In the restaurant industry it’s important to focus on numbers and performance because those numbers tell you the health of your business. As a coach, I teach restaurant owners how to use budgets and set goals and then measure them. When hiring managers, it’s important to find those who are high performers so they can help you meet those goals. But being a good manager and finding good managers isn’t all about performance. It’s also about establishing trust. Trust plays a critical role in your manager’s success.
In this episode of my restaurant podcast, The Restaurant Prosperity Formula, I am going to explain this concept of performance and trust, based on renowned author, motivational speaker and organizational consultant Simon Sinek’s TED Talk. Sinek has one of the most watched TED Talks on YouTube and wrote the book, “Leaders Eat Last.” He has inspired leaders and organizations around the world to focus on purpose leadership and create positive organizational culture. Sinek basically says a medium or even low performer who has high trust among their colleagues is more valuable than a high performer with low trust among their colleagues. WHAT? Yes. I talk you through the theory, how Sinek got there while working with Navy Seals and how this applies to your restaurant.
Aim for high trust managers
This is important in your business because the last thing you want is to hire someone who turns out to be a toxic leader, which is a low trust manager. You’ve likely experienced this yourself or heard the horror stories.
- The great chef who drives people away because they treat people terribly.
- The great server who knows they’re great but doesn’t want to share what they know or their success with anyone else in the restaurant?
- Team members who are great at their tasks but create a lot of drama, talking behind people’s backs, pitting fellow employees against each other, disrespecting management and the rules.
These types of high performers have low trust, and they hurt your business.
That’s because when you focus on performance, you end up promoting toxicity, which then leads to you becoming an undesirable place to work. The business unravels from there.
How to build trust in your restaurant
If you’re identifying closely with this content and think you need to work on lowering the performance expectation and increase the trust expectation, I offer you some tips in this podcast for building trust. I also offer examples of how other restaurant organizations have practiced this high trust, high performance model and how you can get started in your restaurant today.
Funny enough, when it comes to building trust, the steps line up very will with my Restaurant Prosperity Formula!
Remember, trust is more than performance. It’s about creating an environment where everyone can thrive. Inspired by Simon Sinek and guided by the Restaurant Prosperity Formula, let’s make trust the cornerstone of your success. Listen to or watch this episode to get the full benefit.
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Read the full transcript.
Hey there restaurant Pro. It’s David Scott Peters and welcome to episode 81 of the restaurant prosperity formula. I’ve been coaching restaurant owners since 2003. And the restaurant prosperity formula is based on what the most successful restaurant owners I’ve worked with doing a daily basis to achieve their success.
The basic premise of the formula centers around achieving prosperity, freedom for your restaurant and financial freedom you deserve to achieve prosperity have to follow a very specific formula made up of leadership systems training, accountability and taking action. Today I want to talk about how trust plays a critical role in your manager success. Let’s get started. In our industry, we often focus on numbers and performance.
Heck, I focus a lot on budgets and KPIs as a restaurant coach myself, but I recently ran across a tick tock video. That’s right, a tick tock video of Simon Sinek who shared a management insight that literally dropped my jaw. First of all, was Simon Sinek. com.
With books like start with why and leaders eat last, he has inspired leaders and organizations around the world to focus on purpose, leadership and creating positive organizational culture. Here’s the Insight he shared. he articulated an idea of what makes a manager great and it wasn’t well, we’re probably all thinking right now. Simon basically said, a medium or even a low performer with high trust is more valuable than a high performer with low trust.
Think about that for a moment. We’ll get back to it. Now, how did he come up with that conclusion? Well, he said he was working with the Navy.
And kind of on a break there he he asked them how they pick the guys to go into SEAL Team Six because they’re the best of the best of the best. He went on to say, then in response to his question, they drew a graph. On the y axis going up, they wrote the word performance. And on the x axis going across the bottom, they were wrote the word Trust.
They define performance as their performance on the battlefield and trust as performance off the battlefield. In the restaurant, business performance would be hitting your food cost targets, labor cost targets, sales projections, and so on. Right the KPI started the business, the numbers, the measurable part of the business. And went on to say trust again, is what kind of person you are off the battlefield.
The way the Navy put it was somebody who is trusted, if you will, what what makes that how do you measure trust? They put it in a phrase said I may trust you with my life. What I trust you with my money and my wife, a very Navy SEAL thing to say. They said nobody wants to low performer with low trust.
Everybody wants to high performer with high trust. They went on to say that they learned that the person who isn’t well, a high performer and low trust he’s a toxic leader in the restaurant business, how often have you seen this? The great chef, right with great accolades incredible food that drives people away because because of how he or she treats their team, or the greatest surfer you have on your team is the worst trainer because they’re natural what they do and they’re impatient as hell and they make people feel small when they’re training them. In his presentation, Simon explained that the Navy would rather have a medium performer with high trust or a low performer with high trust over a high performer with low trust.
Think about that. We go up and we say somebody is really really a high performer. But they’ve got low trust, and I’m wondering if they’re a medium performer, leave really high trust right the camera over here really high trust they want a thorough low performance with really high trust. They want them he went on to remind us that basically to his audience, that the Navy SEALs are one of the highest performing organizations on the planet.
And again, that they would rather have a medium performer with with high trust over high performer with low trust, basically up performances and everything. There’s more to that. And that trust piece is key. You said that the problem that we have in business is we’re lopsided when we measure anything.
Our metrics are lopsided. With millions, millions of waiting million or one way however you want to say it to measure performance but negligible to know metrics to measure a person’s trustworthiness. So what do we end up doing? We end up promoting and bonusing toxicity in our businesses, which is a bad thing for the long term, the long term game right because they eventually destroy the whole organization.
