Leadership - Management

Addressing the Leadership Deficit –
Investing in Leadership Development

Today, our industry is facing for the first time a deficit of leaders. This deficit is best represented by the fact that as an industry we employ over 12 million people but we

have to go outside of our industry to find leaders. We must begin as an industry to take responsibility for our future by insuring our future through the development of leaders today and tomorrow. We as leaders today have the ability, awareness and the tools to begin to close the gap on our leadership deficit. How big of an issue is this? See if you can answer yes to the following three questions:

1. Do you know who your successor is today?

2. Do you have a formalized plan in place to develop your successor into your leadership position?

3. Do you have the tools and resources available to you to initiate a formalized development plan for your successor?

If you answered yes to all three questions – congratulations you are in a terrific position. The next question for you is “are you the only one or one of a few in your company with these plans?”

If you answered no to one or all three of these questions fear not you are not alone. In fact you are in the majority. You now just have a wonderful opportunity to begin to plan your leadership development and those around you.

The first question we always hear is why even ask those questions to begin with it? We are busy operating restaurants - we will cross that bridge when we get to it! Well, for our industry we are at that proverbial bridge right now. The second question we are always asked is why didn’t we plan better – why didn’t someone tell us? Reality we were and are so busy and the fact of the matter is we have always had plenty of people in our industry until most recently. So, for years we invested in the development and training of managers and employees not executives. Consider this we spend 3 – 14 days on average training a server before they can “solo.” How much time do we spend training a “multi-unit” executive before they can “solo?”

As we face new challenges and opportunities in our business we must also face the reality that one of our greatest opportunities is to invest not just in our people but more importantly leaders of our people. The true competitive advantage in the 21st will be the ability of companies to develop leaders who can develop their business and their people.

Bio:

Kathleen Wood is co-founder and President of The Elliot Leadership Institute. The Elliot Leadership Institute is not-for-profit organization dedicated to development and advancement of executives in the foodservice and hospitality industries. The Institute is focused specifically on supporting the development of Multi-Unit, Senior and Top management executives.

Ms. Wood is also the co-Founder and President of Elliot Solutions, LLC, the premier consulting firm for growing and emerging hospitality organizations. Elliot Solutions is committed to providing consulting services that include: strategic planning, organizational development, executive consulting and infrastructure architecture. Elliot Solutions is a company within The Elliot Group, which also consists of Elliot Associates and Elliot Executive Source the premier executive search services in the hospitality, foodservice and manufacturing industries.

Ms. Wood brings over 25 years of industry experience in the areas of strategic management, operations, new business development, sales/marketing and training. Her lifetime of practical experience has provided her with the opportunity to work for organizations such as Friday’s Hospitality Worldwide, MasterCard International, National Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation, Taco Bell, McDonald’s and several franchise and independent operators.

During her career, Ms. Wood has been actively involved in many industry associations and initiatives. She has served as the 1997 President of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART) and continues to be actively involved as a sponsor of the CHART organization. She has also served as a board member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum. Additionally, she has held board positions in the Roundtable for Women in Foodservice and was a member of its strategic advisory board. In 1995, she received the Corporate “Pacesetter Award” from the Roundtable for Women in Foodservice. The North America Foodservice Equipment Manufacturer Association in 1997 awarded her the prestigious Honorary Doctorate of Foodservice. In 2001, she was recognized by as an Honorary Piasano for her contributions within the Buca Inc. organization.

Ms. Wood received her bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola University - Chicago. She can be reached via email at Kathleen@theelliotgroup.com.