What a Bad Situation Taught Me About My Need to Give Clear Direction as a Leader

Photo by nikko macaspac

“Stress and anxiety at work have less to do with the work we do and more to do with weak management and leadership.”
― Simon Sinek

I’ve opened or helped open a few restaurants in my career now. I’ve learned tons since the the first and I’ve grown professionally from each one I’ve finished. I know, going into any new opening, it won’t be easy. Deadlines will be pushed back. Costs will exceed what was expected. But one thing we can control to reduce stress is to set clear expectations and give good direction.

Without clear direction, stress and anxiety can make the process more exhausting than it has to be. As with most things, I’ve learned this the hard way and I can now share my experience to help prevent others from finding themselves in the same predicament.

Clear direction is the best way to get things done

Have you ever been given a task and completed it as you thought it should have been done, just to be told it was completely wrong? This can almost always be avoided if clear direction is given at the beginning.

People typically work with the goal of meeting or exceeding expectations — but what about when we aren’t given any? How are we supposed to know how to best…