Trust and empowerment
The $10 rule: underwrite your team’s judgment
If a frontline team member can resolve a guest issue for less than $10, they just do it. Why leaders should underwrite their team’s choices.
Leadership Insights
Honest lessons from the front line.
Short leadership lessons, most first shared on LinkedIn, plus a few longer essays: trust, culture, recognition, and using AI so leaders have more time for people. Machines do. Managers decide. Leaders develop.
By Jon Harmeling · Owner-operator, Chick-fil-A Miami Shores · Army combat veteran · Former West Point instructor · Follow on LinkedIn
Culture
Three subtle signs of a healthy culture
You will not find culture on a dashboard. Here are three quiet signals I have learned to watch for in my own team.
Recognition
Overtime risk or unsung hero? It depends on what you ask.
My AI flagged a kitchen team member as an overtime risk. A different question showed she was quietly covering for a teammate.
Deciding what to automate
Human only, human + AI, or safe to automate?
A simple four-level way to decide which tasks and workflows AI should augment, which it can take over, and which stay human.
Employee development
The one prompt behind the most fun I have had leading
One sentence to an AI assistant became a goals database our directors coach from every week.
Caring for people
Why don’t we have a dashboard for caring for people?
Every business tracks sales, labor, and speed. I am building a CARES Dashboard to help leaders notice what is easy to miss.
Human judgment
Scheduling is a 2,000-piece puzzle. AI does the math; leaders do the judgment.
Hundreds of AI scheduling simulations taught me where the line is: AI can do the math on people’s hours, not the judgment on their lives.
Prompt you can use
Steal this prompt: it found my team 59 scholarships in 20 minutes
A copy-and-paste AI prompt to find verified, local scholarships for your team, plus three tips to make it work.
Books
5 AI books for frontline and restaurant managers (and where Frontline AI Leadership fits)
A short list of AI books for restaurant managers, franchise owners, and frontline leaders: what each one covers, who it suits, and where my book, Frontline AI Leadership, fits.
Tools
The 6 AI tools I use every week as a frontline leader
Most AI tool comparisons are written by people who do not run an operation. Here are the six I actually pay for, what each one does in my work, and what the whole stack is actually for.
Want these ideas in front of your leaders? Explore the Frontline AI Leadership keynote or read the book.