December 11, 2007

The Top 6 Business Nightmares   My son has me watching Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Ramsey.  It's a TV program in which celebrated Chef Ramsey visits a failing restaurant and helps the owner and team turn it around.  It's an interesting program and as I was watching last week I couldn't help but think of the parallels between Kitchen Nightmares and Dental Nightmares and for that matter, Business Nightmares in general.   The nightmares have common themes.   The owner allows his ego to get in the way.  The owner knows it all, acts like he knows it all, and does not believe the business could be failing because of him.  It must be the fault of someone or something else.  He does not assume personal responsibility for his actions and the blame game abounds.    The owner is not a team player.  He's still on his ego trip and doesn't feel that he has to pitch in to help.  He keeps his distance on the sidelines and feels that many of the jobs are beneath him.  He fails to delegate properly.  The owner must give each of his team members the job that suits them the best and he must give them specific job descriptions.  How else can he expect them to perform their A-game? The business owner must create his "signature dish."  (Chef Ramsey comes in and creates a signature dish that the restaurant will henceforth be known for.)  Ask yourself and your team what you are really good at; what separates your business apart from all the other similar ones?  What is your "signature dish" that you will be known for? The owner is not receptive to change.  Chef does have some of the owners sweating.  Yes, change is tough and sometimes hard to swallow.  However, you must be open to new ideas, new challenges, and new directions in order to keep your business on top.  The boss is not appreciative of his team.  He talks down to them, lets his temper show, blames them for his mistakes, and is slow to offer support.   Business nightmares occur daily in many workplaces.  Don't let your place of business be included in the list.  Turn the above nightmares around to create a successful business with committed employees.    P.S.  The coach part of me wants Chef Ramsey to air a follow-up episode highlighting the long term effects of the kitchen makeovers.  I'm missing the accountability part, a valuable piece of future success.  How well are the owners keeping up with the changes they have made, both in themselves and the business?  Change is not a one-shot deal.  It is an ongoing process.    P.P.S. Kitchen Nightmares airs on the FOX network Wednesday evenings.        "If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue.  Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge.  Those are three things the ego is doing all the time.  It's very important to be aware of them every time they come up."             Deepak Chopra   "The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I'. And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say 'I'. They don't think 'I'. They think 'we'; they think 'team'. They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but 'we' gets the credit.... This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done."             Peter F. Drucker   "Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."             King Whitney, Jr.        I know that "showing the worst" makes for good TV, however I cringe many a times during Kitchen Nightmares.  What are these restaurant owners thinking?  No wonder their ship is sinking.  Of course, by the end of the program, their restaurants are turned around and making a profit, the boss is happy and has his ego out of the way, and the team is committed.    Change is difficult for many of us.  We don't like to leave our comfort zone and venture out into the unknown.  It is scary.  Sometimes we need a coach, a colleague, a friend, a customer, or a Chef Ramsey to step in and give us a reality check. When the pain of not changing becomes greater than the pain of changing we are then able to move mountains to enact the changes which we know will lead us to a more fulfilling business and life.   Have a fantastic week and banish the nightmares.   Stephanie    Rings around the Collar        We grow by "word-of-email" so please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone whom you think might benefit from and enjoy it. Thanks so much! Contact Us: stephanie@7steps2abalancedlife.com