Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Shut Up, Listen More: Austin J. Crawford's Hospitality Journey and Connection-Driven Leadership

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Shut Up, Listen More: Austin J. Crawford's Hospitality Journey and Connection-Driven Leadership · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi,
0:16
and today's guest is Austin J Crawford.
0:19
Austin is the General Manager at Del Mar Columbus, a signature
0:23
Mediterranean concept within the Cameron Mitchell Restaurants
0:26
family. There, he leads with a focus on
0:29
hospitality, team development, and cultivating a culture of
0:33
operational excellence. But Austin doesn't stop there.
0:37
He's also the driving force behind Do Right, Be Great, his
0:41
personal leadership brand that translates real world lessons
0:45
from the restaurant floor into universal leadership insights.
0:50
Through this platform, he offers actionable strategies and
0:53
practical frameworks that reach far beyond hospitality, helping
0:57
leaders everywhere develop integrity, discipline, and a
1:01
focus on lifting others. In today's conversation, we'll
1:04
dive into that intersection, how his day-to-day leadership at
1:07
Delmar informs the powerful lessons that he shares through
1:11
Do Right Be Great, and how those insights can inspire leaders
1:15
well beyond the world of hospitality.
1:18
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All right, back to our guest today, Austin J Crawford.
2:12
Thanks for making the time to Share your story today.
2:14
I appreciate you having me on today.
2:16
This is this is an exciting opportunity and I don't know,
2:19
I'm just looking to have a great conversation with you today.
2:21
So I do appreciate what you guys are doing and I don't know very,
2:25
very privileged to be here. Thanks for the kind words,
2:29
Austin. So let's jump in.
2:30
So you've spent most of your life in the service industry,
2:33
but take us back to some of the earliest days.
2:35
Where did your first real job happen and what did it teach
2:39
you? Yeah, I mean, I guess, you know,
2:42
I've been in the restaurant industry, the hospitality
2:45
industry for, you know, more than 1/4 of a century.
2:48
And I think real jobs, you know, we've had a bunch of them along
2:53
the way. But I think when I, I think back
2:54
to honestly, starting with Cameron Mitchell come back in
2:58
2007, it was honestly, it was one of those things where I was
3:01
like, hey, I just need to make a dollar.
3:03
I need to make some money. And this was a great
3:05
opportunity. But what stands out to me with
3:08
that and where things kind of started to shift, You know, it
3:11
wasn't right away, but it was once I started to kind of
3:15
recognizing and reflecting on what they were and what they
3:19
were as people and as a company. And I spent a little bit of time
3:22
being a little bit taken back and being a little bit like, why
3:27
is everybody here so nice? What's going on?
3:31
And I was waiting, you know, a little bit for the shoe to drop,
3:35
right? Or the curtains to be pulled
3:36
back from this facade. And honestly, it took me
3:39
probably, I think like 6 months to maybe a year to really
3:42
understand that I just hadn't spent a whole lot of time, I
3:45
think, about around genuine people and great people and kind
3:49
of having that window opened in that perspective kind of, you
3:53
know, exposed to me. They just generally wanted me to
3:55
do a good job. And they wanted me to just show
3:57
me what hospitality truly looked like.
3:59
And I don't know. So that realization, I think
4:03
became the foundation of wanting to kind of just stay in that
4:06
industry and kind of just continue to hone my craft there.
4:10
And so the reflection of genuine people and good people that
4:16
cared about me is something that I think wanted to begin to
4:19
translate into my culture and into how my leadership grew
4:24
across the board. You know, there are lessons that
4:26
I think show up every single day, but that's just something I
4:30
wanted to duplicate I think in the environment that I'm now in,
4:32
you know, so. And so how did that opportunity
4:36
to 1st join the Cameron Mitchell umbrella come about?
4:41
You know, I had worked at a couple different restaurants in
4:44
the area and, you know, it was one of those moments where I
4:47
just was going through some frustrations at a restaurant
4:51
that, you know, is working at, honestly across the street.
4:54
And so I just kind of put my things down and strolled across
4:58
the street, knocked on the door and, you know, it was before
5:00
service and just opened the door and had a conversation, you
5:05
know, with the general manager there at the time.
5:06
And he was like, well, what do you want to do it?
5:09
I was like, honestly, I just want to make some money and I
5:13
want to be in a place that values me.
5:14
And he was like, well, you're in the right place right here.
5:16
And it wasn't much more of a conversation than that.
5:20
And you know, what turned into being what, you know, something
5:24
magnificent, awesome was just wanting to make some more money
5:28
initially, but it just that's how that kind of came apart.
5:31
It was I think by chance maybe. And So what was that first
5:34
location? Was it a Del Mar that you
5:36
walked? Into no, it was actually
5:38
Mitchell's Ocean Club out at Easton and that was recently
5:42
after they had done like a remodel and kind of reconcepted
5:44
a little bit. But yeah, that was the location
5:46
there at Easton. So I'm fortunate enough that I'm
5:51
here in Columbus, OH. I've grown up around the when
5:54
I've grown up, I, I remember his first location opening back when
5:58
I was in college and I'm an old guy.
5:59
So that's been a while back in 161 up in Linworth, but for
6:04
obviously all the listeners who aren't familiar with Cameron
6:07
Mitchell and sort of the lore, explain who he is as a person
6:11
and then explain kind of the company umbrella a little bit.
6:15
Yeah. I mean, obviously like you said,
6:16
you know, he started Cameron's back in 1993.
6:21
But I think walking into the the building, it was kind of like I
6:24
previously stated, it was how authentic that that people first
6:29
mentality was within the culture and they were initially
6:34
righteous things in a handbook and things, you know, I'm
6:36
posters on the wall. But really what started to kind
6:39
of take place was it was not just something they were saying.
6:43
It was something that they were all doing and that, I mean, not
6:46
obviously, you know, started with Cameron in 93, but it, it
6:50
goes through his executive team. It goes through, you know,
6:53
obviously the more time I've spent with the senior management
6:56
and senior leadership team, it's not just something that we
7:01
pretend to be right. And so I think that that is
7:04
ultimately what has kept me with the company and what has
7:07
strengthened our growth. I mean, for 30 years, I mean,
7:11
over 30 years now, we're, you know, still successful.
