Authentic Leadership & Cultural Transformation for Bar Owners To Drive Team & Business Success

And it is really hard for me to overstate the importance of having the right mindset for your business to be able to flourish . One of the biggest factors on the culture your bar has your employees' behavior .

Everything that happens is your personal mindset , and there's a reason why , if you look at the framework that I follow of mindset , concept culture mindset comes first . That's because it truly is the foundation of everything else . If you don't have the right mindset , you'll never develop the right concept .

And that does sound a little odd , because a concept is menus , its interior design , it's all sorts of physical things that don't really have to do with your mindset .

But if you take a mindset that is closed , if you're not open to other people's ideas , if you're not constantly looking to improve yourself and to develop a positive mindset , your concept will never reach the great heights that it should be able to . And part of that is mindset goes beyond just the business that you have .

Mindset goes into your entire life , how you do things , how you view the world , and by having a positive mindset , by maintaining a worldview that is conducive to success , you really put yourself on the right path .

And the other thing we'll talk about this more at the end but the other thing that a great mindset does for you is it allows you to have direction in what you're doing . Your mindset sets the stage for everything that you do and how you do

it . One of the most important things to understand when it comes to building the right mindset and your overall view on your business is you cannot be a hypocrite , and far too often the bar business is one where a lot of the businesses are run by people that are frankly hypocrites , and hypocrites are , to put it mildly , assholes .

I can think of a lot nicer ways to say that , but it really is true . Hypocrites are assholes and people don't work for assholes .

If you think about every restaurant rescue show , bar rescue show I don't care who it is , I don't care when it was made there is one common thread through all of those shows , and mostly it's the owner's mindset is not in the right spot for them to be successful , and most of those shows show us owners who are hypocrites , who expect their team to do something

that they aren't willing to do . They expect other people to behave in ways that they do not behave , and that's never going to work . You have to get your team on board with what you're doing . You have to get your team to do what you need them to do in order to make your business successful . But they will never do that if you're not doing it yourself .

There's just no frickin way in the world you're going to convince a bunch of people to follow you and do something that you are unwilling to do . And again , this is far too common in the industry and it is the basis of almost every frickin TV show about restaurants and hotels that exists . But being a hypocrite really comes down to one thing .

It comes down to a lack of professionalism , and this is something pervasive in our industry is a lack of professionalism , and let's be real honest here there have been a lot of changes in the past 40 years in what's acceptable in hospitality . I don't care if we're talking about bars or if we're talking about fast food or if we're talking about fine dining .

There have been a lot of changes in our workforce and in the way people behave in our industry . Now , that's not to say that there still aren't a lot of the things that we saw in the 90s the work hard , play hard lifestyle , exorbitant use of drugs , people sleeping with each other and managers and owners sleeping with their staff .

All those things still happen today , but they shouldn't . You're not putting yourself in a good mindset . You're not creating a culture that will work for your bar . If you're doing any of that shit , even if you could get away with it 20 years ago , doesn't mean you should do it today . And part of that is our workforce has changed .

The folks that work for us are not the same as they were in the 80s and 90s . Right now , we have a workforce made up a lot of Gen Z people , and I hate to break it to you , but Gen Z is way different than Gen X when it comes to what they're going to put up within a restaurant and in a work environment .

And maybe a great example of this , because I'm sure most of you have seen the movie Waiting . Watch the movie Waiting and think of the jokes that they're pulling , think about the way they talked to each other .

Think about all those things that happen in the interactions in that show , and I will tell you that in 2005 or six or whenever that came out I think it was mid-2000s that show was pretty accurate to my experience in the restaurant and bar business .

I saw people behaving like that on a daily basis Now , maybe not spitting in food and things like that , but a guy online pulling his balls out behind the line . I might have seen that a couple times .

The thing is , though , that if you think about that show , if you watch the movie and you think about that , in today's world , the things that happen there your employees today would not put up with .

That means we have to modernize , we have to move to a mindset that fits the situation we're in today , and we have to accept and understand that , along with a change in generations , along with a change in who we're employing not necessarily the type of people we're employing , because , largely in the bar industry , you've always had a lot of people in their 20s

and 30s working in bars . That tends to be the majority of our workforce , but that workforce is a different generation , and I promise you right now the one thing that will get under your millennial and Gen Z employees skin faster than anything else is if you're a hypocrite , because , just like I said , hypocrites are assholes .

