Waiter Training Newsletter

What Kind of Manager Are You?

It's been a while since I've gotten a newsletter out - did you miss me?  Please don't respond to that; it's purely rhetorical!

I've been busy all summer and that's my excuse for not sitting down and writing some sassy words about the restaurant business.  So here's my latest:  What kind of manager are you?  Take out any sarcastic tone you might be imagining right now (even thought it is a lot of fun, eh?).  It's a serious question.

And the reason I ask is because I am always given positive and negative information about management from the staff.  And I can sense their discomfort with certain managers by their sudden reticence when those managers are present.  Admittedly, there are some complaints about managers that I have to accept as just whining and griping.  However, when several people tell me the same things about a manager, I have to pay attention.  Harassment, sexual and otherwise, have to be taken seriously.

Aside from harassment, there are other, not so obvious forms of management lacking in professionalism.  I've printed these words before and I always stick by them in my trainings and consultations with owners and managers:  "I can train a monkey to do this job; I can't train personality.  You have to hire a personality because it isn't something a person can learn."

The same holds true for managers.  Leading by example is an oft-used phrase and, I'm afraid, taken too lightly.  If you want your staff to be upbeat and positive and shrug off complaints and personal jabs, you have to come in the door that way, too.  Your problems can't come in with you through the back door.

A great way to find out or confirm your status as a manager, pay attention to the staffs' reactions when they find out you're the manager working with them on a shift.  If you have to be an eavesdropper to find out, do it.  This is for your benefit and, ultimately, theirs.

If you hear comments like, "Oh." followed by a deep sigh of resignation, see a rolling of the eyes and a perceptible slump of the shoulders - you're not the best manager you can be.

If, on the other hand, you hear "YES!" and a chipper smile and step ensues, you're the kind of manager everyone wants on their team.  Good for you.  However, there's a trap here; why are you the manager they want on their team?  Is it because you really are on their team?  Or is it because you do all their work for them instead of delegating properly?

If you find out you're the manager in the first example, don't despair.  You can change it if you want to.  If you really love being a manager and you genuinely want to please people, your staff being the first line of "pleasees," then all is not lost.  Find out what the other manager is doing that makes her so much more popular than you.  Watch her when she comes in for her shift; watch how she interacts with the staff and how she handles problems.  How does she relate to your guests?  Does she always have the staff's proverbial back in sticky situations?  Is she consistent in her rewards and consequences?

And certainly you can ask her directly what she does to mentally and physically prepare for her shifts.  How is it that she always comes in happy and upbeat?  Can her life really be that much better than yours that she can always be happy?  Or does she just take a different perspective of life overall?

In short, ask for help.  The best leaders know when they need help.  The worst leaders always think it's someone else's problem and responsibility to step up.  You might find that she can learn something from you, as well.  All learning is a two-way street.  I don't believe it is ever one-sided.

In closing, let me tell you that the best management teams are those who honestly check each other's choices, aren't afraid of hard work and communicate constantly.  They don't take each other for granted and they have a good sense of the other's character.

Next newsletter, I'll print an interview with two managers with whom I've had the pleasure of working a few times.  They are the best example of a team of managers that I can think of and I think you all might benefit from their wisdom and experiences.  I have certainly learned a lot from them myself.

Training and information is the key!  Contact me, Susie, at Waiter Training, either by phone or email.  My business number is 720.203.4615, and email address is Susie@waiter-training.com.  Web address is http://www.waiter-training.com.

Excellence is an act won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but rather we have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
                                                                                - Aristotle

 

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