Category: business

Some people seem to have a natural ability to provide genuine service. You can recognize them by the genuine smiles and eye contact that they give you, the open body language, the willingness to take time to listen or talk to you. There is a woman at the Safeway I shop at that is this way. No matter how long the lines or hot the day or grouchy the customer, she always seems to have a ready smile, lilting, upbeat voice, and positive attitude. I go out of my way to stand in her line when I see her working, irresistibly attracted to her energy and the knowledge that when I leave her line I will feel just a little bit lighter. There is the busboy at the restaurant we went to a couple of weeks ago who was balancing an insane number of dirty plates on his tray, yet took the time to look at each of us as he removed the dishes from in front of us, give us a slight nod and a smile. Or Manny, our amazing gardener extraordinaire who is always so busy but makes the time for us when we need a fence repaired, a tree planted, or help with our sprinklers.

We are blessed to have people like this in each of our restaurants, naturals who need no further prompting to do whatever it takes to ensure our guests are delighted. But not everyone is a natural. The Disney company has service down to a science, and has books and even a training program for companies to learn how to perfect customer service. If you have ever been to Disneyland or Disney World, you may not realize how much has gone into the training to create a magical experience for you. The always crowded parks are a testament to the success they have been able to create and maintain. With so many employees have they been lucky and attracted only naturals? I think no. But you can teach people what great service looks like.

We are definitely in a service business, but really isn’t any business? If we use as models the people that exemplify great service, and teach our team how to duplicate it, can we be like Disney? No matter what your thoughts are about the theme park (crowded, expensive, crowded) I don’t think anyone would argue that as a model for service and success in business, they have it down. We have taken the qualities that identify great service for our type of business, and listed them out on paper. We train our team, the naturals and the rookies, as to what great service looks like. We focus on great service, and service will improve. It’s the way it works. Where focus goes, energy flows.

Have you ever noticed when something keeps coming into your awareness? I’m not talking about the hypnotic yet annoying marketing rendition of California Dreamin’ that is the lottery commercial. I do think the universe is conspiring to market a message to me when I keep seeing something or hearing it or coming into contact with it. I am learning to pay attention. Values is the word that keeps coming up for me. I have been using it an awful lot lately, a search of my writing over the last month pulled it up in no fewer than 16 times, and at the retreat I went to recently both of the speakers I sat in on had as their main subject matter…you guessed it, Values.

I know my personal values. I value family, my work, growth, health, and love, but I’ve been thinking, what about my organization’s values? Although we attempt to live by our personal values, part of being a leader is to articulate the team values to those you lead. I have been contemplating this, and when we had only 5 people on the team it was easy to influence them and work cohesively, especially since 3 of the 5 were my husband, my mom, and me. The challenge has come as we have grown. 20 people was still a tight ship, since I was hands on in the restaurant and James and I personally trained and hired everyone. The ration of 2:20 made it easier to communicate our values to the people working with us.

But now we have over 80 people that work in our organization, some in the front row, the people that greet you and take your order for your food, and just as many or more behind the scenes, prepping, baking, paying the bills, cleaning the restaurant and ensuring that the finished product, the experience we project, is a positive one for the people we serve. With such a large group of personalities it is even more important for us to clarify our values as a company and what we stand for. The shared values of the team are what bring the team together and help to direct the decisions they make every day, and if you have not shared these values with them, there can be less cohesion and chaos as everyone has a different idea of what is important. The team’s values are the glue that hold it together, especially at crunch time.

Most organizations have generic basic core values, like customer service, profitability and integrity, values that no one can argue are important, but the real power for us comes from identifying specific things that we value that if we are living by these things, the rest falls into place. For our organization our core values are:

1. We value people. We believe every person on the team plays an important role in the whole. We believe the best of people and focus being the best version of ourselves for the people we come into contact with.
2. We value teamwork. We know that one of us is never as effective as all of us. In the words of Mother Teresa “You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.”
3. We value adding value to others. We exist to add value to the people on our team and to our guests. We work together to serve and brighten the day for those we interact with by exceeding expectations and doing whatever it takes to build loyalty.
4. We value personal growth. We believe in everyone’s potential for growth, and that we believe in giving our team the tools to succeed and to grow personally.

Do you know what your values are? Does your team?

The word tribe is one that I have just recently started using. I know that there are bigger and greater organizations that have been using this word for some time, there are books about it and you can search it online and find a plethora of information about it, but for me it’s a new term. It’s really just a way of expanding my thoughts to include more people in our vision. When I talk about my team, I am referring to a smaller, more defined group of people who know each other and work together towards similar goals, but when I expand my vocabulary to use “tribe”, it is something more.

The idea of our tribe is the expanded group of people who not only work together, but also add value in other ways, either by being clients, suppliers, our community, or even members of our extended families. There is a huge tribe of people with tatoos, there are tribes of people who practice Buddhism, there are tribes of people who live to serve. It really means a group of people that are like us and do things like us. We care about the people in our tribe, and rally to support them when the need arises.

