here I pay attention
Speaker 2: to how the team flows together. Are they coordinated or
Speaker 2: is everyone doing their own thing? Do they move with
Speaker 2: purpose or bump into each other when it gets busy?
Speaker 2: Do they adapt or does chaos take over? Is one
Speaker 2: person doing the bulk of the work while someone else
Speaker 2: is off to the side on their phone. Number three
Speaker 2: is customer experience. First impressions matter. I look for friendly greetings,
Speaker 2: clean dining areas, and respectful service. How do the employees
Speaker 2: treat customers? And when I leave does the experience feel
Speaker 2: complete or unfinished? Number four is crisis handling. Every restaurant
Speaker 2: has its moments burn fries, upset customers, machines breaking down,
Speaker 2: or servers dropping a plate of food or spilling a drink.
Speaker 2: This is when true leadership shows up. How does the
Speaker 2: team handle the unexpected? Do they freeze or take control?
Speaker 2: Does the mess stay on the floor or does someone
Speaker 2: quickly arrive with a mop and a broom. Number five
Speaker 2: is overall performance. Would I come back based on the
Speaker 2: experience that I had, not just for the food, but
Speaker 2: for how the team made me feel? That question matters
Speaker 2: more than many leaders think. So I've been doing this
Speaker 2: for a long time. I love business all kinds, it
Speaker 2: doesn't matter the industry. I strongly believe that there are
Speaker 2: leadership lessons everywhere you look. Restaurants are a prime example
Speaker 2: of this. This is why in my first book, I
Speaker 2: made sure that part of the daily Leadership Challenge was
Speaker 2: to remind you to get out there and study other
Speaker 2: businesses and study other leaders. You will learn key lessons
Speaker 2: if you pay attention to them, because they are everywhere.
Speaker 2: And you can ask everyone on my leadership team what
Speaker 2: going to lunch is like with me? They will laugh
Speaker 2: and say he picks up on every consistent detail and
Speaker 2: makes it a point to try and incorporate that into
Speaker 2: our business and into our leadership toolkit to become better
Speaker 2: and more efficient. Things like the world famous my pleasure
Speaker 2: from the staff at Chick fil A to the always
Speaker 2: consistent crease and twist that is in every Jersey Mike's
Speaker 2: sub bag. It's the small things that are taught to
Speaker 2: employees on day one that ensure your culture and your
Speaker 2: promise will be kept in good hands for your customers.
Speaker 2: But it all starts with leadership. So this scorecard thing
Speaker 2: that I do, in my mind, isn't just for restaurant managers.
Speaker 2: It's for all of us. Every workplace is a version
Speaker 2: of this environment. Teams, timelines, customer needs and pressure. The
Speaker 2: lessons you learned sitting quietly with a cup of coffee
Speaker 2: and a can be applied to retail teams, hospitals, offices, startups,
Speaker 2: you name it. Maybe in a future episode, I'll share
Speaker 2: what I observe, what worked, what failed. Most importantly, what
Speaker 2: any leader can learn from watching everyday operations in places
Speaker 2: that most of us visit without a second thought. Until then,
Speaker 2: I challenge you go sit somewhere quietly and observe, not
Speaker 2: as a critic, but as a student of leadership. This
Speaker 2: has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank
Speaker 2: you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more. Paul fell of Alito Podcasts visit Paulfellowalito dot com,