Mark Twain once wrote that “wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have rather talked.” One of the wisest men I know is Tom Racosky, who has mastered the power of listening to his employees along the way to building and burnishing trusted brands. “I have two ears and one mouth, so I should listen more than I speak,” he quipped during an appearance on my Off the Clock podcast.
It’s a strategy Tom has employed throughout a storied career spanning more than three decades — from GM with the Great American Restaurants chain to co-founder of Big Buns Damn Good Burgers & Beer, and now a restaurant and hospitality specialist with the Maryland Small Business Development Center.
The art of listening seeds advice he offers to budding entrepreneurs in developing dream teams that drive revenue growth and lure in customers, even when COVID-19 has decimated so many of these small enterprises. His philosophy is that people have important things to share and that respectful discourse at all levels of an organization builds trust and camaraderie, which leads to success. It also fuels entrepreneurial aspirations in worker bees who to come appreciate the humanity in their boss.
Tom recalled the fun and excitement several of his employees from El Salvador experienced turning him onto pupusas, their native flatbread street food, which they’d periodically prepare. It was a perfect example of how he learned the importance of validating cultural differences and adapting to employee needs. Another memory revolved around developing a love of soccer and closing his restaurant for a World Cup match employees were hoping to watch — much like he did for the Super Bowl. It was a cultural acknowledgement that engendered goodwill.
As a small business owner, Tom realized the key to success was in developing a concrete vision or mission statement with a sense of purpose and pride in one’s work, as well as knowing exactly why he was there in the first place. These themes brought incredible value to the daily grind. Someone once told him it’s critical to work on your business, not in your business.
But serving as the glue for all this sweat equity are policies and procedures that must be consistently followed in order to keep the operation running as smoothly as possible. “The hard part for me was the nuts and bolts,” he admitted. That meant attending to a range of issues — from formulating pudding recipe cards and training employees to making sure that every bill is paid on time, carrying adequate insurance and having backup plans in place. The day I interviewed Tom he actually conducted a webinar on how to open a restaurant, breaking down the tasks into a manageable, 12-month timeframe.
Bringing joy to people and seeing smiles on their faces provides him with instant gratification. The more employees and customers he does that for, the more it pumps him up. His other passion is to be an inspiration for those who want to start their own business. It’s all part of Tom’s legacy of listening.
Click on the following link to watch the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxhGMHU9INc&t=604s
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