It is not an elite club, its an open door to a community that has the energy to create positive change. We don’t have rules, but we do have shared beliefs. Beliefs such as we all have the potential to make a difference in the lives of those we interact with. We care about our fellow man and work to make things better. Since I also have a business within a tribe, there are times when we have people in the organization who are not synchronizing with the culture of growth and connection that we have. This does not make them any less valuable as human beings, but it can cause ripples in the flow of our momentum as a business. It is the job of the leaders to ensure that the people they are leading understnad how we do things. In any business there is so much more power and better results when you have people working together, helping out when needed, and most importantly doing what they say and acting with integrity.

Just the other day one we had a scenario in one of my businesses where of my leaders asked someone to stay and hour later to help him with a project. The person, lets call him Jerry, agreed, however when the time came for him to help out, Jerry was nowhere to be found. Did Jerry forget? or was this an indicator of a bigger issue? A leader needs to look at the big picture and to have open communication. Is this the first time something like this has happened? Have we taken the time to really connect with Jerry and let them know they can trust us to be there for them as well? Are we transparent and clear when we have a one on one with Jerry, and let him know that the message he was sending by disappearing after committing to help was that he could be relied on?

We are working together to create positive change in our little universe, and what you did to get to this point in your growth, success, development, life, parenting, marriage, business, (use whatever word you like), will not get you to where you need to go next. This is why relationships end, brands die, people change jobs, stagnation happens. Everything is always changing, expanding, decomposing, and if you are not growing together, you are growing apart. It can be hard to let go of the old and embrace the new, but we are all changing all the time, so your tribe will see people come and go as part of the natural evolution of life. Don’t cry about it, just accept it and know that change is inevitable, growth is optional.

“What tribes are, is a very simple concept that goes back 50 million years. It’s about leading and connecting people and ideas.” Seth Godin

There are so many moving parts in any business that it seems like it can sometimes be a never ending process to get things right. Even in a well run organization, there are inevitable leaks that spout as you are growing and moving forward with momentum. There is a pattern, or a life cycle in all businesses, no matter whether you are a restaurant, a tech company, a real estate group, a construction company…Big and small, we all face similar challenges as we grow. It’s not unlike the lifecycle of a human being, with the intense attention needed when your business is a newborn, to the chaos that ensues during the go-go grow phase, like an out of control teenager. Even when a business hits it prime, then inevitably starts to age, like we see now with brands like Sears, Red Robin, Chili’s, it’s just part of the cycle of life.

In our business we were teenagers for a very long time. I like to think now we have advanced to young adults, but there are still times when I wonder if I am not unlike my little 3 year old niece who insists she’s a big girl. Much of our teenager phase was recognizable by the lack of systems and the issues we faced. We spent a lot of energy and time “putting out fires” and plugging the holes that would happen all the time. It was like trying to hold a handful of goo. No matter how close I held my fingers together, there would inevitably be a leak, then another and another as I addressed each one. Teenagers are fearless. You can caution them and warn them about the perils of driving fast, but they want to learn by their own mistakes. We were in crisis mode all the time.

So how did we grow up? I made the decision. I got tired of the chaos and realized that I was the leader. It was time for me to grow up and take responsibility for the challenges we faced. We decided to stop hiring from desperation. We stopped assuming our people knew what to do just because they were experienced or well paid. We limited what we were focusing on, and changed that focus to leadership. We changed our inner circle and listened to different voices. We put new leaders in charge. This all gave momentum to the next phase in our growth. By focusing on our people and developing their leadership we are growing from the inside out. Instead of the pedal to the metal method of our adolescence, we have transformed into gardeners, planting seeds that are pushing from the bottom up towards the light. The process of developing leaders takes time. The seeds of greatness lay dormant until the conditions are right for them to germinate and grow. It is our mission now as leaders to find those seeds in our people and help them grow.

The decision to change the course of my organization, from the toddler stage when I was so in love with what we were selling, to the teenager stage when I was so in love with our guests, to the stage we are in now, where we are in love with our tribe, has brought me so much energy and keeps me motivated and loving what I do. I needed to redefine what we are here to do. I believe I am here on this earth still because my work is not done. I am here to help and serve the people in our tribe, which includes the employees, the clients, the vendors, and our communities. This is what gets me up early every day and keeps me smiling no matter what.

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” E.E. Cummings

If you are trying to be everything to everybody you will be nothing to no one. There is always going to be a percentage of the population who loves you, a percentage who can’t stand you, and those who don’t care. Your primary focus must remain on your authentic voice and your vision.

This means not taking it personally when you have critics. In actuality, embrace it. Take the feedback and grow from it if you can. Ignore the haters and nay-sayers, they are not your tribe. Live with integrity and focus your energy and attention on the ones who love you. They are the ones who need to hear your message, the ones who want what you are providing, who can propel your brand.