7:14
We've obviously had setbacks as a company, but we've also had
7:18
incredible, monumental moments. And that doesn't just happen by
7:22
chance. That happens because of a
7:25
foundation. And that foundation has to come
7:27
from a leader. And that leader obviously, you
7:29
know, was Cameron in the in those early days.
7:32
And now it's just it's grown significantly.
7:35
And I think what's really cool is to watch all of the other
7:38
people, I think grab a hold of that because we do we want to do
7:42
the right thing. We want to be a some part of
7:44
something great. And I think that that's really
7:47
exactly what, you know, has continued to allow us to be in
7:51
this industry, not only now in Columbus, OH, but I mean, coast
7:55
to coast, you know, from Beverly Hills to New York and, you know,
7:59
now our market in Florida, which is expanding.
8:01
So it's just, I don't know, it's pretty impressive.
8:04
You take care of your people and everything else follows.
8:08
So you walked into that Del Mar how many years ago was?
8:10
It So in 2007 I started at Ocean Club.
8:13
So whatever that is 15 actually, my math is not great, but yeah,
8:17
Ocean Club, right? So you walked into the Ocean
8:20
Club over a decade ago, just, you know, wanted to be at a
8:24
place where they valued you a bit more and you can make a
8:27
paycheck, but then fell in love with the culture.
8:29
Been there a long time. You are now the general manager
8:33
at Delmar as you kind of worked your way up through the ranks.
8:39
Austin, think about those different transitions as you're
8:43
taking on more responsibility. I'd be curious to hear about one
8:47
of those transitionary points where maybe it was a little bit
8:49
more challenging for you than others.
8:54
I think transition happens like, you know, when the, I think when
8:57
as a leader or it's just a, a person, like when you take on
9:01
some more responsibility. So perhaps it was that move to
9:11
general manager, I don't know or you're sort of in charge of the
9:15
entire. Thing you know, I think that for
9:18
I don't know, leadership is not a title right?
9:21
And I think so like making that big there's no monumental move
9:24
where I think it really just starts to hit you.
9:26
I think being a maybe being a leader or having that title
9:30
creates a little bit more visibility for it.
9:32
But I think the responsibility starts internally and, you know,
9:36
learning that you have an impact no matter at what level you are
9:40
and taking self ownership, focusing on the little things.
9:43
Those were really big elements. I think that once I started to
9:47
recognize that it wasn't just me doing those things and maybe I
9:50
was making an impact and helping other people to recognize.
9:53
OK, yeah, let's pay attention to the way that we Polish the
9:56
station. Let's pay attention to the way
9:58
that, you know, we show up in a, you know, you know, a clean and
10:01
tidy uniform, just little details.
10:04
I think those started well before, you know, I moved into
10:08
management or moved into a general manager role.
10:11
I think that that made the transition probably a lot easier
10:14
or made me maybe the right pick. But that just ultimately came
10:18
down to wanting to do the right thing internally.
10:21
And so that responsibility became something when I saw
10:23
others do or mimic or embody that too, or emulate it, that
10:30
was I think a good indicator to me that I had a little bit more
10:33
responsibility and a little bit more pull with our people and
10:37
that I can make a bigger impact. And that helped, I think to, you
10:41
know, to springboard maybe into management and you know, not
10:46
just the paycheck element of it, but just really the impact for
10:48
the people. Got it.
10:54
As you think back to some of the attention to the smaller details
10:58
that that you were, you know, you were really kind of honing
11:03
in on in those early days with Cameron Mitchell umbrella.
11:07
Were those things that you think we're already innate in you?
11:10
Or were those things where you had some really good leadership
11:14
there that was kind of exposing to that to you for the first
11:18
time? I think some of it is a little
11:21
bit of both, but primarily, no. I mean, I didn't have all of
11:24
those skill sets or you know, it was a lot of times we get into a
11:28
mindset, especially earlier on or when you're just like, hey, I
11:31
just got to feed my family. I just got to do this.
11:34
Sometimes you look for shortcuts and I was definitely somebody
11:37
who, you know, not going to say that I was had it all figured
11:41
out by any means. So no, I mean, I didn't have
11:44
that. I want to say innately it was
11:46
there, I think as a compass that had to be uncovered and kind of
11:50
dusted off perhaps. But mentorship and guidance is
11:56
always, you know, I think a real driving factor in that.
12:00
And so being around great people and others that inspired me
12:04
allowed me to want to be that inspiration too.
12:07
So I think that, you know, I can look back and there's been a
12:10
handful of of people that have had, you know, big moments and,
12:14
or given me an opportunity or responsibility before I was
12:17
ready or hey, you know what, Austin, you messed that up a
12:21
little bit. You know, here's what I would
12:22
suggest or hey, let's try this. So yeah, there was many moments
12:26
of having to like redo and overdo and refocus and slow down
12:31
a little bit that, you know, all of that builds on us on each
12:34
other over time. So yeah, mentorship, you know?
12:36
I think it would be interesting for people to hear like what the
12:40
the customer experience is like at at Del Mar.
12:44
What is it? What is it like inside the
12:46
restaurant? Can somebody?
12:47
Expect well, I'll tell you, you know, it's this is as a new
12:51
concept, this is a new, you know, development that's been a
12:56
part of the Cameron Mitchell brand just, you know, honestly
12:59
for a few years. We opened the store out of
13:01
market in, in Naples, FL and it did very, very well.
13:05
But it truly is a spectacle just from a, a design standpoint, but
13:09
then also from, you know, a service standpoint, you know, we
13:14
bridge that gap between, you know, the casual element and
13:18
into that finer dining experience.
13:24
But it's really, it's just truly vibrant.
13:26
I don't know if you've been in the property previously.
13:30
No, I haven't. Been in, but it isn't it's I
13:32
mean, it's Mediterranean inspired, you know, which is a
13:34
very broad scope, right? I mean the Mediterranean spans
13:38
many different countries, but that I think that that vacation
13:41
vibe, that vacation feel is, is certainly something that you go.
