Building for the Future with Ryan Klaasen of El Dorado Cantina and Smoke & Fire Restaurant
On this episode of the Hospitality Leaders podcast, I’m joined by Ryan Klaasen, Chief Operating Officer at El Dorado Cantina and Co-Founder of Smoke & Fire Restaurant.
While Ryan is certainly proud of the work he’s done to build both of the businesses he’s a part of, he also knows that he can’t be in charge forever. To maintain success in the long term, Ryan has to build up a future generation of leaders that can continue the work he has started.
This mindset leads Ryan to constantly look for ways to empower his team and bring them up within the business. Whether it’s encouraging better training or making long-term employees partners within the ownership structure, Ryan is always cultivating future leaders. He views his organization as a garden and it’s his job to grow managers out of the bussers and hostesses he’s hired.
This future-oriented vision is an outstanding leadership style. It creates buy-in from his team in the short term, making them more committed workers, but also lays the groundwork for longevity within the business. With the team he’s training up, Ryan’s restaurants will continue to thrive, long after he stops managing them.
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