It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, and promises are promises, but only performance is reality. 


– Harold S. Geneen, the late business leader who grew ITT into an international conglomerate



So you’ve trained all your managers on the key performance initiatives: same-store sales, customer service, cost control, labor, throughput, hiring, retention, training, marketing, repair and maintenance. You’ve collectively set and shared the annual target numbers relative to profitability and sales. You’re pretty sure they know what to do and have the tools to get it done. Morale is strong. Heck, you even sent them all to that leadership seminar focused on those steps by that guy who wrote that book. They seemed to enjoy it, and it sounds like they even got something from it. 


But for some reason, they’re just not applying what they know. Despite the recent uptick in customer visits, your unit manager’s performance and numbers are not keeping pace. Transactions are up, but sales are down. Turnover is high and the ticket average low. They don’t seem to be using what they’ve learned. Why not? 


Seasoned foodservice trainers will tell you that managers or team members will not perform up to expectations for one of three reasons: they don’t know, they can’t do, or they don’t care. If they don’t know or can’t do, those issues can typically be resolved by investing in more training or providing additional resources. If they fall into the category of don’t care, my prescription is as down-to-earth as home plate: Give those people a job at the competition.


I think there are two additional reasons why people underperform: no accountability and no consideration of circumstantial obstacles. In other words, if you don’t hold people accountable for their performance, that performance will vary. And if you don’t consider — and offset — the specific extenuating circumstances that routinely hamper execution, performance will suffer.


Some executives blame the training curriculum or frequency when a manager’s performance wanes. But that’s as misguided as blaming driver’s ed. class if your 16-year-old had a minor car accident on a rainy night. You have to dig deeper and question the situations that cause teams to abandon what they know. Classroom training can prepare you intellectually for situational leadership, but only experience itself will determine if you can — and will — apply what you know during each shift. Challenging, unexpected and stressful shift situations will readily marginalize knowledge and constrict ability. 


We recently polled 115 foodservice unit managers and 58 multiunit managers and asked them this question: “Under what circumstances do managers do the wrong thing even though they know how to do the right thing?” Here are the most common responses based on frequency: 


1. Understaffed or feeling pressured 

2. In a hurry 

3. During high-volume periods 

4. Poor time-management 

5. Lack of prioritization 

6. Procrastination 

7. When doing it right costs more

8. Lack of daily plan 

9. New, untrusted process

10. Feeling overworked 

11. Day isn’t going as planned (shift routines abandoned) 

12. Something doesn’t make sense 

13. New procedure or rule not effectively communicated 

14. Training not valued 

15. Lack of belief in new rule 

16. Conflicting orders from management

17. Bonus could be impacted

18. Don’t want supervisor to think I need help

19. Procedure takes more time, is difficult or less familiar 

20. Over in labor (might try to fudge training or inventory)

21. I think no one will notice

22. No follow-up, notice taken or consequence 

23. District manager fails to consistently follow up 

24. Evening shift (less accountability, no surprise visits)



This list provides unique insight into common situational leadership hurdles. The responses align into three distinct category “buckets.” First are the focus/time-management issues, as seen in responses 1-11; second are the training/communication issues, as reflected in 12-19; and third are the accountability issues seen in 20-24.


The lessons learned? If you want to help your managers excel at situational leadership, stress the skills related to better time management, focus, communication and accountability. This makes training more effective and productivity spike. 


It’s been said that experience is the best teacher, but in some ways it’s the worst; it gives the test before presenting the lesson — and don’t forget that experience only teaches the teachable. Review the list above with your managers and see if these circumstances sound familiar. Ask them the same question we did, and see what additional situations they might identify. Have them discuss and share best practices, and learn how to anticipate and control challenging circumstances when they arise. 


Take a closer look at when performance drops, and you’ll gain keener insight into why performance drops.


Jim Sullivan is a popular speaker at foodservice conferences worldwide. You can follow Jim on Twitter (@Sullivision) and get his free phone app of leadership quotes called iFundamentals at Android Market or iTunes. His website is www.sullivision.com.