Cultural standard

As a Gen Xer, dancing involves two people.  Getting ready was purposeful, the art of courting was exact and taken very seriously. Reward of a dance partner was priceless. 

While traveling to Italy, I noticed for the first time that their culture of wine complementing food and vice versa, was completely opposite to ours.  They'd bring bite-size appetizers when you order wine and wine when you order food.  The concept of one without the other was incomprehensible.

In Montreal, diners are serious about their food & overall experience. Many admirers would indulge, dissect & engage the menu, exhausting every ingredient on the plate in conversation.  The staff treated every guest like a food critic by providing excellent service. Their duty was to complement the chef's passion.

Simply, two sides to a coin.

Freestyle

At the end of my first day in Montreal, I noticed a general theme.

The server at Toque confidently concierged my dining experience, while the chef at and Hotel Herman created a new dish for me since I was undecided.

People I met welcomed me into their conversation by switching from French to English. The topic was, almost always, passion, art and love.

In his impromptu visit, a guest started singing with the house band at Bar with No Name, entertaining a packed room. We reciprocated with loud cheers encouraging them to continue.

They are proud of their craft, outwardly expressionistic and ready to innovate.

Merci Montreal, I cannot wait for day two.

My first poster

Do you remember your first poster that defined who you are were when you were young?

Can you recall staring at it thinking about how if only your friends, or make-believe friends, can see how cool you really are, until you fell asleep?

Why do you think that moment was so important?

Imagine the poster that defines you now. Does your business reflect the same?

Take a look around you, take down the posters that are obsolete/non-relevant and put up new ones that you are proud of.

Ask yourself if the clientele/blogger/food critic described your business to their friends/audience, would it accurately define you?

(I will put up my new poster on Friday August 30th)

Habit Series #2

Please read intro to Habit Series #1 to understand concept and objective.

Habit #2: ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

Plant the seed first thing in the morning, wake up and focus your mind to what you are grateful for. You can either change it up every morning or repeat the same top three things for the first month. Drill down deep, be specific by connecting with your emotions, think what would happen if this person/thing was not in your life anymore. Be thankful for that.

Then start your day thanking people around you, the bus driver who has an important role to drive your kids safety to school, the garbageman who is working a tough and thankless job, a team member who needs positive recognition, and/or customer that made a reservation the previous day.

Throughout the day especially during stressful situations, focus on a positive thought and give power to it by being thankful. Your energy will create a positive work environment and attract more positive energy.

Bookend your day with a minute of gratitude as you put your head to bed, think of all things you were grateful for that day and smile.

Very soon, you'll bloom every morning as your gratitude will spread to all areas of your life.

Happiness Advantage

(SUMMARY) Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

As I read/listen to books/articles that are relevant to your business, I'll curate them as "Coles notes" so you can apply them to your business.

In the Happiness Advantage, Shawn introduces the idea of happiness leads to success not success leads to happiness, and that we've had it backwards (listen to Ted talk)

Through research, a person's success rate in a job is only 25% predicted by knowledge/experience. The other 75% predictor of success in a job are as follows:
1) Optimism - belief in themselves
2) Positive Association - people you surround yourself with including family, friends and colleagues
3) Attitude - how you manage stress

More importantly, the right leader can raise the success of your team by applying the Happiness Advantage:
1) Hire positive people
2) Be Positive yourself
3) Recognize others achievements
4) Prioritize happiness - spend more time with others when things are not going well; social investment
5) Praise the process - not the outcomes

Start interviewing candidates with this in mind, ask questions to vet their attitude, mindset and network (social and professional), as follows:
Q. What behaviours/rituals do you practice everyday for success?
Q. Do you have daily goals? What are they for today?
Q. Give me a recent example when your constant practice or being consistent paid off
Q. What behaviour or soft skill are you most proud of? What do you do to hone that skill?
Q. Who in your life is the most influential?
Q. Your closest two friends, how do they inspire you? how do you inspire them?
Q. As most people's area of improvement is dealing with stress or confrontation, tell me how you've improved in this area and what are you doing to continue improving?
Q. Share a recent stress/confrontation and how you dealt with it. What are you most proud of as a result?
Q. Do you handle stress the same in your personal life as professional? Why?

Your single competitive advantage is raising the happiness of your team. Focus on improving this area in your business and your team will never leave you. Even better, they will attract other happy people into your organization.

