Use the Power of Trust to Build a Thriving Restaurant Business Ep 81

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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