The most effective form of leadership is by example. When you are in a management position, employees are more likely to watch and emulate you, which means that you need to be on good behavior at all times! You must have the same set of standards for yourself as you do for your employees. Having a ‘do what I say, not what I do’ approach when owning a business rarely ends well.

Provide Quality Service

Every restaurant should have their own set of standards and expectations that each employee is aware of and is supposed to follow. These could be anything you decide, from simple things like refilling water cups regularly to a process on how to handle angry customers. Since service can make or break a customer’s experience at your restaurant, this is essential for you to do. But what’s more important than simply selecting rules and enforcing quality service at your location, is also doing it yourself. While something may not be your normal task, if it needs to be done, do it with a smile. Managers will have to take charge and pick up the slack sometimes, so don’t forget those service standards that you set for everyone else.

Create a Comfortable and Pleasant Environment

It is vital for restaurant management to be aware of what is going on at their location. This goes for both your employees and your customers. The atmosphere should be enjoyable for all involved, which does include you. Employees should never dread coming to work or worry about issues. This is why you need to be approachable and work on communicating with everyone at your restaurant. When you are open, friendly, and happy, your employees will be as well, which will show through their interactions with customers and job performance.

Be Professional and Appropriate

If you set a particular expectation for your employees to maintain a professional demeanor and to use appropriate language at all times, then you need to do the same. While you do want to be friendly with both your customers and employees, there are certain lines that should not be crossed. Using crude language, slacking off, or partaking in unprofessional relationships during work does not send a good message to those that look up to you. Let’s be real, no one likes a hypocrite!

Stay Calm

Mistakes and accidents are bound to happen in every work place, especially in a restaurant. Things are dropped, orders are incorrect, and both employees and customers are upset. The best way to deal with this is to remain calm and collected. If a manager loses their cool and yells at someone, this will not be good – for business or morale. You need to think quickly, accept criticism, and do it all with a smile. And once you are done with this, feel free to find a pillow to scream into when you are alone. It’s extremely frustrating to deal with disgruntled customers, but it must be done properly to maintain the reputation and order of your restaurant.

How do you lead by example? What rules to you like to abide by?
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