13:46
I've heard many people say all the time, it's like I've stepped
13:49
into vacation. I've stepped, you know, out of
13:51
Columbus and into, you know, and I think that that that's part of
13:55
that experience as a whole. But what you said is, is a
14:00
customer experience. And I think too, like, I think
14:03
for what we do, it's important to try to change that, that
14:07
verbiage just a little bit from customer to, you know, guest
14:13
centered hospitality or a guest experience, because when you're
14:17
talking about a customer, I think that that's very
14:19
transactional, right? It's, you know, I come in, I
14:22
give you my money and I get this one thing where is guest
14:24
centered hospitality is more of a responsibility that we all
14:29
have to take on. And that's really, you know,
14:31
what helps to kind of bridge that gap into being connection
14:34
driven. One thing I think about with
14:38
Delmar or with the company as a whole is we use a philosophy of
14:42
like 51 versus 49% and that is that 51% of what we do is leans
14:51
into our culture and our care and our people and the
14:53
connection. And then 49% of that is
14:56
operational, it's fiscal. It's those types of
14:58
responsibilities of like running a business and that obviously
15:03
we're we're here to make money. And you know, I think that
15:05
that's why we got into business. But if we don't take time to
15:10
maybe leave a dollar on the table, if it doesn't, you know,
15:13
if it means that we're not going to sacrifice, you know, what we
15:15
believe in and and what we value.
15:17
Those are things I think, you know, that we have to lean into
15:21
and that is that shows in what everything that we do every
15:24
single day that comes through in the hospitality.
15:28
You know, when we get it right, it's not just us focusing on,
15:32
you know, the transaction, it's when we get it right.
15:35
It's us focusing on not only our guests, but also like our great
15:38
associates and our great people. And that's how we earn trust.
15:41
And that's how we turn, you know, a regular employee into a
15:45
lifelong associate. And that's how we turn, you
15:48
know, a regular customer into a lifelong guest.
15:50
And so I think that all of those things comes through and yes,
15:54
the finer details and the, you know, steps of service, but it
15:58
starts behind the scenes and it starts in the discipline that we
16:01
have to, you know, we create an experience, but it starts, you
16:05
know, just with the love and care for one another and
16:07
genuinely wanting to be there. I like that.
16:12
And you said, yeah, Mediterranean's kind of a broad
16:14
umbrella, the name Del Mar, means of the sea, is it?
16:18
Like, I mean, there is a seafood influence for sure, but you
16:22
know, in this market you got to be also, you know, willing to
16:25
kind of span different areas. You know, we do have everything
16:29
from, you know, rib eyes to fillets.
16:30
But we do, we emphasize, you know, grilled octopus, We
16:33
emphasize, you know, ceviche, those fresh, you know, seafood
16:39
favorites, scallops, sea bass. And it's a really, it's a
16:42
beautiful, well thought out menu for sure.
16:47
Nice. And at some point, you felt
16:49
compelled to take a lot of these experiences that you've been a
16:54
part of with Del Mar and with the Cameron Mitchell restaurants
16:58
and turn it into something bigger.
17:01
Talk to us about do right, be great.
17:04
How did this come into existence?
17:05
What's the problem that? I think it was, it just seemed
17:10
natural. I think it seemed normal because
17:14
what we were doing every single day is we were, you know,
17:16
building teams and, and, and leading teams and doing, you
17:19
know, these everyday moments. But there was a conversation
17:22
that I had actually with somebody on our executive team
17:25
when they had, you know, come through and they were having
17:27
lunch and he asked about he's like, how's things going?
17:33
And I was like, you know, everything is honestly very easy
17:36
when we do the right thing and we focus on being great people.
17:40
And, and he kind of laughed a little bit at that moment.
17:43
He's like, you're right. It's, it's really that simple.
17:48
He's like, it's not easy to do, but it, it really is just kind
17:50
of that simple. And so kind of taking that
17:53
phrase, which we wove into the team that I was leading at the
17:56
time at a different, you know, concept, you know, working on
18:00
ourselves and the dynamics of that, you know, was just
18:03
something that was already there.
18:07
We were focused on excellence. We were focused on doing the
18:09
right thing, not just the perfection element.
18:12
And so I would start sending emails and inspiring things that
18:17
I had found motivational frameworks and we were working
18:22
at building the bench for lack of a better term.
18:26
And so originally it was just something that I had kind of
18:29
started doing and I called it leadership bench at the moment.
18:32
And then at the time, and as that platform kind of started to
18:35
to grow just from me wanting to be better myself and having to
18:39
like learn stuff in order to teach it and share it, that's
18:43
kind of where that took hold. You know, a lot of leadership
18:46
out there can be very high level or very overarching.
18:49
And I think when we don't have the everyday elements and just
18:55
the practical, you know, things that we do everyday woven into
18:58
that and hospitality being close to my heart and close to what we
19:02
do at just trying to find a way to kind of weave those everyday
19:05
moments into that. But what I found is like, if it
19:10
doesn't make sense and it doesn't work in a real
19:12
environment, then why teach it? Why coach it?
19:15
You know, at least not to me. So.
19:21
And so who do you get to share this leadership advice with?
19:25
Or who is honestly, it's just to really build a community of
19:27
those that I guess have a similar mindset.
19:31
You know, I, I understand that this is not something that
19:33
everybody wants to unpack. Some, you know, not everybody
19:37
wants to lack of a better term, lead people.
19:42
But I think more often than not, it's just, it's not a
19:47
one-size-fits-all, but it is, you know, those that are
19:50
interested in this like I am, you know, that's really just the
19:53
kind of, I think the community that we're wanting to kind of
19:55
capture and, and grow along with.
19:57
It's not about me. It's not about them too.
20:00
It's just really about, you know, how can I be better by
20:03
also listening and hearing and getting feedback.
20:06
And I think that the platform really took hold because.
20:09
I had to learn more and I had to grow myself in order to teach
20:14
and have others. Like we even just trust me.
20:16
And by any means, by no means do I have that figured out.
20:18
But I found this visual the other day and it was like, you
20:23
know, like it kind of grew as a graph where it's like you read
20:27
and you are getting this much impact.
20:29
You know, you do and you get this much impact and then you
20:31
teach and you get this much impact and I think all three are
20:34
important, but you have to be able to, you know, yes, redo.
20:38
And then I think teaching is really where I think I've seen
20:41
personally the most growth for myself in this.
20:44
And so I'm just looking to kind of take people along for the
20:47
ride that want to jump on board and want to.
20:52
I mean, it's so true is when you're able to understand
20:55
something at the level that you can teach it to somebody else,
21:00
you just baked it into your own mind and body.
21:03
And I don't know like a cellular level that it it's hard to
21:06
achieve otherwise. Yeah.
