Marijuana is legal in some states, but that doesn’t mean it belongs in your workplace. Does your company need Drug-Free Workplace training?  Will your employees still be drug tested for marijuana use? Please leave a comment and let us know.

In restaurant training, our mistakes, as much as our successes, define us and can help steer us forward today. With this in mind, here are 10 lessons learned over the last 20 years of doing business that are now part of my thinking.

1. Think Marathon, Not Sprint

As your restaurant training career progresses, you encounter the same situations and people over and over.With this in mind, sometimes the best business decisions are made with a long-term goal in mind, even at the cost of sacrificing short-term gains. But, thinking of this as a long-term race, instead of your short-term goal this week, will help you make smarter decisions.

2. There Are Incredibly Smart People Who Will Help You If You Ask

One of my early mentors told me how he would reach out to people he admired and ask them a few questions. Always done in a respectful way and mindful of their time, he was successful in getting some great counsel and often a new friendship or relationship with this person. And damn if he wasn’t right – it totally works.

3. Leadership Doesn’t Need A Title

Don’t wait for the title to lead. In restaurant training, leadership is about helping the business succeed and helping those around you make that happen. Leadership is also about trust and those around you knowing you have their back. Too many young employees and managers feel like “When I get that title, I can really guide this place.” You should be thinking about how you can show leadership on your first day. If you know nothing else about what is going on, start to get to know people and what they are doing or working on, their background, and what makes them tick. Your influence starts with orientation. Good leaders don’t wait for titles.

4. How You Handle The Big Screw-Up

Over time, in restaurant training, you are going to make some colossal blunders. Epic screw-ups. Personally, I had a history of making all the right moves – uncannily so. Then 1-2 big missteps sent me rocketing backward. When failure eventually happens, how you handle it will define you. Do rise to the occasion and accept responsibility or do you fall in a pit, never to be heard from again? Do you blame everyone else, or do you face it head-on, smile, and say, “what’s next?” How you handle it sends a clear signal of your mettle to both friends and your business network. Leadership is as much about defeat as it is about success.

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That’s all I got for today! John

Isolate Yourself – to re energize. Many of us corporate trainers that are seemingly extroverts are introverts. If you recharge when by yourself, you need to seek out isolation from time to time.

Purposefully Offend – us corporate trainers are too worried about making everyone happy. Sometimes the only way to get someone’s attention is to call him or her out.

Seek Out Rejection – to get desensitized to the fear of it. Once we lose the fear of rejection we more easily go after what we want, and thus get more of it. Trust me this works!

Ignore Consensus – when your own data and foresight is convincingly contrary to the wisdom of the crowd (like Jobs, MLK, Gandhi). Consensus bonds us together and creates harmony, but it rarely moves us forward. Progress in eLearning sometimes has to come at the hands of an individual’s decisive disruption.

Expect Nothing – in return for helping your peers. Karma points are dispersed unexpectedly over decades, not in a scorecard of dollars.

Quit – those activities you’ll never win at, and take a new swing at the plate.

Self-Sabotage – yourself when you find yourself mired in complacency. In corporate training, don’t ever get too comfortable with the status quo, always be willing to blow it up and start all over again to truly create something better.

Abstain from Work – which others can do for you. Delegate every task that others can do 80% as well as you, and focus on those items that only you can achieve that have big payoffs. For example, hire a custom eLearning developer.

Plot & Scheme – your next couple moves ahead. If you don’t see the whole landscape of the playing field, you’re bound to get your butt kicked. In corporate training, know where you’re going far in advance of making your first move.

Underestimate Demand – for corporate training. Don’t ever assume people want what you got, and you’ll always have the appropriate amount of urgency and hustle to validate what you’re trying to achieve.

That’s all I got for today,  John

Watch the video for an example of what not to do by violating compliance Antitrust Essentials.

Ever wonder what it takes to become the worst salesperson in the world?

Watch the video to find out.

Hint…it’s related to the training department. John

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Tom’s email address:  tom.turnbull@opensesame.com

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