Intro

Becoming Senior Bar Manager, you have chosen to take your leadership to the next level. So far, you have proven your operational abilities as a Manager. Going forward, you will be challenged on your ability to lead and create Sustainable Processes within your Team and the individual Juicers. Seeing your potential as a future leader at JOE & THE JUICE we want you to incorporate sustainable awareness in order to develop your leadership-mindset.

As Bar Manager Junior, you have proven to be a 4-Wall Leader and know how to optimize performance when you’re present BTC. Through your experience as Bar Manager, you will most likely have discovered two things about your daily engagement with the team:

1. If you work hard enough, you can get the results you want. This happens because you have developed clear optics and understand the processes needed to achieve good results.

2. But the results only last as long as you are present in the store or do the work yourself.

In other words, your operational experiences enable you to make the store perform well while you are present BTC. But, you also know that as soon as you leave the store, the performance rapidly decreases. This shows that the store performance is closely connected to your presence with the team. However, this is not a sustainable solution in the long run. Consider this simple fact: A typical JOE store has 15 working hours each day, 7 days a week. That’s 105 hours each week. You cannot be present for all of them.

Until now you have prioritized making individual Juicers better or developing store structures to reach the results you wanted. But who enforces these systems? Only one person – you. As Bar Manager you are in a position which involves optimizing the Bar Performance and then exiting. Becoming Senior Bar Manager, and maybe SWAT or Regional Manager in the future, your position will only become more defined by your ability to Sustain Processes beyond your physical presence.

As Senior Bar Manager, your success is not only measured on the performance when you are present but also on what happens after you leave. Sustainable Processes are about making sure that the high performance you implement is sustained even when you are not present BTC. In short, creating Sustainable Processes within your team will secure continual 4-Wall Operational Performance.

Going forward your success will be determined by the legacy you leave behind through your Pipeline. Remember, at JOE & THE JUICE we lead “with great respect and focus on our legacy!”. The best and most successful leaders in our company also have the greatest legacies!

The Influential Leader

How do you create Sustainable Processes within your team? It is not just something you can implement from one day to another. It is an on-going process with you as the main initiator. It is a mindset exercise in which you begin to see yourself as a coach who influences and empowers her/his Juicers, rather than a boss who forces goals and judges based on results.

New managers often expect their title to make it easier for them to implement their ideas and are surprised when realizing that the opposite is often true. As Bar Manager, consider a challenge you’ve had with a Juicer. Maybe the Juicer didn’t follow the cleaning standards you expected during a close, or perhaps you couldn’t get the Juicer to follow the correct type-in procedures on till or waste. Did you ever ask yourself or your Regional Manager, “why won’t my Juicers do what I want”?

The answer is relatively simple: because people do what they want. The difficult thing about being a Bar Manager is that you cannot just announce what you want and then expect your Juicers to comply. You must convince your Juicers that the optics you promote, are in the best interest of the Store, the Team, and the individual Juicer. In other words, you must lead your team through influence, not authority.

Enforcement through authority only undermines the people you rely on to sustain the processes you implement – the Juicers. Consider your position in terms of a football (soccer) team. As Bar Manager, you’re the team captain. You have earned this position because you are a great player. However, being a successful star-player is not the same as being a successful captain. As captain, you must coach your team and consider the WE more than the ME. If you lead your team based on your own ego, it won’t be long before you lose their respect and they stop following you. Even though you are the best player, you cannot win the game without the team!

In the same way, being an exceptional Juicer doesn’t automatically make you a great Bar Manager or leader. Becoming a Senior Bar Manager your focus should no longer be on impressing your Regional Manager or Country Operation. These already recognize you as an operational expert within your 4 walls.

To create Sustainable Processes, and thus lasting results, you must shift your mindset to impress and influence the people below you, instead of those above you. As a leader, your success is no longer defined by your individual achievements but on your ability to create lasting results by including your Juicers in the process.

