When you have a trainer on staff there are specific responsibilities you have as a leader that will determine their success and how happy you are with their performance. Often we can set someone in a position and let them loose with little to no guidance. Of course this is a recipe for disaster and today we are going to …
314 : The 6 Essential Qualities of Coffee Shop Leaders
Do you feel like you need to be good at everything in order to be a good leader? That is a pretty common thought but the fact is that this way approach to leadership stifles both you and those you lead. Instead we should focus on what qualities will allow us to lead people with different skills than us effectively. …
301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence
These are the two most important and intensive processes in the cafe yet they often are the most rush and poorly thought through. The preparations we make and the actions we take when hiring and training staff will and does create a ripple effect that is felt by everyone who interacts with your business for years to come. Maybe more …
267 : The Power of Delegation
We have a control problem. Specifically we don’t like to give up our control of the processes and operations of our cafes out of fear for what might happen when others take the wheel. The difference between a successful shop that has capacity to both care for its people and grow and one that is stifled and limited, comes …
261 : The Basics of Managing Managers
When we set up a manager in the cafe we are not just delegating authority and freeing up some of our time, we are setting up the business for failure or success. All of it boils down to how we manage and lead them in their responsibilities and roles. Today we are going to explore the basics of managing your …
248 : The 5 Elements of Resourcing your Team
The main job of leadership is to give people the resources they need to do the work. Generally speaking, I have simply stated that staff need the tools to do the job. Today I want to go a little deeper and cover 5 elements of resourcing that must be in place for your cafe to work well. If any …
243 : Encore Episode! “The Sleepwalking Barista (Owner)”
I am excited to re-share this oldie with you. Mainly because it has a ton of very useful insights that I think we all need to ponder these days. Life  (aka 2020) won’t let up and the 7 things I talked about back in November 2017 could not be more relevant. In many ways, we spend a lot of our …
229 : 7 Tips for New Managers
Entering into a new role, or even just taking over a new cafe or team, is a daunting challenge. Many burn out and the experience leaves a bitter taste in their mouth and a lot of destruction in their wake. In the midst of the reshuffling during COVID there are a lot of opportunities to establish a new way of …
226 : The Art of being Indispensable at Work w/Bruce Tulgan
Are you a “go-to” person? How do you show up at work in a way that gains trust and makes you an essential and indispensable member of the team? These are important questions to answer right now as many teams are being re-built and companies need to rely on their staff to come through more than ever. Today we welcome …
215 : Communication and Marketing Master Class w/ Spencer M. Ross, PH.D.
Never before has it been more important to invest in your companies communication and marketing than right now. Connection to our customers and also our staff is the life blood of the cafe and drives everything we do. Additionally, the health of your shop is determined in large part by the health of the relationships you create with the consumer …