Episode #67: Leading Through Chaos: The Secret to Keeping Your Team Aligned and High-Performing When Demand Is High

When your business is hit by a pandemic, a capacity crunch, or clients who treat your work like a commodity, how do you protect your people, your standards, and your own sanity? In this episode of Missing Conversations, hosts Dan Winter and Heather Neely talk with Jeff Weinberg, owner of JW Catering, who has spent 25 years in Silicon Valley “controlling chaos” as he and his team serve events from 5 to 5,000 people. Jeff shares how a chance complaint at a concert turned into a decades-long partnership, how he and his team pivoted in just five weeks to ghost kitchens and a pop-up Jewish deli during COVID, and how he keeps reinventing and reimagining the business so his people can keep working, learning, and caring for their community. His story shows how to design teams that run without you, balance demanding customers with clear boundaries, and protect capacity and morale, all while continuing to align people and vision as conditions shift.

🎧 Listen in to hear how strong leaders keep their teams coordinated and grounded when work is demanding and change is fast.

Key Moments You’ll Want to Hear

01:34: The accidental contract that launched a 25-year leadership journey.
03:19: Designing systems that allow teams to thrive when every day is different.
04:22: What leaders gain when they step back and let experts lead.
06:01: Building frontline teams who can adapt in the moment.
08:23: Why knowing people’s lives makes leaders better at developing talent.
11:08: Navigating friend–client relationships without sacrificing your team and their capacity.
11:58: The five-week sprint that saved jobs and kept the business alive.
18:04: Making crisis decisions that take care of the people who need you most.
21:07: Reading early signals and walking away from misaligned clients.
23:03: Competing with being seen as a commodity by educating customers and staff.
26:35: Teaching a new generation what real hospitality looks like.
30:08: The secret to staying relevant through booms, busts, and a pandemic.
31:54: Managing capacity when everything is urgent and important.
34:54: How small acts of gratitude sustain teams during the most demanding times.
35:52: Providing opportunities for your team to choose who you serve in the community.
37:47: Creating true owner freedom by trusting your bench.
39:44: Holding the space for your team to learn the lessons that make them better.
41:32: Expecting your team to own outcomes with integrity and care.
42:52: Learning to speak carefully and listen differently.
44:47: The inner work of blending leadership styles so partnerships thrive.

By the end of this conversation, you’ll hear answers to:

How do I build a team that can operate independently so I can step back without losing quality or momentum?

Independence grows when leaders create space for others to truly own the work rather than wait for direction. When leaders step back with intention, they invite their staff to make decisions that reflect their own care for the work, the clients, and the people they serve. A simple question like “Can you live with this decision?” shifts the conversation from task completion to responsibility, reflection, and commitment. Over time, the team stops looking upward for permission and starts acting from shared ownership, holding the whole, not just their part, while preserving the standards and reputation of the founder. Timestamps: 04:22, 37:47, 41:32

How do I protect my team’s capacity, well-being, and morale when demand outpaces resources?

Capacity holds when leaders see their people as humans with limits, not just roles to be filled. Protecting the team starts with paying close attention to energy, overwhelm, and mood. When demand increases, leaders pause to ask what the human cost of a “yes” might be and how to distribute work in a way that preserves dignity and pace. Small, consistent gestures such as shared meals, coffee runs, chair massages, and moments of humor restore people’s capacity and reinforce connection. When teams feel cared for, they meet challenges with steadiness, creativity, and a willingness to meet the demand together. Timestamps: 31:54, 34:31–35:39, 21:07–22:42

How do I lead through crisis in a way that protects my people while keeping the business alive?

Human-centered crisis leadership begins with asking who will be most affected if the organization pulls back, and choosing to act from care rather than fear. When Covid shut everything down, Jeff rebuilt the business in five weeks so his staff could continue supporting themselves. Ghost kitchens, walk-up service, and a pop-up deli weren’t just business pivots; they were commitments to dignity, stability, and community. Leading from responsibility created loyalty, resilience, and a culture strong enough to move through uncertainty together. Timestamps: 11:58–16:49, 18:04–19:22, 30:08–30:58

We need to take care of everybody from a mental, as well as physical, standpoint.

About Jeff Weinberg

 

Leveraging his decades of restaurant management and ownership, Jeff launched JW 25 years ago in Silicon Valley, serving private and corporate events, corporate catering, and concert venues. Jeff and his team create memorable experiences and great food for 5 to 5,000 people. He is also a restaurant and beverage consultant and is partnering to launch a new restaurant in Los Angeles.

 

You can connect with Jeff on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jw-catering/ 

 

About Altus Growth Partners

At Altus, we partner with CEOs and leadership teams who are serious about growth and willing to engage in new kinds of conversations to produce better results.

We care deeply about helping leaders and teams collaborate more effectively, navigate complexity with confidence, and foster a culture where people thrive. It’s in these environments that challenges are met with curiosity, people bring out the best in one another, and progress is anchored in shared purpose.

Because when leaders and teams are truly working together, they expand what’s possible and the meaningful impact they can make in their lives, their organizations, and the world around them.

You can find Altus Growth Partners on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners/ 

About the Book 

Growing Groups Into Teams: How do you turn a group of individuals into a highly effective, productive team? Growing Groups Into Teams is an unusually useful book written by a team of generative consultants and coaches who have helped thousands of groups become effective teams.

Through real-life stories combined with pragmatic advice, this book strengthens your ability to see what’s needed and take effective action:

• What two promises turn a group into a team.

• How to engage people to make those promises.

• How to invite responsibility and accountability.

• How to include and inspire people across differences.

• How to build and rebuild trust, and more!

Regardless of how productive your teams are today, the insights in this book will help you grow to the next level to drive your business or organization forward. Order your copy today!

Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Groups-into-Teams-Real-life-ebook/dp/B0CJLC23VS  

Order directly:
https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?l8SxF4Aexn9gq08iz7jFBbwutleujrftoZ2wAOFzCVH  

If you're looking to expand your leadership influence, shift your results, and develop a highly engaged, accountable team, we’d love to talk to you. Schedule a conversation with an Altus Team Member here: https://calendly.com/prollin-altusgrowth/zoom-video-30-min.

Follow us on social media:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/altus-growth-partners
https://www.facebook.com/AltusGrowth
https://www.instagram.com/altusgrowthpartners/

 

Keywords: 

 

#Leadership, #TeamBuilding #DecisionMaking