That's how they view hypocrites , and so you have to not only talk the talk . You can't just tell people what you want them to do . You have to do it . If you don't want your employees to drink at work , well then your ass better not be drinking at work .

It's really pretty simple , and I should stop here and also say and waiting is another place where we can see this example . Sexual harassment is not cool . Let's just say that straightforward Sexual harassment is not cool . We work in an industry that has been known for sexual harassment .

That sexual harassment was rampant , and , especially if you go back decades , there was a lot of things that happened that cannot happen today .

So make sure that , a you're not sexually harassing people , but , b that if you're asking your team to do something , you are willing to do it as well , because what I will tell you and this is unequivocally true , and if anyone has an example of this that's going on today and can prove to me that I'm wrong on this , I will . I don't know .

I'll give you some money . I'll do some free coaching for you .

I don't know what I'll do , but you find me a business , you find me a bar that is putting 15 , 20 , 25% on the bottom line , where the owners are hypocrites , where they're not professional , where they are not doing the hard work day in and day out to maintain their positive mindset , to maintain a great culture for their staff .

Because I don't think that exists . I really don't . The only bars that I know of that are really successful are run professional . They're run like any other business . So we can't be hypocrites . We can't rely on the idea that we're in a different type of industry , that we can do things that they can't do in other industries Bullshit .

We have to be professionals for our bars to thrive . So hopefully that lays the groundwork for you on why it's important for us to develop and maintain a positive mindset and to really go into work every day as professionals .

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Let's talk about ways you can develop a positive mindset and some of the tools needed to get that mindset piece figured out for your business . And really , again , it's more for your life than your business , but your life influences your business because you own your business .

So one of the big things when it comes to your personal mindset is actually the same as building a culture for your bar , which is that you need to define your values , your mission , your vision , what it is that you do every day . When I say what you do , I don't mean the physical actions you take , but what is your purpose ?

What inside are you trying to do each and every day with your life ? And so , just like with a bar where we talk about missions , vision and core values , for your personal life you need a mission , a vision and core values .

And , frankly , whether you're doing this for your bar or for yourself , the process is pretty much the same , and , rather than start with mission or vision , I always like to start with core values , because your core values speak to who you are as a person .

In this case , and if we were doing it for the bar , it would speak to what your bar is as a business . What's that culture you're trying to build for your team and your guests ? But we're talking about you today . So what are your values ? What do you go through life , doing every day ?

What is that feeling , that sense that you want to give to the world ? Now , some of these can be aspirational , but they need to be things that you can live day in and day out . Don't say you value honesty as one of your core values if you're a pathological liar .

Now , if you're a pathological liar , there are a lot of other issues and things that you probably need to deal with , but your values need to speak to who you are and they need to be true . They need to actually have impact in your life and be things that you already do .

So , when it comes to establishing what your core values are Always start by brainstorming . So write down a list of values that you either emulate in your day-to-day life or that you aspire to emulate in your day-to-day life .

One thing that's very true and this is true for your business and this is true for yourself personally as well If you tell yourself this is who I am , that is who you will become . Thoughts lead to action . Action leads to reality .

So if , every day , you wake up and tell yourself that you believe in hospitality and one of the joys in your life is to help other people and to treat other people in a way that they enjoy your presence , they enjoy being around you , they enjoy dealing with you as a person .

Well , as you , day in and day out , think about hospitality as something that you do , you will become that . So these can be aspirational , but they should be true to you as a person because , let's face it , all of us once you're 25 or whatever and your brain stops developing , all of us are pretty fixed .

Who you are as a person does not change as you get older . Your approach may change . You may get softer on some points . I know when I was in my early 20s and owned a bar , I was a little bit more of a firecracker , let's say I was a little bit more abrasive than probably I needed to be .

Now I know that I don't have to be quite that abrasive to get the same results , but write a list of things that speak to you , and the goal here is to get as many values on paper as possible .

Just brainstorm , think of these things and hopefully you're ending up with a list of 10 , 15 , 20 items , because what we want to do is get more ideas down on paper , just like if we were doing this for a bar . We want to get more ideas down on paper . Then we're actually going to choose at the end .

