Hospitality Mindset: Accept, Don’t Expect
- Food Business Coach Tracie
- Jan 21
- 2 min read
BUCKLE UP!
Let’s face it — people will always show up exactly as they are. In hospitality, that truth reveals itself daily: the late staff member, the cranky supplier, or the customer whose energy dips your mood. But here’s the thing — frustration often comes not from what people do, but from expecting them to do something different.
When we stop expecting and start accepting, we regain control. Acceptance doesn’t mean lowering your standards; it means seeing people clearly, understanding patterns, and responding with intention rather than emotion. That’s real leadership.
Why It Matters in Your Food Business/ Café
Hospitality thrives on emotional stability. When your team sees you handle challenges with calm confidence, they follow suit. You model resilience, and your café becomes a grounded, consistent space — even when things feel chaotic behind the counter.
3 Tools for Practising Acceptance in Hospitality
1. The Reflection Pause (30 seconds)
Before reacting to a frustrating situation (a missed order, a rude comment), pause and ask:
Is this new or a repeated pattern?
What can I control right now?
What boundary or system could prevent this next time? This 30-second pause can stop emotional reactions and promote clear thinking.
2. Hospitality Journaling
At the end of each day, jot down three interactions that challenged your patience. Reflect on what triggered you and how you might respond differently next time. Over time, this creates awareness of recurring triggers — and helps you respond, not react.
3. The Communication Reset
When dealing with repeated behaviour (e.g., a team member who skips prep tasks), replace frustration with structure:
Revisit expectations in writing.
Link the behaviour to impact (“When prep isn’t done, service runs late, the team feel tortured, and guests feel it, our business suffers in all areas.”).
Offer support, not scolding- "how can I help, what do we need to prevent this"- "I'll get Tracie Daly to come and spend a day in the kitchen and you can work directly with her to create clever solutions because I want to support you and this amazing team so I will get out of the way"
Bonus Tool: Acceptance Reminder
Keep a simple affirmation somewhere visible in your café office:
“I don’t control others - they show up exactly as they are - I control how I respond.”
It’s a quiet reminder that peace and leadership both start in the mirror.
If your café or restaurant is already creaking under the weight of rising costs, staff shortages and brutally honest customers, doing nothing is the most expensive decision you can make. Right now, you can have Tracie Daly, Food Business Coach, walk your site in person or sit with you online for fully funded, action‑focused mentoring that tears into the real problems and rebuilds your systems for profit. No more guessing, no more fragile ego – just a straight‑talking expert in your corner, paid for, so you can stop leaking money and start running the business you thought you were building in the first place.
Tracie Daly
Food Business Coach
0851755005
PS. Hire fast and fire faster!