Efficient Isn’t Always Effective.

As a server in my teens and early 20s I was efficient – my managers knew they could trust me with any type of guests and that I could handle more tables than other server
 
I made good tip money, but I rarely got those wow 10X tips that some of my co-workers received.
 
Why?
 
Because my efficiency didn’t allow me to truly connect with guests.
 
When guests shared why they were in town or asked about my life, in the back of my mind I was thinking about the drinks waiting at the bar to be delivered to table 43. Or the new guests who had just been sat at table 41.
 
I made quick small talk then got back to business, and treated our conversations as transactional rather than relational.
 
Because of this, there was no human connection, no opportunity to leave a mark on their hearts. Sure, their experience from me was great – no complaints – but it wasn’t a “wow” that they’d remember forever.
 
When I first start working with managers, many of them approach their relationships with their staff the same way: transactional with very little human connection.
 
Or they think that it’s quicker and easier to tell their staff how to solve a problem (“I have 20+ years of experience in this industry, after all,” they say.)
 
But without a true connection to you as their leader, your staff is less likely to go above and beyond for you or your membership.
 
And if you always give your staff the answers, they will never be empowered to come up with their own solutions or innovations.
 
What seems more efficient in the moment, isn’t always effective in the long term.
 
Can you relate?
 
#highEQleader