Leaders often need to step away from the stresses of the office and financial pressures to gain fresh business insights.

The financials just hit Jonas’ desktop. It took about two minutes to read through. As quickly, he felt the slight dampness of perspiration at his temples, sitting quietly with his head in hands. “I just need a minute,” he said to himself.  “Has there ever been a more turbulent time than now for us? We’ve done the right things over 15 years, I’ve built a team that brings in steadily growing sales, but the game is changing right under our feet. We’ve hit our budgets – or at least have always come close – but what now?”

Jonas wasn’t in the habit of feeling impotent – no victim here. He’s always figured one doesn’t build a multi-million-dollar company from the ground up by playing the victim. But somehow, this was different. Core food commodities were through the roof, and no doubt the oil and gas cartel were creating a domino effect; even stainless steel had skyrocketed in the last year. Jonas became aware of his shallow breathing and relaxed, first exhaling completely, then releasing the tension and sweat that was almost suffocating him. With an equal inhale, he found himself re-grounding almost immediately. This allowed him the empathy of knowing his team was as stressed on a personal level as he was for the company as a whole.  

Jonas’ breath began to flow more evenly, deeply now. He thought not of just himself and his firm, but of his customers. Instead of allowing his frustration to win, he found a level of empathy. Instead of standing alone as the lone owner and leader, suddenly it hit Jonas that he, his team and his customers were all in the same boat.

He asked himself: “What do I do to support all of us – me, the team and the communities we’re in – to have a sense of pulling together instead of in different directions? How do we keep the company moving forward?”

Jonas left his desk. Walking by his assistant with a sense of purpose, he offered a never-before-heard head’s-up: “Helen, I’m going for a walk – I won’t have my cell on for at least two hours.”   

Stepping outside, Jonas thought about all he believed to be true and wondered what needed to shift and what needed to stay the same.

He acknowledged that his management team were also leaders by default. Each represented the brand Jonas had worked so hard to build. “This is where I begin,” he thought. As he picked up his pace, Jonas imagined speaking to his management team, “I believe as leaders we have four jobs.”

Vision and Strategy – Vision compels us to excellence. It stretches us; if there’s no stretch, it’s not a vision. He thought of two lines from his firm’s vision statement: “Our efforts in the community leave a wake. We run honest, profitable restaurants with fiscal results that make our industry gasp!

“Other brands are hurting, many radically slowing their growth,” he thought. “We’re not. Sales have flattened and that’s hitting our cash flow hard as costs have soared.” For half a second, Jonas almost smiled. “Good enough isn’t enough" was a potent motto. It had led to the vision elements he’d just shared. This thought moved him to his second point.

Referring again to the vision, he pondered, “No doubt, we’re leaving a wake, but what kind? Are we a rowboat, satisfied, or are we acting like the race boat we’re designed to be – high-performing, reaching out, not just to guests who walk in the door, but also to the greater community? What kind of skipper are you?”

Then an idea for his team hit him, an exercise with four questions: Imagine your restaurant is a person at a party:
1.    What would the folks there say about us, our actions, our attitude, our way of being?  
2.    What would they say if we weren’t there?   
3.    What would you like to hear them say?  
4.    What actions do we need to do differently to hear those comments?   

Jonas decided to sit and strategize for a minute, realizing the next job of a leader is to:

Guide Organizational Performance – Again, he imagined himself speaking to his team: “As you guys know, hitting our cost of goods is a ground-zero expectation. Our systems allow us to track daily and week-to-date performance. Why?” He knew he hoped to hear, “So we can spend the rest of our day coaching our team and delighting our customers!”  

He was aware that in the last few months, purchasing against budget had allowed them to let inventories float with sales.

They bought only what they needed. The firm’s new training design supported selling more by actually getting to know each party.  

He watched team members reach out to guests sincerely, with options that added a touch of fun to their time instead of the rote scripts of the old days of “Want fries with that?” Jonas grinned again.

“This element in the training had not only maintained check averages, but added a tangible example to his earlier point on vision, to the kind of wake being left for the guests,” he thought to himself.  

He knew he had to reiterate to his managers that in Jonas’ absence, each of them was the owner and each was the representative of their brand: “Remember your wake.”

That single focus would support the systems in place and inspire the team to the amazing performance levels they’d been trained to achieve. This idea made him recognize another exercise opportunity. “Instead of me giving these guys a speech, I can just ask a question, let them respond and guide their own performance," he thought. Instead of a lecture, he could facilitate a discussion.  

Jonas pondered the outcome of the manager’s discussion for a moment as he came to a park bench. Sitting, his attention was then pulled to a flock of geese, seemingly the first flock heading north he’d seen. The leader was pulling up, as another increased speed to capture the tip of the V formation. “There’s a great example of culture,” he thought. He thought it was coincidental to see an example of the third core element of leadership responsibility.

Define and Support Culture – Jonas imagined himself again in the meeting, saying, “Our culture is based on an ownership attitude, of speaking the truth, sharing data, staying out of drama.

“Our vision is tangible – and so are the actions I’ve just mentioned, all of which are active values.” He thought again of the flock of geese. “We work as a team, focused on definitive fiscal goals, as well as positive behavioral goals built on respect of each other.

“The active focus on this culture daily has made the culture visceral, one of choice. We don’t do anything here by accident.” His momentum took him immediately to the fourth key to leadership.  

Leading Change – Jonas knew what most of us know: people don’t like change. Regardless, as good as he and his team had performed until now, some change had to occur somehow. He and the managers would need to be models in their behavior.

He clipped on his phone. “Helen, I’m back,” he said to his assistant. What Jonas knew resolutely was this: Any change made would build on the culture he’d created and the thoughts he’d pondered at his desk and on his walk.

Rudy M. Miick, FCSI, president of Miick & Associates, can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 720-641-7565.