Servant Leadership: Aces In Their Places

I learned Servant Leadership back in the late 2000s when I was working in the restaurant industry as a fresh young manager. I didn't know that it would be so powerful and effective that I am still teaching it to every team I have the pleasure and privilege to lead or be a part of to this day. Imagine it's the busiest day of the week, Taco Tuesday. There are so many people in the dining room they are literally standing in the aisles waiting for their food and hoping a table opens up. With a line out the front door and around the corner, the kitchen is pushing food down the line like a team of octopuses at breakneck speed. It's absolute chaos throughout the entire store. But wait, the general manager and area supervisor are so relaxed that they are just talking and joking with guests up front about their weekends. How can they be so calm and confident in their team's abilities to handle such a situation?

The Environment

Let me paint the environment for you. It's a fast-casual taco restaurant that serves Tex-Mex style food. There are no freezers or microwaves, and all prep is done daily every morning. All food is cooked to order every time and out to the guest in under 7 minutes, no matter what it is. And the clock starts the minute the cashier sends the order back to the kitchen. This is a very fast-paced and chaotic environment during busy hours. Imagine the entire dining room being so full it's hard to even walk through, with people standing in the aisles waiting for to-go orders while people quickly grab any free table that might be open. It's a sea of people in front and a high-speed orchestra of food flying down the line in the kitchen. To put it in even more perspective, all new employees' first day was on a Taco Tuesday because we wanted to make sure they could handle our busiest day. Some people didn't come back for their second shift.

The Scenario

With the environment painted, let's present a scenario that most new managers dread. It's Taco Tuesday, the busiest day of the week. Your general manager and area supervisor are there to observe your shift, and it's inspection day on top of it. Holy crap, how are you going to pull this off? Well, there was an old phrase that we used to use right before a shift that we knew was just going to be absolute chaos and an insane amount of sales. It was "Aces in Their Places." It meant get ready and put yourself in whatever position you were the best at. All the cooks would position themselves in their chosen position for the shift, and the cashiers would choose their front-of-house positions. But as a whole, the team would agree amongst themselves and put themselves into the most optimal situation that they saw fit. Not the manager or the schedule. They decided because they knew they were going to be successful together or fail together. It was the manager's role to ensure guest satisfaction and support their team. Be it restocking supplies, getting food from the cooler, doing the dishes, greeting guests, cleaning tables, etc. They were there to make sure no one fell behind and everyone was successful in their execution. If your people are the best at what they do, make sure they have what they need to perform at their best. That's it.

Upper Leadership

Now let's go back to the added stress of having your General Manager and Area Supervisor there on this shift as a younger, less experienced manager. Well, the entire company subscribed to servant leadership. So whoever was your report, that was who you served, not the other way around. Upper management and the whole chain of command knew their primary role, which was to help serve their team and make sure their people were successful over everything else.

In the scenario that was presented, you would find the area supervisor mainly restocking supplies, doing the dishes, and performing any other tasks that would help the team during the shift. The general manager would be doing the same. When the team was set for success, they would visit tables or be available up front to talk to guests and promote the business. That's it. The whole business turns into a well-oiled machine of people who know their managers have their backs when it gets crazy. That is a powerful thing. Just knowing that when mistakes are made while trying to perform at their best, they will receive support from their leadership with positivity and encouragement instead of negativity or demands. Instead of being motivated to just get the job done, they took pride in being the best at what they do.

With a team like this, even an inspection on the busiest day of the week is not a concern. The team has already made sure everything was spotless every day and every procedure was always followed. Because they are given support and freedom to make decisions, they are not overstressed or overworked, which lets everyone perform at their best. They chose as a team to hold themselves and each other accountable to be the rock stars they are.

What is Servant Leadership

• Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of team members.

• Listening: Actively listening to the concerns and ideas of the team.

• Healing: Helping team members overcome personal and professional challenges.

• Awareness: Being aware of the environment and the needs of the team.

• Persuasion: Influencing others through reason and empathy rather than authority.

• Conceptualization: Seeing beyond day-to-day operations to envision the bigger picture.

• Foresight: Anticipating future needs and potential issues.

• Stewardship: Taking responsibility for the well-being of the team and the organization.

• Commitment to the Growth of People: Investing in the personal and professional development of team members.

• Building Community: Fostering a sense of belonging and collaboration within the team.

The Results

I cannot stress how effective this was. The pride that I had when I would be working a shift and my general manager and area supervisor were just relaxing up front, talking amongst themselves while the entire dining room was so packed it was hard to walk through. When your leadership is that relaxed during the most chaotic time of a business, you know you have the right leadership approach and have built up a team of amazing people. And the joy of that is unmatched in my opinion. Sales numbers will never bring a tear of joy to your eye like watching your team celebrate and have fun while absolutely performing at their very best and high-fiving each other as they go by. That is a powerful feeling of success and pride that I hope to continue to build with every team I ever get the pleasure and privilege to lead for the rest of my life.

When you have a team like this, you have a lot more time to think about strategic decisions and plans. Using this time to focus on things that will move the business forward, such as bringing in even more sales, reducing the cost of goods, or reducing waste. Or being able to work on plans for the next business improvement or project.

Take Action

Remember, your team is what matters most. It's not about one person or even two; without them, everything stops. As a leader, you can't do all the work yourself. Your role is to support others. Be understanding and always maintain a positive approach. While it's easy to focus on the negatives, concentrating on the positives will create more positive outcomes for your team. You are a reflection of those you surround yourself with, so invest in building up your people. If you've been given the privilege to lead a team, start by figuring out how to best support them so they can be the best they can be. Take these ideas and put them into practice. Lead with empathy, encourage growth, and watch your team—and your business—thrive.