Closing a restaurant at midnight teaches you more about leadership than a lot of seminars.

Real leadership shows up in unglamorous, tired conditions rather than in theory. At midnight, with a crew that wants to go home and a list that is not finished, you learn how to hand out the bad jobs, keep a tone that holds people together, and finish without resentment. None of that can be taught in the abstract. It is learned by closing up, repeatedly, when nobody is watching.

Take the end-of-day responsibility for something this week, small as it is: the clear-up, the last lap, the lock-up. Pay attention to how you speak to tired people.