And so some ideas , because I'll tell you right now , these are the core values that I think about every day integrity , empathy , innovation , hospitality and excellence . So those are five ideas . Maybe they speak to you , maybe they don't . Generate a list of words , of values that speak to you and that are who you are .

Now , once you have that list , the first thing to do is to look at things that are significantly similar , look at items that duplicate each other . So maybe you have both compassion and empathy written down . You can pick one , or you can pick a different word , another synonym that encompasses those two words , even better .

But start to whittle down that list by eliminating items that are similar or that are duplicates , or words that are synonyms , and at the end , what you really want to do is end up with a list of four to seven core values . Now I think , for yourself personally and for a bar , I like the number five .

I think five values is easy to remember , it's easy to understand and it gives you enough to have some breadth there in what you're covering with your values . But I would absolutely challenge you do not go over seven , anything more than seven . It's too unwieldy , there's too much to remember there .

So come up with three , four , five , six values that really speak to you and that exemplify the type of person you either are or aspire to be . Maybe you know that you have empathy , but you don't display your empathy well every time .

Or innovation is something that you want to make part of your life and that is part of your life , but you know that you can be more innovative than you are . Just because you're not living up to something to its fullest extent doesn't mean it shouldn't be a value , because by making it a value you will live it more .

But you need a list again of four to seven values that speak to you . Now , once you have that list of values , we've kind of created a list of things that you want to be in life , that you are in life . Now we go to your vision , and your vision is going to reflect your goals and aspirations , not for your business , necessarily , but for you personally .

And vision is not necessarily something concrete , it's aspirational , it's more of a . When you die , what do you want your epitaph to be ? What do you want them to write on your gravestone ? How do you want to be remembered by the world ? It shouldn't be about your business and it really shouldn't be about money or any of those things .

It should be more aspirational than that , because it's a vision , it's a goal , it's an aspirational state that you're trying to achieve . So , for instance , my personal vision is to become a global leader in the bar industry . Now , I'm far from that and that's why it's aspirational .

And let me be real honest with you that's probably not the best vision in the world , because it's not . It's too business focused , it's too focused on one aspect of my life rather than all aspects of my life . But right now , with what I'm doing and where I am in my life , that is what I'm focused on , that is my vision and where I'm trying to go to .

And that's potentially another good thing to point out here . Your vision can change every time . Your vision may be business related now to some extent , but then be more personal related in the future . As we get older , as we change , we want different things . But you need a vision , you need a guiding beacon for your goals and aspirations .

Then , once you have this kind of aspirational overall statement , your mission is more about your primary objectives , your North Star . It's what you get out of bed every day focused on doing , and that's the best way , I think , to talk about a mission . It's your purpose .

So you'll hear other people use purpose statement , your personal mission statements basically the same thing . It is what you get out of bed every day focused on doing , and one of the great ways to look at mission is what are you doing and how does that help the world ? So if your mission is to make money , okay , you're making money . To do what ?

Because just making money so that I can buy a new car , that's not really a great mission . And I'll be real honest with you here .

If your mission in life is to buy a nicer car , well , it's not really going to fulfill you and you're not probably going to get there , because your mission has to be more about what your impact is in the world , what you're trying to do , and not just about things . That's really true with vision , that's true of core values , that's true of all of this .

It's not about material things , because I promise you , if you have a bar that is running fantastically , where you have that 20% bottom line , where you are able to do things outside of your bar and expand your life outside of your bar more and more , the success will come with that . The money will come with the success .

Having your mission in life be to make money , that's just . You're not seeing past today . You're not embracing all of the possibility in life . Now , another way to approach this , outside of doing core values , mission and vision , would be to figure out your why . So I'm sure many of you have read Simon's next books . If you haven't , go get them .

They are fantastic on developing your mindset . But Simon's next platform or concept is to start with why . So why ? Here , much like we talked about mission , is that internal driving force .

That's what you do every day , it's what you get out of bed for and , again , it's not money , it's not notoriety , it is what you're doing that makes an impact on the world .

And there is a very formulated way to write your why , and it's to blank , so that blank the first blank represents your contribution to the lives of others and your second blank represents the impact of that contribution . So it's not about you even . It's about other people and how your life impacts them and what your contributing to them .

