Ignite the Passion - A Guide to Motivational Leadership

Chapter One

Leadership versus Management Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, rising more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible"

Time on the clock states 6:15pm but you are much too busy to notice. It is a Saturday night and the dinner rush is in full swing. The hostess has begun the seating list that you know will proceed on until at least 9 or 10 o' clock. Your waiting guests are passing the time in the bar as a young man plays his guitar, filling the room with sounds of folk music. Your four bartenders keep flowing their spirits as glass after glass flow past them in an endless parade. The night is certainly off to a good start but only time will tell.

The atmosphere is a large barn, converted many years ago to the New England appeal of yesteryear. There are three floors in this wonderful restaurant, being able to serve up to 275 guests at one time throughout your whole facility. Your staff is made up of bartenders, waitresses, cocktail waitresses, servers, hostesses, dishwashers, and kitchen staff, totaling 40 employees on the clock at any given time. People travel from miles around not only to sample your cuisine, but also to take in the ambiance that surrounds the patrons. The local college is definitely a large draw while it is in session. Tonight is one of those nights, as the big college football game let out hours ago.

You have done your pre-work for the day. You put together the night's line ups so all of your employees know exactly where they are stationed, which customers they will take care of, and when their breaks are scheduled for. You met with the kitchen staff earlier in the day, and decided on tonight's specials, as you later passed on in the server meeting. All the bar coolers have been stocked with the proper bottles, as you have checked, going behind the bartenders to verify their efforts. Your hostesses have been instructed on how to control the flow of the evening, as well as when to open the third floor dining area, controlling the wait time as much as possible. You have done everything as usual to prepare for a busy evening and you are confident that all will go smooth. You confidently walk the areas like a night patrol man confident that all locks are secure.

The first notch in the stress meter comes as one of your three cocktail waitresses in the bar spills a tray of drinks on a patron that decided his hands were better suited on the waitress than on his lap. As you pull the waitress aside to discuss the matter, she swears the incident was accidental and will not occur again. You chastise her to the point of tears and send her on her way. You return to Mr. Touchy feely and friends, agreeing not only to pay for their round of drinks but inviting them to sample the menu at no charge. The conversation is minimal and within moments you are back on your tour of duty.

As you return to the entranceway, it is evident that the night will progress in a stressful manner as one of your patrons has taken to pester the hostess until his party has been seated. After all, they have been waiting all of five minutes already and they have not been seated. After assuring the customer that you will check into the matter, you proceed on to the dining room that is surprisingly calm given the pace of the evening. Your main dining room hostesses are communicating with the front lobby, inviting the group of unruly patrons up to the solitude of wine, fireplace, and delectable cuisine. You take a moment to direct your hostesses to place the guests in a secluded area of the dining room, as they are already too loud and may upset your other guests. During the conversation, you take the time to point out that one of your hostesses has improper jewelry on and should take them off. Unfortunately, you have chosen to chastise her in front of the other two hostesses, and have succeeded in setting her tone for the rest of the evening.

To check the flow of the dining room, you peruse the tables to see which have been cleared and readied for the next group of guests. You stop to stoke the fire and throw another log on the fire. You are oblivious to the requests and the greetings of your guests as you scurry off to the kitchen to spy on whatever catastrophe is brewing back there.

As you pass the service bar area, you are greeted with the service bartender and one of the floor cocktail waitresses, as they argue over the ingredients of the guest's request. Instead of addressing either of their behaviors you simply tell them to look up the drink in the recipe book and tell them both to get back to work. If they have further issues, you will deal with them later. You have no time to deal with their petty problems now.

You round the corner into the dishwashing area as the first crash of the night has filled the air. The dishwasher has clumsily dropped a tray of carafes, intended for use in the bar area. With no concern for his safety and the broken glass, you publicly declare his incompetence and proceed to give him a very loud warning. If he cannot perform a simple task such as carrying a tray of carafes around the corner to the bar area, then you will simply find someone who can. After all, he is just a dime- a- dozen dishwasher. There are plenty more where he came from.

Thoroughly disgusted, you enter the kitchen area. As usual, just a couple hours into the dinner rush, and the kitchen is backed up. The tickets stream across the holding window as your cooks laugh about the ticket times. They boast that they can only put out the food as fast as it can cook. Sanitation standards have already started to decline as you slip on the spilled food items that litter the floor. You instruct the cooks that since they have time to joke around, they certainly have time to clean up after themselves. One of the cooks, a wise guy in every sense of the word, states that the "dish slaves" need to come take care of the mess since they are too busy. Once again, public humiliation works best as you tell the overstepped cook that when you want his opinion you will give it to him; until then, he should shut up and get back to work. Having confidently handled that outburst, you exit the kitchen area to resume your prowl.

The evening progresses at an even pace. As the manager, you are the fireman. You put out the fires everywhere that they pop up. In the bar, at the hostess stand, in the kitchen and at the tables in the dining room. No problem is too big too handle. Your confidence builds as each fire is put out. Before you know it, the night has passed and it is closing time. Your employees go about cleaning up the restaurant and getting it back to acceptable standards. The waiters begin counting their share of the night's loot, as you count the restaurant's.

The night has passed and you didn't have to put up with any whiners. No private discussions were necessary in the office to calm down the crying waitress. You are relieved that you were not subjected to any of their personal problems, caring less if they stay or go. The employees wrap up their duties, punch the clock and leave, There are no thank you greetings passed out and definitely no pats on the back. They did what they got paid to do and everyone should be happy.