21:12
So it almost sounds like the work that you do there at Del
21:16
Mar, it it like Del Mar is kind of like a like a leadership
21:19
laboratory for you where you get to try things out and you get to
21:23
learn like hands on. I wonder if you can think of an
21:27
example of something that happened at Del Mar that later
21:31
became a lesson that you now. Teach yeah, I mean honestly,
21:34
like we when you deal with people and it's it's always ever
21:37
changing. There's always something I think
21:40
to learn. But I think I go more most
21:43
recently back to like self regulation.
21:49
You know, this is, I don't know, I want to say a couple of weeks
21:51
ago, just having and finding myself like frustrated.
21:55
I'm frustrated not the because like our standards are were not
21:58
clear or not defined or not, you know, given or communicated.
22:04
It was just that I think that I was having frustration with
22:06
people not operating at like a speed or a pace that I wanted
22:09
them to. And so when I take those moments
22:13
of like having to self reflect a little bit and self regulate,
22:16
like why are you? I was so upset.
22:18
I had an emotional attachment to where somebody was at this
22:23
current moment. And just because they're at that
22:25
that point right now doesn't mean that they're bad people.
22:29
And so I think that I just that was the most recent, I think
22:32
teaching an opportunity that I was able to kind of pull from
22:35
that because I didn't like being frustrated.
22:37
I didn't like being, you know, I don't want to say upset at the
22:40
person individually, but just as a general, I could feel that,
22:44
you know, and that divide and you know, that'll break down
22:47
your culture very quickly. And so I wanted to fix that.
22:51
And then I was able to kind of take that to the management team
22:53
and kind of be vulnerable and share, hey, you know, I've
22:56
recognized that, you know, I've been a little bit frustrated.
22:59
And then just being able to self regulate in those moments where
23:04
it's like, it's not about where they are now, it's where they
23:06
will be and where they want to go.
23:08
And if they don't want to go there, that's OK.
23:10
I can't force them. I'm not going to drag anybody
23:12
across the finish line. And I think that that helped put
23:15
a little bit of things at ease with our management team too,
23:18
who is also feeling some of that tension and that frustrations.
23:20
Like we told them all what to do, but they don't do it.
23:24
And so it's it's a beautiful thing.
23:26
It's like they're just not there yet.
23:28
And that's, I think the biggest leadership thing I'm taking
23:30
away. And maybe it helps to kind of
23:35
recognize that you're more upset with sort of the situation of
23:39
the moment and not trying to direct that.
23:42
But then if we don't have a conversation about those things,
23:45
right, and we don't address them, that becomes like built up
23:47
resentment. And then that comes out in
23:49
everything that we do, you know? So yeah, it's important to fix
23:52
it, but recognize that it's not a people issue.
23:56
You know, it's a, it's an emotional regulation issue, so.
24:03
Any ways that you found to kind of help self regulate in the
24:07
moment when you know tensions are high, things are happening
24:09
quickly, food needs to go here and you know things are delayed
24:13
like how do. You, I think you just have to be
24:14
present. How do you regulate?
24:15
You know, you have to be present in the moment and you know a lot
24:19
of what we do has to like there is AA plus B is always going to
24:23
equal C, but that's not always the formula.
24:26
And so having to, I think just operate even in the chaos with a
24:30
little bit of just a slow pace and a slow, I guess tempo.
24:36
And that's not easy to do when things are buzzing 1,000,000
24:40
miles an hour around your head. And you know, and the, and the
24:42
flow of the dining room is, is operating a little bit faster.
24:45
But I, it's so funny how just a little bit of stopping for a
24:51
moment, even if it's like 2 seconds or even if maybe it's
24:54
before the shift, right? Like doing a lap, you know,
24:56
taking a walk and just kind of reframing yourself and getting
24:58
yourself ready for what is going to come down the Pike.
25:01
Because we don't really know. But I think just being prepared
25:04
ahead of time to be able to just stop for a minute and think is
25:09
is helpful. Austin, let's talk about this
25:15
phrase, connection driven leadership.
25:18
What does this mean to you, not just in theory, but in practice?
25:23
Like how does it show up in the way you treat people?
25:25
Well, I mean, I think it's connection driven leadership
25:29
seems simple, right? I mean, it stems from stemmed
25:32
from me when I was writing, you know, this book, I was looking
25:37
to just trying to find a synonym for hospitality because I think
25:40
hospitality, you know, a lot of times we get so focused on, oh,
25:45
that's just for hotels, that's just for restaurants.
25:47
That's just that. And so I wanted to kind of
25:48
create a little bit of a way to bridge the gap between the
25:52
hospitality mindset and kind of broaden it.
25:56
And so that's where connection driven leadership kind of came
25:59
into mind. But if you leave with the
26:02
mindset of connection, you know, and it drives the connection.
26:05
If you're focusing on the connection, you're focusing on
26:07
people, right? You're focusing on being
26:09
present, you're focusing on being consistent in that
26:14
connection. I think that those are things
26:17
that just, I don't know, I don't want to say it's, it's simple,
26:21
you know, in its definition, But well, we got to focus.
26:25
And that a lot of that came from my foundation and my history
26:27
with, you know, with CMR is just being in a place where it was
26:32
easy to focus and put the associate first and focus on our
26:36
people first because everything else will follow, you know,
26:40
behind that, you know, you're not managing from a distance,
26:43
right? Like you can be in the office,
26:45
you could be in the office all shift.
26:46
There's a lot of things to do back there.
26:49
But if you're not present and available for your people, you
26:51
know, that comes out too. And what they do, they can't
26:54
trust you. They don't know who to rely on.
26:56
And things, you know, don't always operate again in the way
27:00
that you were hoping or that we've teached and coached
27:03
because sometimes you're not present to be able to see what's
27:06
different. So yeah.
27:12
You know, and in my experience, one of the things that a leader
27:16
needs to do is help people who are stuck in old habits, old
27:21
patterns. I'm curious if you have come up
27:24
with any effective strategies to help people break out of those
27:28
old ways. Well, I can tell you first and
27:32
foremost, I mean, I still get stuck in old patterns, you know?
27:37
We're creatures, yeah. Same here, but I mean we're.
27:41
Creatures of habit, right? We're creatures of comfort.
