Building Leaders Without Babysitting

Empire's one guest experience at a time , and in today's episode it's for every salon owner or director asking how do I groom my next right hand without losing the soul of my salon ? Because let's be clear , leadership isn't about giving somebody the keys and hoping that they figure it all out .

it Like the mission outlives you . So like if you've ever thought , hey , she's great at her job , but I don't know if she's ready to lead others , or maybe it's hey , why can't anyone just take initiative around here ? Or maybe you even said , or worse , I'm the only one who can do it right , then this episode is your wake up call .

So let's talk about how to build leaders without babysitting and how to install systems that actually scale .

You know , it's not your chairs , it's not your your teammates , it's not your color line , you know . Even I think people sometimes get confused and think , man , if I had a rockstar stylist with a hundred thousand followers on Instagram , that would be amazing .

But no , clients are why we exist and they're why we build systems , because without systems to serve them , you're just hoping for a good day , and hoping isn't a strategy . You know , because one thing that we know for sure is your next leader must know this , and that's that we protect the client experience at all costs .

You know , and the way that we protect it is with systems . But here's the trap that most salons fall into . You know , they confuse intention with implementation .

You know , because you can't just be like , yeah , I think that this is what's happening and it's not actually happening , because if the system isn't written down , if it's not recorded or documented in any way . You guys , it's not a system , it's merely a wish , and wishes don't scale .

, they fix broken systems . So your future salon leader should be a mirror , not a megaphone . Isn't that so interesting ? If you think about it , when something's off maybe a client review drops off , rebooks fall off , or even the energy shifts they don't default to blame . They get curious . Isn't that so good ?

You know , instead of defaulting to blame , they're going to ask things like hey , where is the system breaking down ? Or they might think like what's unclear , or maybe it's . They ask what needs to be role-played , taught or adjusted , because their role isn't to criticize , it's to repair .

Because in a team-based salon , we don't point fingers , we point people back to the system .

Give feedback that builds , not breaks . You know , because let's talk about feedback because this is where most new leaders crumble . You know they try to correct a teammate , but it comes off as controlling , cold or , even worse , condescending . You know , and here's what we like to teach instead Feedback is a team sport .

You know , you have to think that we are on the same side of the table . We're not across from each other . You know and this is Brene Brown calls this engaged feedback . You know , it's when you stay in it together and you lead with love and not labels .

So it would look like instead of you know you're not doing this right , you would try to say , hey , tell me what's been going on lately . Something feels off and I want to help .

You know , because that's not soft , that's strategic , that's leadership , because when you're coming from a place of saying you're not doing this right you're trying to make yourself the hero of the story , but truly , as a leader , you're trying to make the other person with you the hero of the story , and the way that you do that is to really uncover it in that

conversation that we just talked about it doing it that way .

them this one thing role play everything . Let me say that again . Role play everything . And after you role played it again , role play it again . So , like this means everything scripts , scenarios , conversations with guests . You know difficult follow-ups , every part of the sales process .

Because here's the truth you don't rise to the level of your potential , you fall to the level of your preparation . Like the salon leader who can say , hey , let's run through that checkout script together real quick is a leader who builds confidence , not just critiques performance . You know , the role play reveals where someone's stuck .

You know , maybe it's not the offer , it's the tone , not the words , it's the timing . And once you isolate the breakdown , you can send them back to the right part of the system . And this is where you'll discover if your systems are tight or if they're playing the game of telephone with your legacy .

You know , this is when you think about the game of telephone . You know we've probably all played that game where you start with the phrase and by the time it gets , sometimes to the first person , or even to the second or third person , it's a whole , totally different phrase . And so that's the same thing when it comes to , like , answering your phone .

Like if someone is answering your phone and everybody has a different script that they're using , that's a break in a system and that's a great opportunity for a leader to step in , to first be aware of that .

I think that's one of the first steps to transformation is being aware of it and then having those great conversations and role-playing it with , um , with the person you know .

Yesterday we had a new beauty pro who's in our co-stylist training program and she , she was put up front to learn and I walked up there and she was like um , I'm really , really , really nervous , I don't know what's happening .

And so , like we did a few more role plays with her they had already done some and you could tell her whole energy shifted , she felt more confident , she felt seen , she felt like she could do it , like we gave her the gift of confidence , and that's what a lot of times role playing does .

And like , by the end of the day I was like okay , girl , I'll see you up there . Yeah , you got it going on .

And so helping new leaders to see hey , we're trying to get a positive shift , we're not trying to change every single thing today , we're just trying to get that one next positive shift . So I love that , you know . And ? And step five really is like hey , if you're feeling the cracks , it's time to dive into those systems and guess what We've got

you . Because , listen , if your stomach just dropped because you realized that your systems aren't written out , your leaders are winging it and you're still the only one who knows how to fix things when they go wrong . That's not your fault , you know , it's P R O 2 , 4 , 6 , 9 , 2 , 8 , 3 , 5 , 5 , 9 , 0 .

And we'll send you over all the details on our brand new training program million dollar beauty pro . You know , this is an on-demand and live training system that turns you know button pushers into brand builders , and it's built for you so that you can finally scale your team without watering down the vision .

Just like Jen talked about telephone , you'll eliminate the telephone game forever because you guys , we're not guessing anymore , we know the score . Team-based salons earn millions more , and it starts with leaders who don't just show up but rise up .

So , whether you've got one stylist or that , you're eyeing for leadership , you know , or you're trying to build a full blown management pipeline , remember , great leaders aren't born , they're developed inside of a system that actually works .

So we'll see you next time on the Salon Success Secrets Podcast . Let's continue building this legacy together .