Square Hole

After reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs - amazing read - plus watching Joshua Michael Stern's movie Job, one philosophy really stood out and is relevant to our industry.

When it comes to your competition, be different not better. Start by asking "how do you want your customers to change?"

And when you've created a distinctive service culture or unique product that speaks to a niche market, don't settle for anything short of excellence by applying the litmus "how can it be better?"

Soon after, the market will try to fit into your square hole.

Habit Series #1

Did you know that 95% of our actions are from habits while only 5% are cognitive thought?

Like a computer's operating system, your habits or belief system - programmed since you were an infant - can be easily replaced by new programming.

The Habit Series will teach you how to program good habits unlocking your inner genius and reaching your true potential in life. One good habit begets another good habit creating momentum, called the "Big Mo" in Darren Hardy's Compound Effect.

Here is the catch: you have to take action everyday for 40-days consecutively to create a habit. If you miss a day, you must start over. That simple, but not easy.

The difference between success and failure is practicing good habits everyday instead of bad ones.

HABIT #1:

RESET YOUR HEAD: Change your brain chemistry to change your outlook in 3 minutes.

Inside the current issues of Success Magazine, Dr. James Rouse speaks about optimizing wellness - foundation to his approach is "Think, Eat, Move" - by recharging your mental energy in 3 minutes:

Minute 1: Big Yawn - in your chair or standing up, let out some big yawns. This act increases the pleasure hormone oxytocin

Minute 2: Run on the spot - oxygenates your brain, lowers stress hormone cortisol while increasing dopamine (confidence, motivation)

Minute 3: Mantra - breath and repeat "I am a genius", the act of affirming goodness augment more serotonin (calmness & feeling centred)

Do this throughout the day as many times or anytime after focussing on a task when you feel stress.

The hospitality industry is granular business that requires your full attention where emergencies take you off course and being sharp is the only way to be productive. Especially when you are dealing with people - guests and staff - you need to be in a high-positive state.

Are you a Backer?

My favourite new addiction is Kickstarter, partly for the innovation and mostly for the success story. Kickstarter is a company that provides a platform - in way of crowd funding - to raise money to launch creative projects from around the world. Unlike eBay, your addiction to shopping is more meaningful by supporting a start-up business, what Richard Branson calls contributory consumption. In some case, you can just be a "backer" by pledging a nominal amount, or you can "purchase" the product/service when you pledge the full amount - assuming they meet their "raised" target or start-up capital.

I love that this type of platform supports innovation and fuels more innovators to take action. They no longer depend on traditional/institutional lending, can connect with their niche market/tribe directly while beta-testing their products concurrently. Now that is a game-changer.

I am hopeful that this type of innovation will feed into our industry so more budding restaurateurs can pave their own way to what is important to them, focus on bigger goals, and unite people with common interests who will fund/support their dream.

Start by being a backer of other people's dreams.

Moxy

During a quick bite at Moxies Yorkdale on a Friday afternoon, I met Aaron who is a Supervisor working behind the bar. 

He understands how to build relationship with guests, provide remarkable service & truly enjoy his job, that's his moxy.

When he noticed my uneaten soup, Aaron suggested to bring me a salad instead.  After declining several replacement options, he explained that his persistence was out of caring not protocol. 

I wish I could order a side of care at each meal.  Why don't more servers dare to care? 

Great job Aaron, I'm grateful for your excellent service.

Care-meter

A client who travels around the world described Toronto this way, she is a beautiful girl who never has a boyfriend because she stays home to complain about being alone.

We are a beautiful city that has attracted local and international business owners to open here, yet we don't have people working in them who truly care about how they represent themselves and these brands.

Caring requires putting other people first and asking these questions:
1) What do my customers want?
2) How do I want them to feel?
3) Is this best for me or my customer?
4) Why should they pick me?
5) Would I pick me if I didn't own/run it?
6) If I do this, will I still be here in 1-2 years?

Then act accordingly everyday and rate yourself on a simple meter where 1 is "I nailed it", 2 is "better work on that" and 3 is "SHIIIIIIIIT!"

Caring is a skill that will open more doors, set you apart and give you staying power in short/mid/long term.

Now make it your one-word equity.

Welcome Caribana

We should not take for granted festivals in Toronto that attract tourists who support our business and fill the beds and seats of the hospitality industry. Regardless of your participation or personal preference, they make our city colourful and unique, and that is worth embracing.

To all our guests, enjoy and have fun.