So , for example , simon's next why is to inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that together we can change the world . And if you think about it , that's very aspirational , it isn't concrete and that it's not saying that I'm going to do this every day , but every day . For Simon's next , that's what he gets out of bed thinking about .

So if you're unfamiliar with his whole concept of why and the books start with why I highly recommend you buy it , because it's a great tool for helping to hone in on your mindset . And I think why goes right along with mission , vision and values , as far as getting this stuff documented and giving yourself some structure to your mindset .

Now , the other thing that you can do that is very helpful is daily review and meditation , and what I mean by that is every day . You need some time to think .

Too much in the world today we run around like chickens with our heads cut off and we're in our phone and we're on emails and you know , in a bar and there's crises and people calling you and regulars want to talk and some liquor order needs to get done and all this shit . You need time for quiet and thinking . Thinking is key .

The most successful people in the world spend a lot of their time thinking because it allows you to clear your brain .

And part of that thinking process is daily meditation , just and I don't mean formal meditation , I don't mean sitting like a monk and saying ohm , I mean just thinking about life , reflecting on life , clearing your head a little bit to allow good ideas to come through .

And as part of that , something I recommend doing and this sounds so stupid as I say it , and I realize that is to get yourself in a ritual of doing daily affirmations , reading your mission and vision and core values , maybe saying positive things to yourself every day , and a lot of us have a jaded view of the idea of self-affirmation due to Saturday Night Live

. What was it ? Stuart Smalley ? I think that was Al Franken , or I think it was Al Franken that did that . Might have been Dan Aykroyd , can't remember , doesn't matter . But you know the guy on Saturday Night Live that used to look in the camera and say I'm good enough , I'm smart enough and gosh , darn it , people like me .

Well , you don't have to look in a mirror and say those things , but it is important every day to reflect on yourself , who you are , your mission , your vision , your core values as you start the day , because then you're setting yourself up with that focus for the entire day .

It will make it easier for you to make decisions , it will make it easier for you to go through life , because you have this core set of principles that you're relying on as you make choices .

Now , another thing that's important to include in your mindset and that having a positive mindset is absolutely key for maintaining a positive mindset , is that you have to find value in problems .

You have to find values in the issues that you face , and we've talked about on the podcast multiple times continuous improvement for your business , knowing your KPIs , having the idea that every day , you improve a little bit . That works for you as a person as well . Try to constantly improve yourself every day .

Try to be better today than you were yesterday and , just like with a business , where we're talking about small improvements , little 1% tweaks that we become 1% better every day . If you do that in your personal life , you will become a person that you don't even recognize a few years from now .

But you'll be yourself and you'll be more how you want to be than a slave to the situations that surround you . So find value in your problems . Every struggle , every failure you face is not something that should beat you down . I don't care what you've been through personal . It is an opportunity to learn . It is an opportunity to grow .

It is an opportunity to know more about yourself and about the world around you . Now , obviously , if you do something really dumb , what you learn is well , don't do that again . But find value in your problems . Don't let your problems weigh on you , don't let them hold you back .

Find value in them and find the strength to look at that and say well , I learned this lesson . I failed here , but gosh , darn it . I am going to do better every day and I am going to make myself a better person because of this failure . Take what you can learn from it and move on .

So , between those things , you have to have your personal value statements , your mission , your vision , your core values and your why . If you want to go down that road as well , you need to every day think about these values , think about your why , think about your mission and vision and put those into your life .

And , frankly , every day you need to read those , you need to say them aloud , you need to give your time self-time to think about them and also make sure that you're finding value in your problems . So if you do those three things , you will develop a more positive mindset , and it's . This is not an overnight thing . It is building a habit .

It is trying to change the way your brain is wired a little bit . That takes time , but I promise a little bit of improvement . Every day stacks up to a lot . Hey there , bar owners , it's Chris Schneider , the bar business coach . Are you tired of the daily grind and ready to skyrocket your profits ?

I've got the solution With my coaching and consulting services . We deep dive into menu management , team empowerment and business optimization Instead of slogging away in your business , day in and day out , washing dishes , covering for employees and working 60 plus hours a week .

Picture this A thriving business that runs like Clockwork , whether you're there or not , letting you enjoy the successes that you've dreamed of . Let's make it happen . Visit barbusinesscoachcom to schedule your free 30-minute strategy session with me , or you can book a session just by clicking the link in the show notes below .

