From Manager to Leader: How to Stop Working IN Your Restaurant

 Most restaurant pros believe the only way to get results is to be in the middle of everything. The kitchen, the bar, the schedule, the ordering, every decision. Here’s the hard truth. The more you insert yourself, the less your team grows. The less your team grows, the more your restaurant depends on you. As part of my restaurant leadership and mindset series, let me show you how to stop working in your restaurant and start leading it so you can finally get your life back.

Mindset shift 1: Stop managing tasks and start developing people

Managers focus on the next ticket, the next schedule, the next fire to put out. Leaders focus on developing people who can handle those things without them. If you answer every question, sign off on every order, and redo work because it’s faster if you do it yourself, you’re training your team to depend on you. That’s managing, not leading.

One of my members, Stephano, learned this the hard way. For years he thought leadership meant being involved in every decision. Once he gave his new kitchen manager clear systems and the authority to enforce them, everything changed. That manager handled a tough employee issue on his own and handled it better than Stephano would have. For the first time Stephano told me, “I feel like someone finally has my back.”

That’s the lesson. When you empower your managers with systems and authority, you stop being the firefighter and start being the leader.

Mindset shift 2: Stop thinking your presence equals performance

You being in the restaurant all the time isn’t what makes it run well. It’s the systems, the accountability, and the leadership habits you build. If your operation falls apart when you’re gone, it isn’t because you’re indispensable. It’s because you haven’t built leaders.

Leadership is about teaching your team how to think. When you delegate outcomes, not tasks, you train them to solve problems. When you demand clarity, not perfection, you build consistency. When you hold them accountable, not hostage, you create a culture that runs on ownership, not fear.

I had a powerful coaching conversation with George, a seasoned pro who knows the business inside and out. He told me, “I’ve done all this before. I know the systems. I’ve used them.” I told him that wasn’t the problem. The question was whether his managers were doing them. His next level wasn’t learning the systems. It was leading people to use them.

I said, “I don’t want you doing inventory anymore. I want it brought to you with your managers ready to explain what they found and what they’re going to do about it.” That’s leadership. It isn’t about doing the work. It’s about developing the people who do.

Mindset shift 3: Stop being the hero

Every restaurant has a hero. The owner who swoops in and fixes everything. Jumps on the line, runs food, saves the day. It feels good. It feeds the ego. It hurts your business. If your restaurant needs a hero every day, you haven’t built a team. You’ve built dependence.

When you stop being the hero and start being the coach, you empower others to win the day without you. That’s when you know you’ve become a leader.

What leading in your restaurant really gives you

After more than two decades of coaching, here’s what I’ve learned. When you lead your team, you lead yourself out of the grind. That’s what the Restaurant Prosperity Formula is about. Leadership, systems, training and accountability that move you to action. It’s not just how you grow your restaurant. It’s how you get your life back.

So stop managing every shift. Start leading your people. The day you do that is the day your restaurant stops running on you and starts running because of you. That’s how you go from manager to leader and finally from chaos to control.

Be sure to visit my YouTube channel for more helpful restaurant management video tips.