27:43
And you know, But the first step is not about change, so to
27:47
speak. It's about awareness and I think
27:50
as leaders, part of our job is to one first find some of the
27:54
awareness that we can have internally, but then also
27:57
discover that and see that in other people we don't always
28:02
recognize, like how our behaviors are landing, so to
28:07
speak. And, you know, so I think once
28:09
we truly see that or once maybe somebody points it out for us,
28:14
the acknowledgement of that, whether it's small or not, I
28:17
think that's when then the shifts can start to to be had.
28:23
The growth is in the discipline. You know, it's not just big
28:28
giant leaps. It's, you know, taking the
28:30
awareness and, and saying, oh, you know what, I'm actually not
28:34
really good at listening or, you know, I'm not really, you know,
28:39
great at giving good feedback. You know, so it's those
28:44
awarenesses that I think about how do I get better?
28:46
And if you're not willing to do that, then I think, you know,
28:50
obviously some things are just never going to change.
28:53
But that's where the change starts is with the recognition
28:55
that you have. Yeah.
29:00
Yeah, you have to be willing to raise your hand and say this is
29:03
an area that I really need to work on.
29:06
That that recognition is that first step towards mastery might
29:10
be a strong word. But mastery, you know, comes
29:14
with the consistency of recognizing the you know, and
29:17
it's not just acknowledging it like you can be like, oh, hey,
29:20
I've got this circumstance that I am not not really great at.
29:24
And that might be, you know, your tone, right?
29:27
That might just be how you're not that you're intentionally
29:29
wanting to be rude, but if you're not aware of it, just
29:34
being or acknowledging it even or saying, hey, my time
29:37
management is, is horrible. Just acknowledging it isn't
29:39
going to fix anything either. Like you have to then do
29:41
something about it. Like we can all call out our
29:44
flaws, but then you have to be able to be consistent in order
29:48
to get that mastery. You know that you mentioned?
29:56
You know, as I think about your framework that you've been
30:01
developing, can you walk us through a specific example, real
30:05
scenario where you applied that framework that maybe led to
30:10
either lower turnover or some other kind of measurable shift
30:14
in culture? Yeah.
30:18
I mean, I think for me specifically, and you know, I
30:22
think we even kind of just talked about it as we entered
30:25
into this conversation. I think sometimes I used to get,
30:28
and I still do, focused on being performative and how, you know,
30:36
I was landing with people or how I was being perceived.
30:39
And I was just just trying to think to, to share all of the
30:44
time, you know, everything that I knew, right?
30:47
Because yes, I have skill sets and I do have learned
30:51
experience, but at 1, I don't know it all.
30:53
But two, it's nobody really cares how much you know until
30:58
they, I think, recognize how much you actually like care in
31:01
that moment. And so vulnerability, that word,
31:05
right? Just that resonates with me.
31:07
And I think that that was just something that I had to do to
31:10
help our culture because again, it, it started with me.
31:15
I recognize like, I don't know, maybe it's, I don't know, just
31:24
slowing down. We already talked about it, but
31:27
I think that that was just some of those things like I wasn't
31:29
present enough and not being present enough.
31:33
Not just was there, I was clocked in or there or present
31:37
in the moment. I think that like emotionally
31:39
present was something. Yeah, we, we adjust our tone.
31:47
It's not about, I think a trying to perform.
31:52
You just have to be a little bit more human and a little bit more
31:54
real. You can ask people to care, but
31:57
they're not going to care right until we we all show up
32:00
differently. And that starts with, I think,
32:02
the internal reflection and learning to lead yourself first.
32:09
So it's more the the leader needs to change before the.
32:12
Team is going to follow that, you know, Yeah.
32:17
And change or just recognizing, right, like we talked about
32:20
before, right, the acknowledgement of that.
32:22
But yeah, nothing is we're all, everybody's going to follow your
32:25
lead, right? That's, you know, where they're
32:28
going to go astray. And if you want them to be able
32:31
to operate in the direction that is the most beneficial for
32:35
everybody involved, yeah, the the leader has to be the one
32:39
that recognizes the impact that they're having with a flaw of
32:44
theirs, right. So yeah, one of those things was
32:48
to me that that piece of removing performative based
32:52
actions and just being real and being present.
32:57
Yeah, Let's talk a little bit about your book, Austin, The
33:02
Genuine Leadership Playbook, available on Amazon.
33:05
There's 21 tactics in there. Which one do you find that
33:11
leaders struggle to live out the most?
33:15
I mean, I think in thinking about this, you know, it's kind
33:20
of woven into what we're already kind of talking about is
33:22
creating a culture of people and creating that people first
33:25
orientation. And it's tactic 6 that talks
33:28
about just being heard, valued and supported.
33:32
And I think, again, a lot of these things in theory, right?
33:37
Makes sense, but it might be the hardest one because again, we're
33:40
talking about slowing down in that regard.
33:43
You know, you have to be, I think quiet enough to hear
33:46
someone. You have to learn, you know,
33:50
from that listening exactly what those people are valuing and
33:54
what's valuable to them. And that's then in turn how they
33:58
are going to feel like I think supported.
34:01
And if you don't understand that, then we are going to have
34:05
many, many complications. But it's not just as easy as
34:08
being like, OK, well, I'm just going to go hear them and I'm
34:10
just going to go value them and support them.
34:12
It, these are things that are woven together, but it takes
34:15
intentionality and it takes just to think a little bit of, I
34:19
don't know, I have a note on my computer here and it reminds me
34:22
all the time. It literally says shut up and
34:24
listen more. And I don't know, like I joke
34:29
about it and I've heard somewhere along the lines like,
34:31
if you think you're, you're doing good at listening, then
34:33
you're doing it wrong. But so actually hearing people,
34:37
I think is a skill set. And so that I do, I think that
34:40
it's a complicated one, at least just from my perspective to
34:44
being available to slow yourself down long enough to like to hear
34:47
people and what it is that they value and need.
34:50
And then then from there you can make the decision to how to
34:53
support them, but you have to do the first two first.
34:57
Yeah, I like that. You know, I've talked with a lot
35:03
of folks in the hospitality space, and it seems like, as in
35:07
many industries, the hospitality will eventually humble just
35:10
about everybody. Is there a moment in your career
35:14
where you were forced to face a blind spot?
35:18
Confront a leadership failure? Yeah.
