The story of "Our House" .. version one
Okay, for those of you who may stumble across this blog, for some reason unbeknown to Me, first off you should know I am a restaurant service manager. yeah, big friggin' deal .. but really it's what I do, and I love it. Those of you who know Me already know this. One of the biggest parts of a restaurant manager, especially the general manager, and the service manager, is to offer some sort of vision to the people who have the most direct contact with the guests. It sort of makes things like, "Excuse ME! .. this ice water is too cold!!" a bit easier to take, if you know you are working towards some vision; even if it isn't your own.
I'll digress briefly to fully illustrate that point. The following is a paraphrased anecdote of Ken Blanchard's. One day a man searching for some mystical secret to becoming a good leader happened upon three men working with brick and mortar in the hot august sun. The first man was dirty, sweaty, and working very unhappily. When our intrepid inquirer asked this man what he was doing, the man replied sharply, "I'm working with bricks, what's it look like?" That made our inquirer move on to the second man, asking him the same question. The second man; who appeared a bit less motley, and working at least as hard, replied a slight bit more cordially, " I'm providing for My family, and keeping food on the table." Moving on to the third man, who was being a lot more productive then the first two, and even singing to himself, big smile on his face as he was apparently enjoying the hard work at hand, and asked the same question one more time. This time, the man actually stopped, looked at the mountain of bricks before him, smiled, looked skyward, then back to our reported, said, "Friend, I'm building a grand cathedral!"
Okay, possibly a bit over the top, but you get the point. It's all about vision.
So, back to the story behind the story of "Our House." Being a service manager, and loving it, I've had to work through some very bad situations that various predecessor's have left behind. Not that long ago, I took over a cooperate restaurant's Front of the House. There was way too much negative energy, and zero team work. There were clicks, and most of everyone's energy was spent trying to find the next thing to bitch about. Yet having observed most of the core group of servers while I was an M.I.T. I knew that they had talent, and cared about our guests' experiences. One of the jobs that is far too often overlooked, or tools that is under-utilized by managers in My industry, or quite possibly any industry are what we call "preshift" meetings. I made it a point to have them, every day, at least one before dinner, if not one before both dinner and lunch. To build up energy levels, I'd always end them with a small cheer .. something simple .. everybody's hands in, and then on "1..2...3.. Teamwork!" sure it was cliche, but I made it a non-negotiable. after regularly requiring it, I found after a few weeks, everyone knew it, and it go louder, and I'd spend time talking about what it meant, after checking uniforms, going over specials, promotions, and various other information that would help them be successful doing their jobs. "Teamwork" being a mantra, and something discussed often, and leading by example was enough to stem the tide of negative energy. . . That and a certain amount of clipping the lowlying branches. Only a few of the most negative had to go, before the rest started making changes. Although it was an experiment, it proved very helpful in making crucial changes.
All that having been said, it's time to talk; FINALLY about the Story of "Our House"
That job, like far too many others has come and gone. I find myself, with the best job I've had thus far, in this industry. One of the cornerstones of success with this company is "Southern Hospitality." I was lucky enough to grow up in the south. Sure My Mom may have been born Japanese, but her love for American Culture, especially Southern Living, Entertaining, and yes even occasional honky-tonkin', made her more American then just about anyone else I'll ever know. That and the amount of hard work it took for her to study, and the tests she had to take to become a citizen, are stories that were very important in My becoming who I am. Wow, could she entertain! The house full of people, all eating food she had made, punch she had spiked, and music. It's no wonder I became who I am professionally. Music, people food, several times a year, either summer, Christmas, or just because she wanted to. That was, for Me as a child "our house" at it's best. For days beforehand she'd clean, and prepare, she wanted her guests to have a great time. It's no different for a successful restaurant, is it?
So, flash forward, a few years; okay decades.. LoL ... I have taken over a good team of talented servers, many of whom have worked together for years. They work together well enough, and all focus on giving our guests what they want. Not a bad thing at all. But, and this might just be Me, but I honestly feel any leader, in any industry, should strive to make tomorrow better then today. When today is bad, it's a lot easier. If today is good, you have to strive to make tomorrow great. Greatness is no easy task. So, I have used what was already in place, combined with My history, and I share bits and pieces of myself. I tell My Team about growing up in a southern household, how important it was for mamma to make sure everyone had a great time; that her house was clean, and no one was left wanting for anything. I follow that up with communicating any important information, then end with .. yeah another cheer ".. 1..2.. 3.. OUR HOUSE!"
So, when the time comes for Me to open My own restaurant, the only name that makes any sense to me is "OUR HOUSE"
posted by rjanis | 6:08 PM
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