There is tremendous power in the tribe of people who love and support you. Exceed their expectations and always ask yourself how you can add more value to them. Listen to them, always, but especially when they give you feedback. Feedback is the most valuable opportunity to make things better for your tribe, team, clients, followers, organization.

When you are on the inside looking out your view is very one dimensional, depending on your personality you may be focusing on all the little details that are not perfect, or turning a blind eye to potentially damaging issues that can be percolating in your group. Feedback from your tribe is the way to look from the outside in. This view is the perception you are projecting. Checking often with your tribe helps to ensure you are staying true to your values.

When building your brand never compromise on your standards, always be open to new and better ways, and know that your people are your biggest asset.

What IS the culture in my business? How do I start defining it? These questions and more went through my mind when I first began to hear the word culture. Until that point I thought culture was going to the ballet, or museums, or playing a musical instrument. The idea of creating a culture in my business was foreign. I knew that we had amazing, kind people working in our restaurants, people I had hand selected and liked working with. But I wanted to know more about this word I kept hearing, and how to create it intentionally.

When I stepped out of the daily operations role in our first location to open locations 2 and 3, it was the real test on what we had built in Dublin for our brand, our culture, and the people that worked with us there. We hit some stumbling blocks, because we were in unknown territory. Thankfully we have a strong and loyal client base and core team that rallied around us and gave us the support and the critical feedback along the way to let me know in real time how things were operating without my daily presence. Many of my fears about growing our company were unfounded, but just as many proved true. I found it challenging to continue to improve our standards, and maintaining alone was difficult at times! Too much of the first 3 years after opening our second and third locations was spent putting out fires and plugging holes.

The shift began with a final straw. I’ve said it before, I have been a slow learner. But that’s changing. For me, the most difficult thing to do as a business owner is to make the hard decision to transition someone off the team. It is hard to make the call that there is nothing more that you can do to coach someone into the position or level of performance that you must require to operate your business successfully. I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I know I need to do this, and I remind myself that I have a responsibility to my team to make the best decisions for them. Sometimes people get stuck in a job they don’t like or that they cannot do with success, and if they don’t make the move on their own to improve or move on, it becomes up to me.

The final straw was when I decided to stop looking for solutions outside of myself. I made a decision to change my mindset about how we hire, who we need on the team, and to invest my energy with the people already on board. We began intentionally coaching, mentoring, training and developing people already in our organization to help them grow. I took off the blinders and saw that we had so many diamonds just waiting for someone to notice them, give them tools and to believe in them. These people are teaching ME about the culture we are building.

What is a culture? Its a shared belief, a shared vision. It is people like us who do things like us. A culture based on LOVE. What that means is that the people in our tribe, our family, know that we care about them. It means that we respect each other and want to help each other out. We say please and thank you, and believe in empowering people to do what it takes to brighten someone’s day. We believe that growth is mandatory and its always a process. Success is defined by the fact that we are headed in the right direction, even if we have not arrived. We believe that one person can make a huge impact, and we are working towards creating a kinder, more loving world. This is our culture.

“There is no substitute for character. You can buy brains, but you cannot buy character.” -Robert A. Cook

The foundation of leadership is trust. I am blessed to be leading over 80 people in my organization, and the only way I can do that effectively is by always being aware that the trust they have in me is a great responsibility. The people I lead trust me with their safety, their jobs, their personal growth, and if I do something to break the trust, it can have a huge effect on the culture of our organization.

I personally have felt the impact of losing their trust when I placed someone in a high position of leadership that was not equipped for the role and authority given to them. The trust I have built over the past decades gave the new leader initial credibility to have an opportunity to make a difference with the team, however the leader in question lacked the character to follow through with his actions. This leader came into our organization after a thorough interview process and with a clear focus on what our values and goals were for them. I really believed they were the answer to my issues at the time. They were to come in and implement training, coaching and development for my team. What happened was the opposite of my intent.

Instead of taking the time to develop the trust and the relationships needed to implement change, this leader operated under the assumption that because of their title, any changes that were rolled out would be followed through without falter. The trust that was given at the beginning of their entry into our organization was quickly depleted as they were unable to gain traction and bond with the team. This of course flowed upwards to me as the leader and guardian of culture with my team. I began to become aware of discord in the team, and the energy I felt when walking through my locations felt off. I am very conscious of the dynamic force that occurs when you have a team working in sync and with certainty.

It was a candid discussion with one of my inner circle people that really brought to light the issues with the new leader. I had been unconsciously aware, but choosing to continue to have faith in the individual’s ability due to my nature. I believe the best of people, and really avoid confrontations. My least favorite thing to do is to transition people out of the organization, and I struggle with this each time I need to make the decision that despite the training and coaching we have invested, it is time for us to make the hard choice. As the leader it is my job to ensure that the people I place in positions of authority live and exemplify the values we stand for. This rises and falls on character, and I remind myself daily of the responsibility I have to those I am working with and leading to walk the talk and live with full awareness of the trust that they place in me.

“Character makes trust possible. Trust makes leadership possible.” – John Maxwell