35:20
I mean, I guess I feel like I've kind of peppered it in here a
35:24
little bit, you know, whether it be vulnerability or whether it
35:28
be, you know, slowing down, right.
35:31
And I think that those are kind of running some of the thread
35:33
points here. But I want to say that internal
35:38
reflection would tell me that maybe my toxic trait might be
35:41
conflict avoidance. And I know I work very hard
35:48
every day to think, push that boundary because in this
35:52
industry, like being uncomfortable is something you
35:55
have to get comfortable with. And, and being and having hard
35:58
conversations is something that we have to do if we want people
36:02
to grow. And so, you know, naturally, you
36:05
know, I just want to avoid conflict sometimes because it's
36:09
the easy. Yeah.
36:11
It's easier, it's. That we're all creatures of
36:14
comfort. And so that is just an easy way,
36:16
like I'm just going to walk away from this and it'll probably
36:20
just sort itself out. But realistically, your view
36:24
being quiet is not going to maintain the peace or
36:26
professionalism as much as, you know, we want to think that it
36:29
will. Because then again, you're,
36:31
we're talking about the frustration that surmounts.
36:33
And a lot of times I feel like our frustration comes from not
36:38
acknowledging and not addressing either behaviors or habits or
36:43
whatever. And that if you're not
36:46
communicating them and you're just avoiding them, you know, I
36:49
think that that's when really the problems and that's when
36:53
your frustration surmounts. And that's when, you know, the
36:55
things aren't, you know, then you lean further into the
36:58
avoidance. So I don't know if it, if it's
37:02
helpful, right. That's a door that I want to
37:04
continue to open and I continue to, you know, force myself to
37:09
stay in the room with a lot longer than just, you know,
37:13
shutting that door. But yeah, that's, I think a
37:17
blind spot that I'm constantly working on.
37:24
You know, I've got two boys, they're ages 11 and 9, and one
37:29
of the things that I regularly tell them, and it's a great
37:32
reminder every time I tell them for me to hear it myself is that
37:36
growth comes from doing uncomfortable things.
37:39
And I think they're too young to really understand what that
37:43
means. I can feel, I can hear the eye
37:47
rolls every time that I say it to them, but I know at some
37:51
point it's going to sink in for them and it's good advice for me
37:53
to hear. And I see you nodding your head
37:55
like, Oh yeah, I had a. You know, a sous chef used to
37:58
this, like, his favorite thing was I got to get comfortable in
38:01
the uncomfortable. I got to get comfortable in the
38:02
uncomfortable, you know, and it's, I guess one thing to say
38:06
it and one thing to teach your kids or try to tell your kids.
38:08
But eventually, yeah, we all will recognize that the best
38:13
successes that we will have are doing the things that we want to
38:17
avoid or the conversation, like some of the best relationships,
38:20
even guest recovery. I think back to like, you know,
38:24
doing recovery, like we messed things up in the restaurant,
38:26
right? So we've got to reflect, reflect
38:29
on that. We got to recover that and we
38:31
got to find a way. And some of them that's easy to
38:33
like they didn't like us. So let's not talk to them.
38:37
But you want to push into that one of some of the best guests
38:41
and lifelong, you know, people that we have in our our life in
38:45
our restaurants is from those harder or the ones that were
38:49
like, Yo, you guys really tanked on this.
38:52
And so it's being humble enough to be like, Yep, we messed that
38:55
up. But if we didn't have those
38:58
conversations and we didn't, you know, extend the, you know, the
39:05
branch to say, Hey, you know, we messed this up, then we don't
39:10
get an opportunity. And, you know, still to this
39:13
day, we have a a couple that comes in and they bring us now,
39:16
you know, Christmas cookies. They bring us gifts, you know,
39:19
at Christmas time. But they were somebody who said
39:21
we're never coming back ever again, you know, and.
39:26
Oh wow. How did you recover?
39:27
That situation. So it popped up and I said, you
39:32
know, I sat on it for a little bit and it was one of those
39:34
things where I was like, you know what, no, I just, you know,
39:35
it was not they've got bumped into, they got they Mystic food.
39:39
The timing was it just there was a lot of things that kind of
39:42
compounded and, you know, so I looked through and I checked and
39:46
I saw, you know, who is the sales associate that took care
39:49
of him that day. And, you know, so I reached out
39:51
and I, you know, I called them and, you know, I said, listen,
39:54
we made a mistake and when we missed the mark, but I want to
39:58
do one thing, you know, I want to buy lunch.
40:00
I want to buy dinner the next time you guys come in.
40:02
I said, I really, really think that those were not what we
40:06
embody. Those are not the things that,
40:08
you know, that we represent and, you know, for lack of begging,
40:13
right? Essentially, we were pandering
40:15
to have another opportunity to really show them what we do and.
40:21
Reluctantly, you know, I'm, they were like, we'll think about it.
40:24
And so I got their address and I sent them something.
40:26
And you know, I don't remember how long it was, It was a little
40:29
while, but I always make sure that I say, hey, when you're
40:32
here and if you decide to come back again, make sure you ask
40:35
for me. And so he had reached out
40:36
actually the day before, he said, hey, we're going to come
40:38
back tomorrow. And so I looked and actually the
40:43
server that the sales associate that was taking care of them the
40:46
day that those things went wrong was working.
40:49
And I said, hey, I said I have a challenge for you.
40:54
And he didn't like it when I told him.
40:57
He was like, oh man, he's like, I can't do that dude.
41:00
And I said, you can. You really, really can.
41:03
And I said, I promise you, this will be the best thing that we
41:06
do. It's going to be uncomfortable.
41:08
It's going to be hard and we're not going to like it, but I
41:12
promise you it's going to work out.
41:13
And, you know, there was some trust there.
41:15
And we we went through it. And honestly, I mean, yeah, he
41:19
was a little bit uptight, a little bit nervous about it, but
41:21
we knocked it out of the park. And not because we wanted to go
41:24
over and above and beyond, but we were just aware.
41:28
And we were then present and we made sure that we didn't miss
41:31
the same mistakes that we had before.
41:33
And, you know, when we walked away from that, Tyler was like,
41:36
Oh my gosh, dude. He's like, that was actually
41:39
really easy. He's like, those people are
41:41
awesome, you know, and so they continue to, you know, to come
41:45
back to this day. And it's just, I don't know.
