My daughter who is 17-years old recently had the honor of getting a job at a wonderful seafood restaurant called Bonefish Grill as a hostess. This restaurant calls itself a “polished casual” dining place where service and menu items are a cut above. The food is wonderful and the service is obviously meticulously sculpted so that each experience is tailored to the guest’s preferences.
When she got the job, it was abundantly clear that the service level was something that was purposeful and calculated. To understand this, imagine having to show up on your first day as a hostess and having in your memory two pages of details surrounding every hors d’oeuvres on the menu. Or imagine the busboys who wear dry cleaned white coats just to clear your table. This place knows what it wants from its staff and knows how to make it happen for its customers. They are definitely polished.
The rules are clearly stated for each new employee and testing is in place for every position to insure that the staff produces results. They are serious about the experience that their patrons receive and they do what it takes to deliver that polished experience.
Well, as my daughter entered into her second week of service, while still in training, she showed up to find out that top bass was heading in that evening for “a visit.”
It was a visit from her boss’s boss.
She detailed for me what it felt like to be in a position where everything had to be better than best. She said how everyone had to double down on every part of their job so that no mistakes could be sensed from any corner of the facility. She told me about her ultra-erect posture. She told me how she had to maintain a stoic position by the front door for 4 hours so that her person would reflect a statuesque presence for any incoming quest. She told me how everyone was on their very best professional behavior so that every move, every motion, every nostril twitch was just right. Every spot was cleaned and every surface washed for this arrival.
When she told me this story, my mind drifted back to stories that my dad told me about his experience in the US military while stationed in Korea in the 1950’s. I recalled the stories that related how everyone on the base would prepare when they knew that a general was coming to visit. Something like “if it doesn’t move; then paint it“ was the norm for such a visit. Everything had to be spic-and-span clean and shining for the arrival of the general.
When I thought about this, I wondered why a large group of people would get so frenzied about their appearance and behaviors for the arrival of ones boss’s boss. Why did everything need to be so perfect? Why did everyone need to be on some heightened period of perfected behavior? Why was everything so temporarily fake?
After all, we knew that when the big guy left that we could once agian relax and be held to a much lower standard. Then why such the fuss???
I flashed forward to wonder what it would be like to be a restaurant chain area supervisor and take an announced on-site visit. Would I find everyone standing up straight and “being perfect” just for me? Would I be able to sense the falseness that was being created for my visit, or would I simply ignore that element and enjoy my visit?
Then, it occurred to me that I myself fall into this mode when I have “an important guest” visit my home or business. I also realized that I “dress up” for special occasion and act on my best behaviors when needed in front of a client. When I go to a wedding, a graduation ceremony, a funeral, or a special business meeting, I put on an attitude and dress that fits the occasion. I act like the general is coming to visit.
In fact, I clean like a madman before the in-laws come over…
Well what does this have to do with leadership? Everything.
When we are running a team who has to do their daily grind to get performance measures in line, we need to understand that we will have special occasions that require extra effort in order to meet a temporary goal. This means that we need to have the respect, trust, and devotion of a dedicated team so that we can perform at that higher-than-normal level when we get notice of that surprise inspection.
When we can take the time during normal business hours and build relationships that build trust, respect, and mutual admiration, we can use that to call upon our teams to switch gears and make that command performance a winning one when we ask our people to perform above and beyond their normal call of duty.
So, what are you doing to cultivate an environment of trust, respect, and mutual admiration? How much “money” have you deposited in the banks of your individual team members that can be drawn upon in unforeseen events? How are you doing in getting your team members to sparkle at a moment’s notice because of what you have already done for them? Please respond! We would love to hear from you!
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Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership &
CEO of Recalibrate Professional Development in Atlanta, GA USA.
He can be reached at [email protected]
Image Source: www.redtail.org
It’s an interesting question. There was a television series here in Britain where bosses went ‘undercover’ to try and get a real idea of what happens rather than the faked version you highlighted in your blog. I interviewed the bosses that went on the show if it’s of interest.
http://blog.managers.org.uk/category/The-Undercover-Boss.aspx