This week we'll be recapping some of the sessions at this year's Bar & Restaurant Expo that focused on all things people: building teams, retaining employees, creating a culture, and more! If you missed our first article on "How the Right People Equal Profits," check it out!
At the 2025 Bar & Restaurant Expo, industry expert, author, and Founder/CEO of HospiVation Jason Brooks delivered a high-impact session called, “Never Lead Alone Again: 5 Keys to Build Back Your Team & Your Time.” The session focused on leadership transformation designed to help hospitality professionals reclaim their time, improve operations, and build strong, engaged teams. Drawing from his book, Every Leader Needs Followers, Brooks introduced five essential strategies—packaged in the acronym M.O.D.E.L.—to equip restaurant managers with leadership tools that deliver results.
His message was simple and urgent: “We have systems for everything—inventory, sales, POS—but why don’t we have systems for managing, leading, and coaching.”
Here’s a breakdown of the five keys from Brooks’ presentation and how operators can apply them right away.
1. M: Master of KPIs
Most operators focus on standard KPIs like food cost, sales, and labor, but Brooks challenged attendees to go deeper. Mastering KPIs, he argued, isn’t just about data—it’s about tying numbers to human behavior and building systems that empower staff to act on them.
For example, Brooks suggested creating a “catering dashboard” that helped the entire team—from dishwasher to head chef—see what role they played in achieving core goals. Another business tracked seating times, rewards sign-ups, and guest complaint resolutions, connecting each to guest satisfaction scores.
These dashboards weren’t management-only tools—they were placed in common areas and updated by the team members themselves. “Your staff should be able to look at the dashboard and say, ‘That’s what I’m working on today,’” Brooks said.
2. O: Owner Life Orientation
Standard restaurant onboarding—paperwork, outdated training videos, and position-specific training—isn’t enough to create long-term team engagement. Brooks proposed an “owner-like orientation” that gives new hires a big-picture understanding of the business from Day One.
Instead of dumping new employees at a booth with a training manual, Brooks suggested taking them on a walk—from the parking lot to the restrooms—through the lens of a guest. Teach them to see the operation through customer eyes, including how trash near the dumpster or fingerprints on the glass door impact perception.
“Orientation is where we set the tone,” Brooks emphasized. “If you start with three things—a table, a tablet, and a role—that’s all they’ll ever feel they own.”
3. D: Delegate by Creating Mini GMs
Delegation isn’t just a way to reduce your to-do list—it’s a strategy to empower, train, and retain future leaders. Brooks noted that many managers hesitate to delegate because they believe no one can do it like them. But that belief often comes from selective memory.
“Our brains protect us by forgetting the mistakes we made when we were learning,” he said. “We remember our rise as perfection, but it wasn’t.”
To make delegation work, Brooks shared a structured delegation template and encouraged attendees to classify all tasks into four main categories: sales/profit, guest satisfaction, team development, and food safety. Then, determine which tasks are “big rocks” (core to business success) and which are “pebbles” (necessary but less critical).
Each task should be assessed based on:
- Admin level: Who can perform it—owner, manager, or team member?
- Priority: Does it need to be done now, soon, or later?
- Completion time: How long should it take?
- Frequency: Daily, weekly, monthly?
- Training: Has the person been trained properly?
When done right, delegation becomes a tool to scale leadership across all levels.
4. E: Engage with One-on-Ones
Brooks emphasized the power of regular one-on-one meetings to build trust and reduce chaos. “You know those 2 a.m. phone calls about toilet paper? You get those because you haven’t created a space for your team to talk to you earlier,” he said.
One-on-ones aren’t casual conversations or Slack updates. They should be scheduled, focused meetings where the team member, not the manager, does most of the talking.
Brooks’ six non-negotiables for effective one-on-ones are:
- Schedule them and make them visible.
- Don’t cancel (except for death or serious illness).
- Focus on them, not yourself.
- Follow a 10/10/10 format:
- 10 minutes for the team member to talk about anything (even anime or video games).
- 10 minutes for wins and challenges.
- 10 minutes for manager feedback and follow-ups.
- Take handwritten notes—no digital distractions.
- Follow up on what was discussed previously.
This system gives team members the confidence needed to bring concerns proactively instead of bottling them up.
5. L: Lead with the Right Mindset (Managing vs. Leading vs. Coaching)
Brooks concluded with a discussion about the mindsets managers must shift between: managing, leading, and coaching.
- Managing focuses on systems, schedules, and the bottom line.
- Leading is about setting a vision, inspiring others, and responding to challenges with clarity.
- Coaching involves working closely with individuals to help them grow and move from one level to the next.
“Managers think in terms of tasks and data. Leaders think in terms of vision. Coaches think in terms of people,” Brooks explained. “All three are necessary, but you have to know when to use each mindset.”
He urged attendees to redefine coaching not as an executive luxury but as a practical, everyday tool for developing every employee.
Final Thoughts: Buy Back Your Time, Build Back Your Team
Brooks’ session was a blueprint for turning overstretched managers into empowered, intentional leaders. His five keys—Master KPIs, Owner Life Orientation, Delegate, Engage, and Lead—form a scalable system that any operator can implement.
“Our industry is built on trust,” he reminded the audience. “We trust strangers to cook meals we’ll put in our mouths. Shouldn’t we put just as much trust into the way we train and lead our teams?”
The message landed, and attendees left with tangible tools, digital downloads, and renewed energy to transform their restaurants—starting with themselves.
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Plan to Attend or Participate in Our Events:
- 2025 Bar & Restaurant Expo Colorado, October 26-28, 2025, Denver, Colorado
- 2026 Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 23-25, 2026, Las Vegas, Nevada.
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