Next Class Starts: August 2023
Welcome to Restaurant Leadership 101
Restaurant Leadership 101 is a Master Class for leaders in the food service and hospitality.
Our purpose is to help you move closer to being the leader you want to be.
We focus on what is most important in your leadership role and consider all the personal qualities you already possess.
"I learned more in this one class, than I did in years of hospitality school."
RL101 Student, Class of April 2023
The Employee Experience
"This was a great experience, I took a lot of valuable lessons away and learned a lot about myself. I am excited to apply what I have learned in both my professional and personal life. Edwyn and Chris are great mentors and keep you engaged the whole way through."
Brandon Stewart RL101 Student, Class of July 2023
RL 101 Master Class Curriculum - 8 Weeks
8 Week Program - 2 hours per week - Tuesdays
8 Week Program - 2 hours per week - Tuesdays
8 Week Program - 2 hours per week - Tuesdays
RL 101 Master Class Includes:
- Live online sessions led by hospitality leaders and educators with over 50 years of combined experience
- 2 hours per week
- Tuesdays 11:00am PST (2pm EST Central)
- North American wide access
- Zoom based online
- Lifetime access to materials, tools and recordings
- Student handbook and manual
- Cohort based training with networks and peer based support
- Minimal homework - assignments are real time and can be developed at work!
Week 1 - Human Skills
8 Week Program - 2 hours per week - Tuesdays
8 Week Program - 2 hours per week - Tuesdays
Introduction of RL101 and how it will develop your leadership
Foundational Skill Building
- What are Soft Skills
- What are Hard Skills
- Revealing your Human Side
- Vulnerability in leadership
Week 2 - Empathy
8 Week Program - 2 hours per week - Tuesdays
Week 2 - Empathy
- The Importance of Empathy
- Empathetic Leadership
- Five Levels of Listening
Week 3 - Goals
Week 5 - Change Management
Week 2 - Empathy
- Establish Equally Important Values
- Goal-Setting Theory
Week 4 - Connection
Week 5 - Change Management
Week 5 - Change Management
- Engagement & Retention
- Showing a Genuine Interest in Others with asking the Right Questions
- Communications
Week 5 - Change Management
Week 5 - Change Management
Week 5 - Change Management
- Leading Change
- The Effects of Stress
- Interpersonal Skills
Week 6 - EQ
Week 8 - The Goods, the Growth
Week 7 - Emotional Connection
- Emotional Intelligence - do we understand this power?
- How the brain processes emotion to cognitive function
- Self-Awareness, Self Management, Motivation, Empathy, Social Skills
- Defining ‘who, what, where, when and why’ skills in a workplace
Week 7 - Emotional Connection
Week 8 - The Goods, the Growth
Week 7 - Emotional Connection
Understanding our core emotions and the exploration of the Change Triangle to manage our own emotional states while gaining a great understanding of emotional responses within our team
Week 8 - The Goods, the Growth
Week 8 - The Goods, the Growth
Week 8 - The Goods, the Growth
Brand, Values and Culture
- Takeaways
- Summary
- Hot Seat
- Integration
Graduation
Ongoing Access
Week 8 - The Goods, the Growth
- Certificate of Completion
Ongoing Access
Ongoing Access
Ongoing Access
- RL101 Lifetime Access
“Change? Disruption? I'm firing on all cylinders today after the first session of the new Restaurant Leadership 101 course. In what can only be described as disruptive and game changing, the conversation with Edwyn Kumar and Christopher McFadden is this and more. Let's rethink "restaurant culture."
Barb Wild, DipWSET, CSW Wine Educator - Cohort One Graduate
Meet Your RL101 Master Class Instructors
Christopher McFadden
Christopher McFadden
Christopher McFadden
Christopher is originally from Burlington, Ontario and has spent over 20 years in the restaurant industry, primarily on the west coast.
While spending most of his younger years in the acting profession, he discovered a passion for the hospitality industry when Fairmont Hotels welcomed him to the Chateau Lake Louise in 2000. Quickly finding a love for wine, Christopher began his Sommelier studies with the International Sommelier Guild in 2001, graduating in 2004.
With a tenure exceeding 20 years within the Canadian restaurant industry, Christopher has focused on the development of team relationships and guest relationships to create long term successes for his businesses.
Always leading by example, Christopher truly believes that the strength of a team is developed through an engaging manner to achieve the greatest results.
Christopher and his wife, Joanne live in Eastern Canada to be closer to family. With this, he is driven to ensure his own personal growth is achieved so he can be a better leader for both himself and the people around him.
"To truly be happy, one must achieve a better version of themselves to be better for others. I am proud of us presenting RL101. A course designed for those that need their skills to be softer rather than harder, to achieve great things!"
Edwyn Kumar
Christopher McFadden
Christopher McFadden
Edwyn has grown up on the west coast his whole life and spent most of his early career in hotels and restaurants.
He lives in Vancouver with his wife Simone, and together they have raised two empathetic and caring sons, Paris and Lucien, who are on their own career paths.
Edwyn has run and operated some of the most prestigious establishments, including Lumiere, Chambar, CinCin and Hart House. With experience in Five Diamond and Relais Chateaux calibre guest experience standards, Edwyn understands the demands that are placed on leadership.
Edwyn has his Mastery in Positive Psychology and is accredited in Behavioural Psychology and Emotional Intelligence assessment.
"I learned from a boots on the ground format, and was fortunate to have found mentors and leaders who supported my growth. Not all managers have that option, and I am proud to provide a service to develop leadership strength within the restaurant industry that wasn't there for me. The modern workforce needs and demands more emotionally intelligent and connected leaders. RL101 provides that platform."
“This isn't hands-off, asynchronous knowledge delivery. This is coaching from experienced, progressive leaders; weekly, down-in-the-dirt development rumbles. This is workshopping your daily leadership challenges, this is generating new thinking about who you are as a leader from peers and mentors."
Shane Lobsinger - Go2HR RL101 Cohort One Graduate