It took a few weeks to find the time to dedicate myself to read and focus on the messages in Brent Boso’s 74-page book on leadership for restaurant managers. However, once I did, I didn’t regret it. These are the tips that I learned from a very young man with a very long history in restaurant service and management: 
- Managers can and should “take a dull moment” when things are slow to teach and coach their staff.
- When a restaurant is “poorly run” managers are more like firefighters putting out one emergency situation after the other. Not very productive, eh?
- Somewhat reminding me of the book, 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, Boso instructs managers to build from the bottom and not the top, and to learn the fundamentals of their business first.
- If you aren’t passionate, Boso writes, you won’t be able to become “the ant that just discovered it could carry 10 times its weight…”
- When this happens I just want to leave, but Boso attacks it: “We must avoid making guests feel like they are part of a ‘problem’ at all costs, otherwise they may not come back.”
- Boso spends some time on a tactic, which is practically ordering readers to Buy A Notepad! I have to agree that people will remember what they need to do just by the action of putting pen to paper.
- Taking the time to teach your staff is paramount, Boso explains that it make take a lot of time but “in reality it would only take two minutes” to explain each task. He then explains, in detail, what those two minutes would look like.
- In a chart Boso has the Way to do things next to the Why to do it a certain way. Honestly? I think that if restaurants were to put some thought behind the way they do things they might have a tough time with the reasoning for why they do it that way. It’s not based on shortcuts alone, but also on service and perception of service.
- Invest Time In Your Co-Workers. This point is drilled into the reader and I found it compelling. Boso shares his own techniques in speaking so that his message is heard instead of ignored.
- Instead of ignoring a problem, Boso wants you to confront it – in a conversation not an argument. I agree, when you wait too long emotions can take over.
- There is a chapter dedicated to reinventing yourself and never settling. This is very helpful to any of us in any career that experiences “burnout” from time to time. Boso offers several ways to find “your reset button” including asking yourself “questions that you can say yes to, which could spark at least a little motivation.” (I’ve done this when selling – getting the customer to say yes to a few things before the thing I need to sell them is presented.)
My conclusion? Buy the book to learn more from this young man. He will motivate you to get involved and fix the problems plaguing your business.
Eve Bushman has been reading, writing, taking coursework and tasting wine for over 20 years. She has obtained a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, has been the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video, authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and recently served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits that may be answered in a future column. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com