Together , we will turn your business into a profit powerhouse , because at the bar business coach , our only goal is to help you spend less time working in your bar and more time working on your bar .

So then the question becomes you do all this personal work . What is the impact ? Well , the major impact is it makes everything in your life and bar easier . And why does it make it easier ? It's because it gives you a litmus test . It gives you direction in where you're going and how you need to be to get there .

If you're sitting there wrestling with a hard decision and your values are integrity or excellence or innovation , you can say well , is this giving me ? Is this supporting my integrity ? Is this something someone with integrity would do ? Is this innovative , or am I just recycling old shit and I'm not moving the ball forward .

Is this actually something that is excellence , or am I just half-assing it ? So your values become this litmus test , this wonderful thing , this tool you can use to look at all the issues you face , to look at everything in front of you and decide is this making me better or not ? Is this the direction I should be moving in or not ?

To be able to do that effectively , though , you have to give yourself a pause , and one of the things that happens to almost all of us , and especially as bar owners , because we're constantly getting pulled in a thousand directions there is almost always some thing of urgency that comes up , whether that's a customer we have to talk to or a piece of equipment

that's broken , the cooler went down , the toilets clogged I don't really care . There are so many different things that can happen to us that seem like they are immediate and we must deal with them right now , and the knee-jerk reaction in a lot of those situations is to just make this rash decision without any thought .

And so , by understanding who we are , by creating this positive mindset and these values and mission and vision , and understanding our why , by doing all of this , we're giving ourselves that litmus test , but the litmus test is only good if we take the time to reflect and use the litmus test .

So , regardless of what problems you face , regardless of what's going on , one of the most important things to do is that every time you're faced with an issue , every time a problem happens , every time something urgent needs your attention , rather than just diving into it and trying to deal with it without any thought at all , take a moment , reflect on your values

, your mission , your vision . Actually take the time to think . We talked about .

Thinking in the morning is just like something you should do every day , but every time you are in a position where you may make a rash decision , take a deep breath , take 30 seconds , take a minute , take two minutes and reflect on how does this interact with my personal values , how does this interact with my vision for my life , with my mission in life , and

will I be happy with this decision I'm about to make ? Because too often it's it's way too easy to fall into the trap of making a decision right now , because you need to be the decider , you need to be a decision maker , you need to make it happen . Don't do that .

Take time to reflect , take time to think , take time to actually say is this going to fit in with my core values , is this going to fit in with my beliefs , is this going to fit in with who I am ?

Because , again , the greatest , the absolute greatest value of defining your values , of building a positive mindset as it serves as a litmus test for everything that you do , so always ask yourself those questions

. So , to sum it all up here , your bar needs values , and we've talked about all the reasons why . You cannot build a great bar culture without values , without having a litmus test for your employees to use when they make decisions . But you need that in your personal life too .

You need to treat your personal life , your personal mindset , your personal life , culture , if you will as just , as precious as the culture for your bar . Because , at the end of the day , unless you understand yourself , unless you have something guiding you , it is impossible to do amazing things , absolutely impossible . You need that clarity of understanding .

You need that knowledge of who you are to drive what you do , and you can find that clarity in mission vision , in your core values . Maybe you prefer , simon Sinek start with why to doing a mission vision and core values . Maybe you want to do all of it . Maybe you want to do something totally different .

It doesn't really matter how you approach this , it just matters that you approach it , and there are tons of different ways to get there . There are tons of different books written . There are so many books written on different methods for discovering yourself , if you will , but you have to understand yourself .

You have to put in that work Because when you do , it can lead you to amazing things . It can unlock potential in you and potential for your life that you did not think was possible before . That about wraps us up for today . If you enjoyed today's episode , make sure you like and subscribe . Leave a review .

If you're on Spotify , if you're on Apple , wherever you are , leave a review . Spread the good word about the podcast . If you want to gain more insights and you want to interact more with me and other bar owners on how you can build a great mindset or anything regarding your bar , make sure to join our Facebook group , bar Business Nation .

There is a link for that in the show notes below . There's also a link in the show notes to schedule a strategy session with me so that we can talk about ways we can collaborate together to help to optimize your success . On that note , guys , I hope you have a fantastic week and we will talk again later .