41:49
I love so many elements of that story.
41:50
I mean, you know, Tyler got a chance to sort of face the this
41:54
rough element of this past and you know, something was very
41:58
uncomfortable. A lot of growth happened there
42:01
for Tyler, right? And you know, you but man, I
42:05
just think about like all the bad experiences I've had with a
42:08
company for one reason or another.
42:10
And you know, I try to be human and approach it in a, you know,
42:13
kind and a professional way. And so many of them try to
42:16
deflect. This was your fault or they
42:18
ignore or or whatever, they sweep it under the rug.
42:21
And if, if, if they would just do what you did, own it.
42:26
Raise your hand. I'm sorry.
42:27
Here, let me let the next experience is on us, man.
42:31
The the the raving fans that you would create from that, as
42:36
exampled by the story that you're telling, they send you.
42:39
Yeah, they come by Christmas cards.
42:41
And. Cookies.
42:41
I don't know, There's like a yeah, it's absolutely fantastic,
42:44
fantastic. Well, and this, I think this is
42:50
a great example and you know, my people who follow the show, they
42:53
know my favorite question to ask is about a, you know, a serious
42:57
challenge that you've overcome in your life because we talked
42:59
about those uncomfortable situations and big challenges,
43:03
another place to really experience a lot of growth.
43:07
Do you have one in mind that you'd like to share?
43:10
Yeah. I mean, I think what you learned
43:11
again, like there's a lot of nuance here and, and, and some
43:15
of the things that we're talking about and just kind of
43:18
reflecting, I think my biggest challenge is vulnerability too,
43:25
right? I know we talked a little bit
43:27
about like conflict avoidance, but I think that that voiding
43:30
conflict is also something that, you know, you're trying to put
43:33
on a persona, you're trying to say, oh, that didn't happen.
43:36
And so naturally opening that door, you know, is a
43:41
vulnerability is something that you have to kind of.
43:44
And so I think back to what I was saying earlier and one of
43:47
the, you know, things that you would ask me is, you know, just
43:51
putting down the Polish, putting down the professionalism and not
43:56
having to be fully buttoned up all of the time.
43:58
I think is where I had problems. You know, I remember just, it
44:03
was, you know, I'd just come over to, you know, Del Mar and I
44:07
was taking over a new team and being a part of, you know, this
44:11
incredible opportunity. And with historical, you know,
44:17
data being my friend, like I knew what I was doing and I knew
44:19
what we could be doing. But and so I took the wrong
44:22
approach and it just wasn't wasn't clicking and it was just,
44:29
it just felt so rigid. And I think what I, what I was
44:35
missing was the component of just like realizing that I need
44:39
to share my mistakes and I need to share my mistrusts and I need
44:44
to share. And so we, we had this really
44:45
great manager meeting where I was able to just, I think, and
44:48
it wasn't just a one time right at this is a ongoing process,
44:51
but vulnerability, just recognizing and realizing that I
44:55
mess up more often than anybody else and that I've had people
45:03
burn me, I've had people hurt me.
45:05
And those are all things that harden me.
45:08
And it's not, they don't need that.
45:11
Like that is I think what I've recognized and continue to learn
45:15
is like, they don't need me to show up with my shirt tucked in
45:18
and they need me to walk into a room sometimes and take my
45:20
jacket off. Like I don't know.
45:24
And I, I found a little bit by little bit, the more honest and
45:29
the more real and the more human like that I become or try to, I
45:34
guess, peel those layers back, the more and more trust that has
45:41
been built with that team, you know, and it's not, it doesn't
45:45
happen overnight and it's still, we're still developing.
45:47
I mean, I've, you know, I've recently only been at this
45:50
property for just coming up on, you know, on a year now.
45:53
And it, some beautiful things are happening.
45:56
And I'm really, really impressed with where we're going.
45:58
And I don't want to say it's all because of me, but I did have to
46:01
recognize that I was, you know, part of the problem.
46:05
And if I wanted them to trust me, I had to, I think, be more
46:10
human for them. And I've honestly seen a lot of
46:14
more success with that than anything else.
46:18
You know, I don't, it doesn't mean that I'm going to go in and
46:21
dump my crap all over them. But what it is is just
46:25
recognizing that, you know, hey, I can't handle this today.
46:29
You know, hey, I'm having a hard time with this, you know, or.
46:36
Letting them see the human side of you, like you said, not quite
46:38
so rigid and buttoned up. It's like, oh, Austin's our
46:42
leader, but he's a real dude. Struggles and, and right, you
46:45
know, we have family issues. We have stuff at home that you
46:48
know, we're that we're all dealing with and you seem
46:52
unreal, like you seem fake when you're just everything is so
46:57
like formulated. And I don't know all of where
47:01
that comes from, but I've, I've just had a lot more success with
47:06
putting that down and, you know. So what would you say is your
47:14
leadership superpower? Today, Oh man, superpower.
47:17
I think this might just be, I don't know, the universe kind of
47:24
speaking to me as a whole. And I think this whole thread,
47:27
but I think I just keep coming back to like steadiness and
47:32
slowing down a little bit presence.
47:37
And, you know, I recently had a coaching session with a guy who
47:43
honestly, I would never have like thought that he would have
47:46
called me, but he called me on the blue and he, he was like,
47:48
you know, Hey, I'm working through some things and actually
47:53
I I'd like your advice. And I was like, sure, no
47:55
problem. Let's grab coffee.
47:56
Let's do that. You know, we sat down and we're
48:00
able to, I think, unpack a little bit about slowing down
48:05
and we didn't actually, I didn't give him results like there was
48:09
no. And I think that that's what he
48:10
was looking for. Some of it was like some
48:12
answers, but I think what I had to do is just kind of take that
48:15
framework about steadiness and, you know, pausing instead of
48:19
reacting and being still long enough to like to think about,
48:25
hey, you have a lot of questions that you need answered.
48:28
And it seems to me like you're just looking to get to the next
48:32
answer rather than sitting in the things that, hey, maybe what
48:37
is it that you're good at? What is it that you're looking
48:39
for? What is it that you're
48:40
challenged by? And he laughed and he was like,
48:46
he's like, that is one of my things that I don't want to do.
48:49
And So what I felt, I felt good about having that relationship,
48:54
you know, strengthen just a little bit more.
