I was taught that at a fundamental level, the breakdown was "GM runs the Business, Deputy runs the Venue, and Assistants run the Bar/Floor".
Starting from with the Top Tier, which I will refer to as Tier 1, we have;
The GM
Top-dog
Decision Maker
The be-all and end-all of any issues
El Capitan
Large and In Charge
The buck stops and ends with you
Takes ultimately responsibility for all things with in the Venue and Business.
They must report to the Owners/ Area Managers and take the brunt of any crap given
Any issue within the business or Venue goes all the way to the top, any outstanding Maintenance, any Cash issues, any Stock issues, any Staff issues, any Management issues, in any way, shape or form. It's on them. That is not something they always seem to understand or understand too well and become crippled by it.
The General Manager must lead by example and know everything there is to know about the business, they are the ultimate point runner. If they chose to do nothing themselves, and I mean nothing, they must still over see everything.
After a GM has been at a venue for... let's say six months. And that's generous. They are then ultimately responsible for everything with in the venue that they have control over, which is pretty much everything but I'm making allowances for issues that Head Office have not supported them on.
Six months in you can no longer blame anything on predecessors or inherited issues, not at your level. If the business was failing when you took over and is still technically failing now, that is not on you. If it has not improved in 6 months, then that is on you.
At this level you should have full control of who is in your team, how they operate and how much they put into the business. If you were low on managers and struggled because of it, that's still on you. If a you inherited a crap manager and they are still there and they are still crap: That is also on you.
The best General Managers I have seen have been Leaders and if they've done very little themselves, what they have done is empowered the people around them and brought out their strengths and that is what has lead to success, and that is what I aspire to.
Although I love being involved and have not got to the point where I can comfortably step back, I have not been in a position where I could surround myself with the team that would take the pressure off me. I would however like to believe that I have had positive influences on the people I chose to have around me and have benefited them.
If any member of staff is put in a position where they are not trained, not equipped and/or do not know what is expected of them: Then they are not at fault, their Line Manager is, which all stems from the General Manager.
Final signatures, Final responsibility, Final words and with that comes the full accountability. There is no "I didn't know" or "I wasn't aware". It is their job to make sure everybody knows what is expected of them and that they have the equipment and training needed to achieve it.
This level of power is sadly undermined by most employers because they employ to do jobs that they then don't allow them to do but still hold them at the same level of accountability. From what I've seen, this sadly limits their creativity and output.
In order to succeed at this level you must have a strong sense of independence in order to lead your team as well as make the tough calls when needed. The first time someone comes to you with a problem you haven't seen before and it is 100% "Your Problem", it is an insane feeling but these are ultimately make or break. Some people can work their way up over 10-15 years, go on every training course, perfect every other role and then get to GM and are just not made to be number one. Not that that has to mean it was a waste, you can have a very successful career as a fantastic number 2 or you can work for certain companies where although you're technically the GM, your role is black and white and they don't allow for creativity but it could be the best job you ever have.
Let me know what you think in the comments
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