At National Restaurant Consultants, when we work with our clients, we focus on the details as much as we take a look at the big picture. Our consultants know the details are holding up the larger vision, and they are the important touches that play a role in the customer experience. Hospitality should be, above all else, about the customer experience.
What many owner-operators often neglect to practice, is that focus on the customer experience is what builds an exceptional business. For example, our menu engineering services focus on the way customers read and order from menus. But by ordering menus with this customer experience in mind, we also save restaurant businesses money with correct pricing and avoiding waste. Details and customer service work hand-in-hand, building up successful, long-lasting businesses.
This is the crux of this Medium article about Jack Gibbons’s journey to CEO. He recalls the smallest moments that built his understanding of leadership and the customer experience. It is from this attention to detail—and a willingness to learn—that Gibbons’s career path kept climbing and his businesses saw great success. Entitled “Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A CEO,” Gibbons shares with Medium examples of this attention to detail and a humility to learn and cater to the customer experience.
“I worked my way up from server to Chief Operating Officer, driven to learn every part of the business,” his story begins. “Looking back, I’m grateful I said yes to that first restaurant job. It opened the door to a career that still feels as exciting as it did on my first day.”
Starting at the ground level, Gibbons knew how his personal work ethic and expectations impacted his career journey. He used this as a leadership tool, learning about people and seeing its influence on their working styles. “When I first started leading teams, I used to walk out to the parking lot after a manager meeting to take a look inside everyone’s car. It probably sounds funny now, but I believed then — and still do — that how you take care of small things is a reflection of you manage big things.” Gibbons told Medium that he continued to learn, event as he implemented this exercise: “I mistakenly believed that I was driving performance. Over time, I realized the heart of a good culture isn’t about always looking for what’s wrong, it’s about coaching people toward what’s possible. It’s more important to build buy-in and ownership than compliance.”
He recalled a moment of humility when a customer confronted him about the state of a restaurant bathroom. “I was walking out of a restaurant restroom when a guest stopped me and asked if I thought the owner would be happy with how it looked. I said I thought it was fine,” he said. “Then he pointed out everything that wasn’t up to standard — paper on the floor, smudges on the mirror, water on the counter. It was humbling, but he was right. That moment taught me to take pride in every detail and to treat the business like it’s my own. Leadership is about ownership, even when no one’s watching.”
It was the early experiences, seemingly small details, that framed Gibbons’s approach to leadership and building large successful brands. The building blocks of his philosophy are as follows (read the full interview on Medium here):
- Leadership is an action, not a position.
- People over process.
- Hire people smarter than you.
- Every person has a story — listen to it.
- Profit is not a four-letter word.
Richard Weil, owner and principal at National Restaurant Consultants notes. “This article from Jack Gibbons reflects on his innovative and instrumental creation of brands and his leadership foundation for success. I have had the opportunity and distinct pleasure of meeting Jack and have an enormous respect for his philosophies and industry success. From his FB Society concepts including Twin Peaks and Velvet Taco, to The Food Hall Company, his shared values are most noteworthy for all food service and hospitality industry professionals to lean on. Jack has in many instances help to redefine the hospitality industry and firmly believe all of us can benefit from these top five philosophies.”