Good Morning Friends! Here are my 5 Things to Consider this week!
Culture – If any part of our training is accidental, then so is our culture. We spend a lot of time and energy attracting, recruiting, on-boarding, training and integrating new talent. A new hire’s first impression of our culture is hard to reverse. That’s why it’s critical that our training be as indicative of our culture as possible because anything we don’t define and train for is left up to interpretation. Our culture isn’t simply a set of guidelines and systems that are to be followed while only at work. They’re our foundation for how we’d like people to live their lives at work and at home. The fact is, people spend most of their waking hours at work and when they’re immersed in our culture as much as they are, it becomes who they are. If any part of our training, on-boarding or acclamation is neglected or non-existent, then that part of our culture is too. We need to shine a light in corners of our training that we haven’t focused on in a while. If I have one goal for the remainder of this year, putting some calories into our front-of-house training would be it. If you happen to have an opinion or idea about where we could improve the content of our training, I’d love to hear it! Email me at Mikey@latenightslice.com.
Leadership – Delegation vs. Abdication. One of the hallmarks of great leadership is effective delegation. This happens when an owner or manager regularly gives responsibility and authority to an employee to complete a task. Doing so develops people who are ultimately more fulfilled and productive. And for the manager or business owner, delegating frees you to attend to the important strategic work of business. There is a critical distinction however, between delegating and abdicating, and it’s one that many business owners struggle with. The dictionary defines delegate as: “To give a task to somebody else with responsibility to act on your behalf. To give somebody else the power to act, make decisions or allocate resources on your behalf.” Sounds good, right? To abdicate, on the other hand, is simply this: “To fail to fulfill a duty or responsibility.” Not so good, is it? Accountability can be a slippery thing. Some tasks or functions in a business beg to be handed off to someone better suited or qualified. Remember our dictionary definition of “delegate” is to give someone else a task with the responsibility to act on your behalf. Regardless of who has the responsibility for a task or function in your business, you are ultimately accountable for the outcome. Does this mean you must micro-manage employees to ensure things are done correctly? Or should you just do everything yourself to avoid the danger of abdicating the things you are accountable for?
Certainly not! When you delegate tasks and responsibilities properly, with structure and forethought, it will free you from the crushing load of tactical work that keeps you from working on your business. If you keep doing all the little daily tasks that you’ve always done, then you’ll forever be trapped doing them and never free up the time to work on your business. If letting go of these tasks is a bit daunting (and sometimes it is, especially if you’ve always done it and have your particular way of doing it) then take gradual steps. Delegation is a critical component in the development of a business that is balanced and inclusive. It will help you discover the natural place for yourself and your staff.
This section is borrowed from the E-Myth Blog. Jan. 22, 2009 by The E-Myth Business Coach.
History – Red, White and Boom! We’ve always had a weird relationship with this one-day festival. A quick funny story… The first time we ever did RW&B, in 2010 or 2011, our truck was acting up. The ovens just wouldn’t work for some reason. I remember being stressed out as hell over this because it’s super expensive and you only have one day to make back your $$, as opposed to say, something like Comfest where you have three days. I was on top of the ovens working on the fuses in the back and forgot to unplug the oven. When I went and grabbed the fuses, I got 220 volts straight to my ungrounded body. It was by far the worst electrocution I’ve ever had. My arm was totally numb and my hair was actually standing up. Jason, who was there to witness this says there was actually smoke coming from my head. At that point I gave up. We pulled out of the row of food stands right before it opened…with our tail squarely between our legs. I don’t think I’ll ever think vending RW&B is a good idea.
Motivation – “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”– Benjamin Franklin
The 5th Thing (something I’m reading, watching or inspired by) – I was really happy with the turnout of the recent Virtural Piesan Advisory Roundtable that we put on last Thursday. We had about 14 people show up and everyone was present and engaged. We talked about everything from Covid to masks to customer service and we all walked away feeling like the time was fun and worthwhile. I want that thank everyone who participated last week. I’m very much looking forward to having these weekly. Hope to see you on Thursday!
Baby Update – Rachael, Will and I went to a patio last week to have a drink and feel a little normal. It was the first time taking Will to a patio since before Covid, and actually probably before winter. This went poorly. Now that he can almost walk, sitting still while Mom and Dad relax and enjoy a cocktail is pretty much not in the cards anymore. He’s also not in the phase where an Ipad keeps him occupied, so again were in that transition phase…not my favorite place to be with the little guy. Like any transition phase though, he’ll eventually be moved on, this time to walking which will be a whole new set of challenges…for us…to figure out how to drink around.
Thanks for reading! Like or hate any part of this? Let me know! I really value your feedback.
Have a great week!
5 Things to Consider Archive 