ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - February 11, 2005

I wrap up a busy week today with a morning program at the International Restaurant & Food Service Show in New York. I head for home tonight.

Quote of the Week: "I am one of the lucky people in the world. I found something that I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it." Johnny Carson (1925-2005)

I hope you can say the same about your work ... and if not, what are you going to do to change it?

TURTLE LEADERSHIP I try to monitor information from a variety of sources to help keep my perspective. One of the best is the Herman Trend Report published by my colleague, futurist Roger Herman. Here is a recent article that I thought was worth passing along:

A turtle makes no progress until he sticks his neck out. However, if a turtle withdraws into his shell, nothing changes and there is no movement. Under stress or fear of attack -- real or imagined, the turtle retreats to the comfort and assumed safety of its protective shell.

Many of today's managers are under stress and fear some type of an attack. Enemies include the external environment, modern thought leaders who expect them to lead in new and different ways, and change -- any kind of change. These leaders, or would-be leaders, fearing the future or the present, retreat very deliberately into the past.

Their reluctance to move forward hampers their thinking about the future, restricting their organization's forward movement. Their employees, customers, and suppliers become increasingly frustrated and leave -- further limiting the organization's capacity. The only people who are happy with these short-sighted leaders are their competitors.

Executives who are computer-phobic today get in the way of progress in the world we live in. More and more work is performed by computers, or by humans aided by computers. Accuracy, efficiency, effectiveness, and cost are all improved, along with the comfort and job satisfaction of computer-comfortable employees dedicated to getting their jobs done. When their performance is hindered by executives who don't understand the power of technology, their motivation plummets.

A substantial portion of today's leaders are behind the technology curve. They lack deep understanding and appreciation of how technology is -- and can be -- used in their work and the work of the people they lead. Their ignorance of the technology of today and tomorrow inhibits the potential of their organizations.

They do not lead their people to the excitement and productivity that comes from the use of emerging technology. Their people do not feel inspired to rise to new levels of performance. The capacity to attract and hold technologically-oriented workers, especially young people, limits their staffing strength.

Those executives who learn more about leadership -- and practice what they learn -- will have a distinct competitive advantage over those who do not. It's time to become more assertive, more visible, more influential.

A Note From the Doc:
Are you allowing your own fears and shortcomings to hold your team ... and your company ... back?

Click here to subscribe to the Herman Trend Alert.

THE JANUARY SURVEY, PART 2
The survey question last month asked about your #1 operational concern for 2005 and what you planned to do about it. Last week I shared the main areas of concern as indicated by the survey. This week I will get into some of the remedial ideas. Since increasing sales was far and away the primary project for the majority of respondents, here are a few of the sales-building plans that people proposed:

We plan to revise our menu, concentrate on what we do best and simplify our offerings. The new menu will be presented to our 3 mile radius customer base by door to door flyer with coupon distribution. We plan on changing the .95 to .99 and reducing some over zealous portion sizes. In house promotions and monthly events.

Increase my frequent diner database, update menu prices and work with corporations to pass on to their employees our brand new "corporate rewards card". Also, start a small retail area within the restaurant, selling merchandise with our logo.

Educate the dining room staff, not only about the menu and wine list etc ... but how they influence their own income, and that the whole dining out experience is a show for an audience. People can go anywhere for any type of food ... why should they come to see us?

We are in an area where we were once the only restaurant there, we have been there for 12 years now and competition did not exist. But now the area is one of the fastest growing areas in the state and there are over 20 competitors. What we do is tend to our business and work our store to the best that we know how. Doing so has seen many stores around our area wither and fade away only to be taken over by the next guy. Lately we have taken to using coupons, not a good response but it has proved effective. When combined with tending to business in our store it is very effective. There is not much we can do about our competition, but we can take care of our customers, they always come back because they know that we care and we will take proper care of them.

We are planning to split our concept. I actually got the idea from you. Our restaurant has been in business at this location for 29 years and it needs a fresh face. We will be redecorating, adding outside lighting and concentrating on our food and service.

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
I am no longer offering this book because I think that most everyone who wanted one has ordered it ... at least the pace of orders dropped off sharply.

If you would still like a copy, you can order directly from the publisher at the link below.

Click here to order this book ... before your staff does.

THE FEBRUARY SURVEY
This month I would like to find out about the quality of one-on-one time that restaurant workers are receiving with management. Unless you choose to leave your name, the survey is completely anonymous, so please answer honestly -- tell me what is REALLY happening, not what you would LIKE to be happening.

My thanks to those who have already completed the February survey. I will be sharing some of the comments received at the end of each EHC, so be sure to read to the bottom of the page.

Click here to find the February survey.

APRIL SUPER SUMMIT IS FULL
All 44 seats in the April Super Summit are filled, so we will not be accepting any more applications for that program. However, the demand has been such that Robert Kausen and I have decided to offer a second section on June 5-7, also in New Orleans, and also limited to 44 people.

If those dates could work for you, I encourage you to read the information letter about the program. Then if what we have in mind seems intriguing, complete the online application. We will contact you to arrange a time for a telephone interview to discuss the program with you in more detail.

This program can truly be life-changing ... but only for operators who are ready to make the leap. Are you one of them? Give us two days and we will give you your life back.

Click here to get the whole story on the Super Summit.

THE PERPETUAL QUESTION
What did you learn from your staff today?

I learned that staff members will help achieve the company goals if they know what those goals are. I also learned people want to be on the winning team, so we set very attainable goals. Let's say we start a new focus on something about the P&L that we need better performance in, we will set a goal that staff can get to with a little effort in less than a month. Then we raise expectations each month until we have that part of the P&L in shape and move on to something else.

I have also learned that managing is not a one time cure for problems. We always need to keep the group focused -- not hounding them, just focused. If we start with a good group of individuals, then making that group a team is much easier. -- Washington Square Group, Huntsville, AL