Focus on the Process

What you need are results that last beyond yourself, revealing your real legacy. But how do you achieve this? Until now you have been chasing good results to become recognized as a Bar Manager. However, now it is time to realize that focusing on the end results does not create any results in itself – focusing on the sustainable process does!

Results are something you observe, not something you do. The process, on the other hand, is the actions that build the results and make them last. For instance, you do not lose weight by weighing yourself every day – that is the observable result. You lose weight by eating healthy and working out every day – that is the process. So, the process is the action that releases the opportunity to achieve the results.

A results-oriented coach will run practices designed to enforce proper techniques into players. In contrast, a process-oriented coach will go the step further: He/ she will include the players in the process, teaching them not only the proper technique but WHY that technique is the appropriate way to play. Explaining to your Juicers why they are doing something and how it will improve them is much more effective than simply telling them the way to do it. This will empower them and give them a sense of ownership for their own development and the bar’s performance.

The process-oriented leader is not afraid of failure and doesn’t judge based on results but celebrates effort and development. This is the mindset we always promote in JOE & THE JUICE: “When you really try but fail, we forgive”. As a JOE leader, you must practice this mindset and encourage it in the next generation of leaders through your pipeline.

A process-oriented coach has these 4 attributes:

1. Knows lasting results is a Team Effort.
2. Prioritizes development in key Juicers and the Team.
3. Puts the WHY over the WHAT.
4. Does not fear failure but knows the value of trying – and trying again.

The effects of being process-oriented:

1. It puts you in control. You only have partial control over whether you reach a specific external result, but you have complete control over the process you choose.
2. You can affect the operation beyond what you are able to do as an individual contributor.
3. You dare to be more creative in the processes you promote, as you don’t fear failure. This enables you to develop your team further and create even greater, lasting results.

Create Your Legacy

To create sustainability, you need to initiate processes that will allow the team to continuously grow and develop like a living organism. This way the values you promote will be multiplied and live on within the team even when you are not present.

Your challenge as a leader is to create a 4-wall environment where your Juicers are motivated to always do what is best for the store and the team, even when you are not present BTC. Our best and most successful JOE leaders create sustainability by always considering the Ps of the process: PURPOSE, PARTICIPATION, PROGRESS, and PIPELINE.

PURPOSE:
When you exercise influence, you’re not forcing your Juicers to do something. They choose to follow your optics because you have shown them the value of the WHY. To Sustain Processes and create lasting results, you must first make the WHY matter to the Juicer. Be Situational and adapt your approach to effectively reach your Juicer and create PURPOSE.

PARTICIPATION:
When you have created PURPOSE through the WHY, your next step is to include your Juicer/team in the processes and delegate through Elderflower Management. It is a misconception that a Bar Manager manages the Bar by himself/herself – this will never enable Sustainable Processes and lasting results. Inclusion and Elderflower Management, on the other hand, will empower the Juicers and create ownership of the processes. This ensures continued performance, even when you are not present BTC.

PROGRESS:
By inviting your Juicers to PARTICIPATE in the processes you create opportunities for them to develop – PROGRESS. To create a sustainable process, you must also create a sustainable progression. Invest in your Juicers, by motivating them to become better and better.

Through your experiences as BM, you already know the value of following up and giving feedback – the same principles apply here. By continuously following up and giving feedback you direct the Juicer’s efforts and optimizes his/her progression. To sustain this, you must motivate her/him to continue the process by encouraging and acknowledging their achievements.

PIPELINE:
At this stage, as BM Senior you should know that you can affect the operation far beyond your individual contribution. Following the previous P’s you will create a PIPELINE that carries on your optics and operational performance – sustaining the processes you introduce.

Creating your pipeline is not about identifying Juicers with an individual ambition to gain “power”. Rather, you have to recognize and develop your Juicers’ potential to fulfill greater responsibilities. Start measuring your success not in the numbers you can create BTC, but in the development of your team and the quality of your PIPELINE. This will ensure that results are sustained beyond your physical presence through the influence you’ve had on your Team. This is your legacy, and this is how you show your real skills as a leader and impress your top-management.

