Good Morning Friends! Here are my 5 Things to Consider this week!
Culture – Everything matters. As much as we talk about all of the things that make us unique in our industry; our experience, our humor, our people, our culture and our design, we must never forget that our pizza and booze are the reasons that people come to our shops. The “black and white” of it is, without a great core product, we don’t have a business. Everything else we do AROUND pizza and booze has to make the experience of going to get pizza and booze amazing and worth telling people about. Everything matters in our business, but our product is our foundation. The thing that makes us different in our industry and in the entire business world, is that we know EVERYTHING MATTERS. We can’t have a great product, without great culture. We can’t have great culture without the best and most unique people. We can’t have a great product, a great culture and have our restaurants look like shit, and we certainly can’t have all of those things and run a bad business. Having that mindset that EVERYTHING MATTERS demands that we treat every aspect of the business as important. On each and every one of your shifts, EVERYTHING MATTERS. The pizza, the drinks, the way they look, the way they’re served, the place they’re served in and the people who are serving them. It’s easy to get hyper-focused on one or two parts of the business and sometimes different parts need special attention, but there are two things that matter the most; our pizza and booze and EVERYTHING ELSE.
Leadership – We must all take turns. Growing a company like ours takes input from everyone involved. We must count on each other for good ideas, best practices and telling each other when an idea or process isn’t working. One of the benefits of having a small business is the ownership we all feel. Not one decision in this business is made individually without consulting or getting input from others. Ideas for improvement should be shared because we’re nimble enough to implement change quickly. We take turns knowing what’s best for the business because at different times we’re the closest ones to a specific problem. This is true for all levels of our operation. It’s not uncommon for someone working the register to suggest a better way to deal with, say an issue with ringing something in. At that moment, they’re taking turns with a manager or someone even higher. Sometimes leadership is about being the best follower. Sometimes leadership is displayed by knowing the job of the person or persons above you. We take turns in our individual roles by considering it our responsibility to do what’s best for the entire organization. It’s everyone’s job to be the leader sometimes, just like it’s everyone’s job to make pizza sometimes. We all must take turns at the wheel and we all must take turns being a passenger.
History – Music Videos. Any of the pizza shops with alcohol have our music video system, Control Play. Back in my Vegas days, one of my favorite spots out there was a place called the Peppermill. You may have heard me mention the Peppermill previously because I used it as a part of my inspiration for the Sacred Palm. Another thing that inspired me at the Peppermill was their use of music videos. I loved that the music you heard was also what was playing on the TVs. I though it created such a great vibe. One thing I absolutely can’t stand about going into bars is seeing a muted TV playing Sports Center or News. It drives me crazy. Music videos are a compliment to the atmosphere, vibe and experience we want people to have. They’re perfectly on-brand for LNS.
Motivation – “The number one factor in creating a great, enduring brand is having an appealing product. There is no substitute.” – Howard Shultz
What I’m Reading or Watching – I just started reading Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh the other day and it’s another one I can’t put down. This one’s been sitting on my shelf for a while and I’m happy I’m finally getting around to it. Tony is the CEO of Zappos.com, the online shoe company. Zappo’s is always rated as having some of the best customer service and company culture in the world and digging in to Tony’s story is pretty fascinating. This one might be a book club book. We’ll see!
Baby Update – Babies are energy mirrors. I’ve only been in this “dad game” for a few months now, so perhaps these things I write are total horse shit, but a few of the consistencies I’m noticing could very well be valid. One thing I notice about Will is that he seems to not only absorb the energy from us, but he seems to reflect it back to us. I learned this over the holidays when, one day when stress was the highest and our attitudes and energy was the worst, Will had one of the worst days he’s ever had. Crying, fussy, basically he was being an asshole. I’m convinced though that he was being an asshole, because we we’re being assholes too. Generally, Rachael and I pretty calm, happy, and positive people. We’re hoping that Will will reflect that energy and he usually does. One of the hardest things I have to remember is to be the calm person and not the one that overreacts. That’s his Mom’s job
Thanks for reading! Like or hate any part of this? Let me know! I really value your feedback.
Have a great week!
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