The Cutting Onions Podcast Bobby Shaw

On today's episode of The Cutting Onions Podcast, Myles and I continue the conversation we started last week around what it looks like to enter into a situation that is at best a struggle, and at worst broken, in the restaurant industry.

We get super granular in this episode building on the ideas we shared in Part One of this conversation in last week's episode. We talk about some important ideas including how important it is to bring your team alongside you as you begin rebuilding the shop, restaurant, district, or company.

We also talk about the key elements of effective leadership, including organization, follow-up, and clear communication. We suggest that effective leadership requires a combination of strategic thinking, strong communication skills, and a willingness to adapt and learn from experience.

We also discuss the importance of prioritizing people over financials when fixing a broken situation and setting expectations with bosses or ownership groups.



Key Questions we discuss:

* How can we celebrate wins and reinforce desired behaviors?

* What are the fears that people have when entering a challenging situation, and how can we help them overcome those fears?

* How can we document our experiences and share institutional knowledge for future leaders?

* How can we balance the need for speed with the need for organization and follow-up?

Welcome to The Cutting Onions Podcast, Episode 76! In this episode Myles and I start a conversation about what it looks like as a leader to enter into a situation where you might have a restaurant, district, market, area, region, or company that has significant challenges.



Where you do you start? What do you do? How do you do it? What does it look like to starting doing what needs to be done and protect the most important asset of your organization...your team. Your people.

This will be a two-part conversation, and we can't wait for you to hear this episode and we would love your feedback!

a seasoned and strategic human resources executive with 25 years of experience in leading HR teams and functions across diverse industries and sectors, including Fortune 500 companies. As a Chief Human Resources Officer, Michael oversees all aspects of human capital management, aligning HR policies and practices with the organization's vision, mission, and values.

His background includes roles as the leadership head leading HR functions for global organizations in the areas of Benefits, Compensation, Payroll, Talent Acquisition, Organizational Development, and Workforce Planning within both public and privately owned companies, including roles with Fortune 500 companies such as Carnival Corporation, Dollar Tree Stores, NY Life Insurance, Tommy Hilfiger, Polo Ralph Lauren and Focus Brands.

Michael is passionate about taking HR teams from operationally reactive to strategically proactive, by linking HR strategies to business strategy through the development of practical HR business plans that better leverage employees' talents and competencies.

Listen in behind the scenes to Myles Gift, Jay Timms, and me as we talk about our new project, a Mastermind Group that we are calling "Prior To Service: What Great Restaurateurs Understand About Leadership". This community is being built for three tiers of hospitality leadership, with the first focus being on the heart and soul of any restaurant...the General Manager. We wanted to give you a peak behind the curtain and hear the passion we have for creating this exciting new Mastermind Group, which we believe is the first of its kind. This group is being designed to help provide support, coaching and encouragement to the General Manager role. This group will provide a foundation of information and inspiration that attendees can tap into for a lifetime.

We are excited for you to hear all about what we are thinking about and can't wait to launch this group! Much more to come!

In this episode Myles has a great conversation with Pepper Lunch CEO Troy Hooper. Troy began his career in the Caribbean cutting his teeth in hotel restaurants and private clubs. A serial entrepreneur, Troy knows what it takes to succeed in business and has built his career on tried and true principles. He also offers some sage advice to anyone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur. Remember that it takes twice as long as you think it will to succeed, and it will take twice as much money. Both so very true.

Troy now leads Pepper Lunch as CEO. Pepper Lunch is a 30 year old casual dining Japanese hotplate oncept with over 500 locations in Japan, Asia, Australia, and now the United States. Just hearing Troy talk about the food made our mouths water!

Troy talked a lot about leadership and the importance of asking others to join your journey. There is no silver bullet to being successful as a leader. Just community and support.

Enjoy this chat with Troy Hooper! We look forward to continuing the conversation with him in future episodes!

In this episode we discuss how to enter an organization regardless of the level of leadership you are coming in at, and also some key principles from Great By Choice by Jim Collins, which we think is incredibly underrated. The two ideas we unpack today are the 20-mile march and firing bullets before you fire a cannonball. Enjoy this conversation around some timeless principles!