You can’t lead if you do not role model the change and the values you try to inculcate your business with.

1. One-On-Ones: The best tool that gets the best results for our clients is the 5-minute, “One-On-One” utilized with EVERY employee, EVERY day. We Coach them to pick one employee every day to sit down and have a one-on-one conversation with. This isn’t a “gotcha” event as much as it is a “what can I do for you to help you achieve your goals” event. You learn tons when they begin to share what their own personal goals are - or aren’t! Then when you go through your entire staff - start over!

2. Employee Roundtables: These aren’t your usual staff meetings. Employees meet once a month/quarter with the owner or highest level field manager available. No unit managers are allowed. Open and frank discussions of the culture ensue and the level of engagement during the meetings is phenomenal.

3. 360 Feedback: This isn’t only for managers it’s for employees as well. This type of evaluation needs to be incorporated in any ongoing evaluation process you have.

4. Staff First, Guests Second: Never treat a guest better than you do an employee.

5. Hire “A” Level Talent: Hold out for it period! It will be worth it when you do.

6. Fire “C” & “D” Level Talent: You will never have “A” level talent if you force them to work with less talented individuals. “B” level talent can be grown into “A” level talent, but “C” & “D” level talent cannot. Get rid of them now before they cost your business even more.

7. Grow your business: You will have to focus on growth in order to pay more, do more and offer more that guests and “A” level talent will demand - not just now, but in the not-too-distant future, like tomorrow!

8. Grow Your People: Talent Management has to be the most important decisions you make every day. Understand that you must also challenge your staff to do more that matches their interests, skills and talent or you will lose them. Don’t have a position for them? Re-define one!

9. Grow Yourself: How can you be a better leader if you are not constantly engaging yourself in new learning? New processes? New perspectives? New ways of thinking? The amount of knowledge in the world is doubling every 2.5 years and even that pace is increasing. Can you afford to be left behind?

10. Develop Core Values: Sit down with all stakeholders and do this today! This will determine everything else you need to do and how you will do it.

11. Create the Best Culture: You have a culture already. What is it like? Does it achieve the performance level you need? The proper culture is the only thing that will directly improve the performance of your staff and ultimately the business.

12. Walk the Walk: Your staff has to have trust in your ability to lead. The best way to do this is to establish your intent up front then exhibit the ability to manage the business properly and efficiently. This means not just executing 100% of an :every guest, every table, every day” mentality, but understanding that the difference between managing and leading is that managers do things right, while leaders do the right things.

13. Measure Results: Anecdotal evidence isn’t enough. You have to know if a change effort is working or not and how well, given the current strategy and resources. What does success really look like?

14. Coaching At The Point Of Action: This is the only way to ensure high performance at all levels. It is also the only place where actual engagement with the employee or guest can make the biggest impact.

15. Strategy First: This has to be your mantra for every area of your business. You must understand that the proper strategy has to be in place first. Tactics are always determined by the strategy, not the other way around. Would you start out on a journey to someplace you have never been before without a map?

16. Make It Fun: If you want it to stick! See my previous post on how Fun creates Results.

17. Transparency: Talk openly and freely about the issues and solution strategies of your business with staff. Talk about everything from electric bills to staffing issues so that they understand the “why” of your “how” to do the “what”.