48:56
But I think that if as a second, for lack of a better term, a
48:59
superpower is just continuing to kind of focus a little bit more
49:04
on the shutting up and listening more.
49:09
And, you know, being in that moment and hearing what somebody
49:15
else might need, even if I don't have the answers for them.
49:21
So is someone listening? They want to take one action
49:24
this week to become a better leader.
49:26
Is that what they should start with or get something else in
49:28
mind? You know.
49:30
Yeah. You're not going to have all of
49:32
the answers figured out, but just slow down on purpose.
49:34
That would be my actionable take away for this week.
49:37
You know, a lot of leadership problems, I think improve when
49:43
we slow down a little bit, when we quit rushing past a moment,
49:48
because that's also talk about avoidance, right?
49:50
That that can be a very big avoidance technique where you're
49:53
like, wow, I'm just too busy. I'm just too busy.
49:55
I've got too many things to do. So yeah, just like that coaching
50:00
session that we had, you know, I think this takeaways, make time
50:05
for yourself to slow down. That will actually help you to
50:08
speed up. Now, Austin, it's clear to me
50:13
that you're building something bigger than a brand here.
50:18
Where do you see Do Right Be Great evolving over the next few
50:22
years? I, I mean, I guess I don't have
50:28
those answers. And I want to leave a lot of
50:30
that up to, you know, continuing to just be steady.
50:34
I don't want to just scale for the sake of like, you know,
50:36
scale's sake. And this is not about me making
50:42
money or, you know, it really is I think just an element for me
50:47
to create a brand that I resonate with.
50:53
And hopefully, because I do care about other people and I care
50:56
about, you know, our success just as even as a population,
51:00
even as a people, I don't know what impact that we're going to
51:04
have, but I do believe that it, all of that impact comes from,
51:08
you know, one, the internal reflection and just creating a
51:11
space, I think for people to continue to resonate, right, or
51:17
have a a relatable place. I just, we are, yeah, we want to
51:23
focus on creating tools. We want to focus on creating,
51:26
you know, real conversations and development resources.
51:29
And, you know, how do you have a better meeting and how do you,
51:31
you know, navigate through real world, you know, hospitality?
51:35
How do you translate hospitality into, you know, everyday
51:38
leadership? But it's I think that that's
51:44
just really, I'm open to that development.
51:47
But in the next few years, I think I'm just excited about
51:51
learning and being with other people who want the same thing
51:57
and having that community, right, of leaders who want to
52:01
choose integrity and presence, you know, and be consistent in
52:04
what they do, you know, showing up, doing the right thing and
52:07
being great people. If that is less than anything
52:10
other than a movement that not that I've even coined.
52:14
It's just again, like the executive team guy told me he
52:18
was like, yeah, it's very simple.
52:19
It's not easy, but it's that simple.
52:22
And everything is going to be better when we just focus on
52:24
those two things, you know, be a great person and do the right
52:29
thing. Yeah.
52:30
I love it. What's What's something fun you
52:33
like to do outside of work? I, you know, I mean everything,
52:36
I mean, it's been a while since I've been on my snowboard, but I
52:38
do, I, I do enjoy, you know, snowboarding in the winter time.
52:44
So I grew up in Western Canada and I came.
52:50
You have a bit more opportunities.
52:53
You have the the geography and the landscape.
52:55
I remember when we. Moved, you know, it was, I was
52:59
coming into, into my college time frame when we moved to
53:02
Columbus and I remember being someone's like, yeah, go head on
53:05
up to, you know, I don't want to say the name or whatever, but I
53:08
drove up there and I drove right past it and I was like, oh, oh,
53:15
that is it that that's OK. But you know, I so I still enjoy
53:19
that from a recreational standpoint, but cycling and and
53:22
riding has kind of become, you know, a new, I guess, a physical
53:28
excitement for me. I like to get out on ride the
53:31
road bike and you know, do as much therapeutic as much as it
53:36
is, you know, healthy and exercise as well.
53:41
Yeah. I just got one more question for
53:44
you today, Austin. But before I ask it, I want to
53:46
do 3 quick things. So first of all, if you want to
53:49
get in touch with Austin Dre Crawford today, you can find him
53:52
on LinkedIn and we'll have a link to that in the show notes.
53:55
Also his website, dorightbegreat.com.
53:58
Do right begreat.com. Also have in the show notes, Do
54:02
right begreat.com. And as a reminder, if you want
54:05
to get more restaurant employees, access to therapists,
54:08
doctors, and prescription meds that, as paradoxical as it
54:11
seems, actually increases your company's net profits, reach out
54:15
to us at Add Back benefits.com. Finally, if you're enjoying the
54:19
show, a quick comment or review on your favorite podcast app
54:23
goes a long way towards helping others discover our show.
54:26
So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now.
54:30
So last question for you, Austin, a year from now, you and
54:32
I reconnect and you're celebrating something big.
54:35
As you look forward in time, what's that big thing that you
54:38
hope to be celebrating a year from today?
54:41
I think just more peace and genuine.
54:47
I can, I guess peace, right is the right word here.
54:50
I mean, I think we all think, you know, hey, I want to be
54:52
happy. I want to be, you know, I want
54:54
to have this much money in the bank and I want to have all
54:56
those things. I think that my biggest thing
54:58
that I want to be able to celebrate is looking back and
55:00
knowing that I spent more time with my kids, that I spent more
55:03
time with my wife, that I spent more time with the people that
55:06
really make this worthless life worth living.
55:11
You know, I think that that is true.
55:13
Ultimately true leadership is is on myself.
55:16
But if we aren't making the time for the things that are
55:19
important, then then I think nothing else matters.
55:21
And so, yeah, I want to tell you when we reconnect next year or
55:25
whenever that looks like that, Hey, you know, I'm being a
55:27
little bit more intentional there and I'm being a little bit
55:29
more focused on the things that give me life and and give me
55:34
joy. I.
55:37
Love it Austin J Crawford from Do right be Great and Del Mar
55:43
under the Cameron Mitchell Restaurant group.
55:45
I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time
55:47
and your story with. You today appreciate being here
55:50
and I know it's been a pleasure and an honor and I know I'm
55:54
really impressed with what you guys are doing here, so thanks
55:57
for inspiring me. Thanks for the kind words,
56:01
Austin. Folks.
56:02
That's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast.
56:05
Thanks for learning with us today.