Inspiring Loyalty & Implementing Authenticity | Are You a Leader or Someone Who Leads?

Are you a leader or someone who leads people? Let’s go further, are you comfortable admitting that you may not know the difference? Here, use this question to diagnose your situation. Do your employees follow you because they’re required to or because they want to? We’re going to dive into this whole-heartedly and truly look at ourselves in the mirror. This is the algorithm, the key to building blind loyalty, for your consumer and employees alike.

Did you know that over 90% of employees go home feeling unfulfilled at the end of the day? That is an astronomical number! Are you able to pinpoint the staff that is feeling unfulfilled at your restaurant? If so, why? Is it because of the leadership in place? That’s a tough question to answer, we know. Hopefully, this blog will help determine some opportunities.

We recently watched an incredible speech given by Simon Sinek in Las Vegas. He talks about business and starting with “why”. We all know what we do in the restaurant, well at least we hope so. For the most part, we all know how we do it. We’ve designed guiding principles to carry our operations along on a day-to-day basis. But do you know why your company does what it does?

This is where we are going to spend most of our time in this blog. Simon provided an example utilizing technology. All of us are familiar with the Apple brand and how powerful they are; but how did they get there? Apple’s products aren’t the best or most powerful out there and they certainly aren’t the cheapest, but yet customers stand in line for hours to grab the latest versions; how?

Apple isn’t selling a product, per say, they’re selling an idea. That idea vs. a product, builds trust with the consumer. What does trust bring? Loyalty. If a consumer believes in why you are doing what you’re doing, they want to be a part of it. Here’s an example of how they are achieving this.

If Apple simply rolled products explaining the “what” and the “how”, it would go something like this: “We make great computers. They’re beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly.” Does that motivate loyalty? No, its like every other company, right? We see this all over the world, companies focus on factors that are indistinguishable from others. You’re not motivating the consumer. Sure, you may achieve a sale, but will they return next time or perhaps give a similar concept their business?

Here’s where Apple sets themselves apart, by focusing on the “why”. “Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our computers beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly.” See the difference?

They’re building trust with “why we do what we do” first. This step is always forgotten and true leaders, those that gain followers have figured this out. If you don’t know why you do what you do, simply put, people will not willingly follow you. If people don’t follow you, you cannot form trust. If there is no trust, there is no loyalty.

So, what’s your purpose, your cause, your belief? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? If you’re answer is, to simply make a great meal for your consumer, you need to push further. Let’s dive into what this example looks like for restaurants.

What would the “what” look like for a burger restaurant?

It would be like what we had just talked about. You are there to serve consumers a great burger.

What would the “how” look like for a burger restaurant?

This could be a broad answer, but for the sake of time, through process, procedures, and guiding principles you have created to achieve success.

What would the “why” look like for a burger restaurant?

Everything we do, is to create the greatest dining experience and burger our guests have ever seen. We challenge the status quo of the burger landscape. We do this by……

If you build your restaurant around the “why”, you’re instilling trust and implementing authenticity. What does that mean? It means you are fulfilling your employees needs to belong to something they care about. If your employees trust you as a leader, they will work harder for the cause than they ever have. Your consumer will identify with this change as well. The entire environment that you are impacting will fall in line. You are building loyalty, not requiring obedience.

Too often we see restaurants focus on a broad mission statement. We get it, the more you cover the more confidence it brings to your execution. But you’re convoluting your employee’s ability to perform. They simply cannot focus on 100 different requirements that the mission statement brings. We’re not saying mission statements aren’t important; we’re saying keep it simple.

As a leader, focus on the “why” and things will change for you. Don’t lose the “what & how”; just start with the “why” and everything else will fall into line. One of our earlier blogs speaks about trust and why it is so important during COVID to build this with your consumer. Here’s your tool.

At Altered Concepts Group, we offer strategic solutions that supports all three of these components and are experts in building a plan that will instill trust in your leadership. We’d love to help you develop yours. Let's chat.