Next Level Leadership

Next Level Leadership

From Dishwasher to Franchise Owner

21 Lessons That Took My Career To The Next Level

I've spent my entire career in the restaurant business. I've worked every position from the dish pit to the executive office. I've managed single units and supported entire regions. I've enjoyed the fruits of success and felt the pain of failure. All valuable lessons in their own right.

As I was traveling the country growing a national brand as a franchise consultant, I was also spending my nights and weekends building a business of my own. Anyone who has ever run a restaurant will tell you it's no easy business. Managing people is extremely delicate especially when those people are needed to run a business. Some people love it and some people are plain terrible at it. I've always loved being the leader of the team and especially being a person that others could count on. Spending time in hundreds of restaurants I've learned that it's ultimately the skill and aptitude of the leader in a restaurant that determines the level of success or even causes a businesses failure.

The Manager. That's who makes or breaks a restaurant.

I also learned that most managers weren't being properly trained to manage their teams. Almost every brand I worked with did a great job teaching the technical stuff. None of them taught the real skills that their leaders needed. Not even me with my team!

That's where the lessons in this book were formed. I needed the manager of my restaurant to develop the soft skills he needed in order to properly lead the team and grow the business. However, since I was spending more time in hotels than at home it was really tough for us to find the one on one time to pour into him. So, it started as daily emails with a short lesson and a piece of motivation to keep him encouraged. I wanted him to think the way that was thinking so I taught him the things that had been most impactful to my career. Skills like planning, organization, routine & mindset. Those lessons became an email course that I began sharing with other leaders on my team and people that were close to me. One of which called me to say "this course has literally changed me! You have to put this out for everyone."

So what began as a series of emails between myself and someone on my team is now the book you have in front of you now.

21 practical lessons that will help you think like a next level leader in order to help you become a leader on the next level.