These principles are universal for a successful JOE leader. When you implement with focus on the Ps, you’ll discover that they are connected. Thus, if you only focus on one and block another, you stop the overall process. However, if you recognize the importance of their connection, they will enforce each other, creating sustainability and growth through the process.

Example

Let’s say you want to increase the turnover in your store. To do this you need to sell more products. However, if you only focus on the result and monitor your turnover each day, you will only become more and more frustrated – WHY? Because you cannot control how busy the bar is by only passively observing. You cannot just make more guests enter your store and control the turnover. So, what can you do instead? Focus on the processes within your control that will lead to increased turnover.

For instance, one important thing that is within your control is the guests’ experience when they visit your store. You can increase this by focusing on how well your Juicers are trained in Brand Behavior, Product Quality, speed, Till Discipline, Store structures, and Cleaning, etc. Whatever principles needing to be improved, you must still focus on the process throughout the training rather than the specific result.

Let’s say you have a Juicer whose abilities with cleaning and Brand Behavior are not living up to the standard you expect. How would you go about retraining this? Considering the 4 Ps, the process could look like the following (however, you must always adjust your focus to fit the specific situation in your team).

Create PURPOSE: Start by considering the Juicer’s Perceptual Position, as you are taught in the BMSenior module Situational Leadership, to understand how you can adapt your approach to make the WHY matter. Explain why we understand the store in comparison to our home, and how we host our guests in the same way as we would at a private dinner. Explain how the cleaning standards can affect the guest’s experience of the Store, both BTC and in the Customer Area. And explain why the Juicer sets up the store nicely in the morning, and how this lays the groundwork for the guest’s experience. If this setup is not maintained and the Store is not kept presentable and clean throughout the day, the experience will drop. If the Juicer starts to slack the experience drops already after the first rush.

Allow PARTICIPATION: Include the Juicer in the process and create ownership through Elderflower Management. Maybe you trust the Juicer with the responsibility to ensure that the Customer Area is always presentable when he/she is on shift. Giving the Juicer responsibility for specific areas empowers them, and shows that you trust in their ability to maintain these areas.

Secure PROGRESS: When you give responsibilities to your Juicers, it does not mean that you rid yourself of the obligations associated with these. You are still accountable for everything that happens in your store. If you have trusted your Juicer with the responsibility of the Customer Area throughout his/her shift, you must then secure your Juicer’s development by coaching and following up continuously. Check up on how well the Juicer manages the task, by for instance coming into the store at the end of a rush. Again, focus on the process rather than specific results. Never judge your Juicer but encourage him/her not to be afraid of failure. Offer constructive feedback and always acknowledge development and good performance.

Develop a quality PIPELINE: When your Juicer masters the responsibility you have given, you mustn’t be passive and let the progress die. Continue the process and develop the Juicer’s responsibility further by trusting her/him with new PURPOSES in which she/he can PARTICIPATE and PROGRESS. If your Juicer fulfills the responsibility of maintaining the Customer Area during his/her shift, you can build on this by extending your trust. You can build on new concepts, like teaching Clear Optics, or give further responsibilities, like also overseeing all Displays or Shift Change procedures during her/his shift. Eventually, these Juicers will be better prepared to succeed as Shift Manager because they have greater experience with responsibility and show ownership for the store.

By influencing your Juicer through the Ps, you indirectly create an environment and operation that is pleasant to visit. This is the foundation that attracts new guests and influences current guests to revisit – thus increasing the Store’s turnover. In this way, you can effectively create a lasting increase in turnover, not by focusing on the turnover, but by identifying and controlling the process!

Sum Up

Becoming Senior Bar Manager, you must begin to lead with great respect and focus on your legacy. Through influence, you build your Pipeline within your Team. Your Juicers become advocates of your processes – continuously spreading the purposes, participation, and progression like a growing organism. Your investment in the Team’s development will in turn sustain the processes you put forth and create results that last beyond your physical presence – your legacy.

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