Photo: Andy Arthur

As the owner/operator/manager of your pizzeria’s staff, you have a lot of people counting on you every day. Have you fully accepted the leadership role and everything it requires to inspire your staff to give you their all?
Leaders have been defined many ways throughout history, but all have possessed similar attributes.

They lead by example. Leaders don’t sit on the sidelines; they get involved and become a part of the process.

They accept responsibility. Good or bad, they accept the responsibility of taking on challenges and seeing them through to the end.

They inspire others to succeed. Leaders create an atmosphere that inspires others to take on leadership roles of their own.

They listen. Leaders absorb and handle a variety of feedback–positive and negative–with an open ear. Staff members always feel comfortable coming to them with issues.

They give constructive criticism and genuine praise. Leaders know how to communicate what went wrong without alienating staff members; they also know when and how to praise someone for a job well done.

These are just the tip of the iceberg when recognizing a good leader; I also went to The Pizza Insider blog advisory board and asked what they thought made a good leader.

“A great leader is someone who inspires others to be the best that they can be. Whether it’s at a job, a cause, or on a sports team, a true leader is someone who makes everyone else want to be better.” —Vanessa Maltin Weisbrod, Delight Gluten Free magazine

“A leader leads by example. Giving a pep talk is fine, but if you aren’t there showing how much you care about your business, then all the words fall on deaf ears.” —Jonathan Porter, Chicago Pizza Tours

“The biggest criterium of a leader is the ability to make decisions.” —Scott Wiener, Scott’s Pizza Tours

“A great leader inspires and motivates those around him/her and gives them the tools and resources to produce the best work possible.” —Jason Feirman, iDreamofPizza.com