Think about that statement for a moment we end up promoting and bonusing toxicity in our businesses in our cases, restaurant people. That means your restaurant chiefs, high performing managers, right? They’re hitting their numbers doing all these things that they create drama at these managers are creating drama in your business. They have pretty high turnover, a negative work environment, but because they’re hitting their numbers, we want to keep them ultimately by keeping this high performer.
As your leader in your business, who has low trust. They end up tearing your business apart. Simon went on to say that the next part is super simple and actually made me laugh out loud. No shit, I laughed.
He said the irony is it’s unbelievably easy to find the people who are your high performers with low trust. He said go to any team and ask them who’s the asshole and they’ll all point to the same person. He said equally, you go to any team and ask them who do you trust more than anybody else? who’s always got your back.
And when the chips are down, they’ll be there with you. They will also point to the same person. Right? Everybody knows who these two people are.
The person they’re pointing to, in this case is the best gifted or natural leader who is creating an environment for everybody else to succeed in your restaurant. Trust is the glue that holds everything together. It’s what makes your team feel connected, valued and motivated to give their best. It’s not just about the fastest server can take orders or how many dishes a chef can prepare.
It’s about the integrity, reliability and the relationships they build. With you, their team members and the customers and they may not be your highest individual performer. But that person you better keep them on your team because they are your glue to your business. So how do we build this trust?
It starts with leadership and that should sound familiar because of the restaurant prosperity formula that I teach. So let’s translate how that fits with my restaurant prosperity formula made up of leadership systems training, accountability and taking action when it comes to leadership, feel empathy, be transparent, and communicate openly. Your team needs to know that you’re that they’re valued. And that when you value them, it’s beyond just the performance metrics at their people.
About systems. Implement clear systems that everybody understands. This creates a fair and consistent environment where trust can flourish because everybody’s being held to the same standard of training. Invest in training, equip your team with the skills they need and they’ll trust you to support their growth and success.
Accountability, one of my favorites, hold everyone accountable, including yourself. Trust is built when promises are kept and expectations are met. That’s a pretty heavy statement, isn’t it? And finally, taking action.
Talk is cheap. Show your commitment to trust by taking consistent action.
Let’s look at some real world examples about Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. This is a shining example of trust centered culture. They prioritize their staffs wellbeing and create an environment where everybody feels valued and supported. Another example maybe not as widely known as Danny Meyer is the famous Zingerman’s community of businesses.
Which includes a bakery Creamery coffee. Company, and Zingerman’s delicatessen, founded in 1982, by Paul Saginaw, and rd wines and wick they’ve built a culture where everyone from the dishwasher to the manager is involved in decision making. This inclusivity fosters trust and a sense of ownership. Let me show you.
Here’s how they structured their businesses. With open book management, they practice open book management where the financials information that well it’s provided and shared with all the staff members. This transparency fosters trust and a sense of ownership among the employees. They basically have a consistent consensus decision making process.
employees at all levels are involved in decision making processes, promoting a sense of empowerment and collaboration. They really invest in training. They invested heavily in employee training and development, including leadership programs to ensure that the staff members have opportunities for growth and advancement when it comes to their culture and values. When it comes to customer service, Zingerman’s is renowned for its exceptional customer service, often going above and beyond to creating memorable experience for their customers.
When it comes to community engagement. The organization is deeply involved with the local community supporting various causes and initiatives. When it comes to focusing on quality. Each business within their group emphasizes quality products, whether it’s artisan breads, gourmet cheeses, or carefully sourced coffee.
In summary, Zingerman’s community of businesses stands as a testament to the power of community collaboration, transparency and quality. It’s a model that resonates well with the principles of leadership systems training, accountability and taking action that I emphasize in my coaching program, and it offers valuable lessons for restaurant owners seeking to build a thriving and trusting team. Please no, I’m not suggesting that you copy and embrace all of what Zingerman’s is doing. I really share it with you as an example.
You have to do what fits you as long as you’re working towards building trust in your restaurant. That’s the key. So what can we take away from Simon Psyonix insights? And these real world examples I just provided.
Trust is not merely a buzzword. It’s vital. It’s a vital ingredient to your restaurant success recipe. Here’s what you could do to start today.
To build that trust. You can start by assessing your current trust levels. Talk to your team, gather feedback, and understand where you stand today. You can implement trust building practices use principles we discussed today.
To foster a culture of trust. You can monitor and adjust. trust building is an ongoing process. Keep an eye on it and make adjustments as needed.
Remember, trust is more than performance. It’s about creating an environment where everybody can thrive. Inspired by Simon Sinek and guided by the restaurant prosperity formula. Let’s make trust a cornerstone of your success.
If you’d like to learn more about controlling your labor costs, and ask me questions directly. Be sure to join me live every Friday at 8am pacific time on YouTube travel schedule permitting where I’ll get you pumped about the upcoming week and get you excited about crushing your goals and finding the motivation to be the best you possible. Plus, I’ll answer your burning questions live. He that was an awesome episode.
I want to thank you for taking the time to take action on building a better more prosperous restaurant. Before you go. I want to give you these three thoughts. What by combining leadership and taking action with systems and training being checked by accountability.
You are on your way to creating prosperity for you and your restaurant to like something I need for please leave a review on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you happen to listen to podcast by leaving us where each other restaurant pros seek me out this information are able to find that I read the reviews and hearing how this information has benefited you does wonders for and three. If you find any discussions helpful share them, the more restaurant pros who have access to them, the better we become as an industry, the more restaurant resources or to get in contact with me. com. Be passionate about what you’re doing.
Be persistent, but more importantly become better and help everyone around you become better. And your restaurant is going to kick some ass.