102 - Leadership in the Kitchen

Hey, I'm so glad you're here. I'm really on really appreciate all of you guys being here. And anybody who's going to be watching after the live stream, this is going to be a really, really good, really good lesson is what I'm going to talk about. I'm talking about leadership in the kitchen. And, you know, I've been working in kitchens for over 20 years. And I've worked with some great chefs. And I've worked with some not so great chefs, I've worked with people who have been really good as cooks, and just kill it, and they do a great job. And then as soon as they turn into that sous chef, as soon as they start having that leadership abilities, they faltered, they're just not quite there. And it just doesn't quite work for them. And I want to be able to change that I want to teach, I want to show to you, what kind of qualities that you need as a leader, to be able to really put your best foot forward so that when you make that jump from a production Cook, to a position of leadership, you know what it is.
You see, when I first became a lead line cook, I really had no idea what the difference was between a cook and a lead line cook, it took me a very long time to understand that. I would continue to do everything I was doing before. But then I was like, Well, what else do I do? What do you mean a lead line cook like I started to check other people's products and things like that, but I never really could quite understand what that concept was. So I'm gonna want to kind of help you transition from that as well and teach you the things that I've learned, as well as the things that I've implemented and learn from other chefs that I feel are really good chefs. So we're going to talk about six different aspects of leadership. The first one is communication. We're going to talk about respect, importance of learning, the creativity, integrity, and training. So let's talk a little bit about the communication first. So when I'm talking about communication, yes, you're obviously want to make sure that you're talking to other people. And making sure that the communication that is coming from you the informations coming to you also gets passed on to those that you're in charge of and that you're leading. That's a very important part of communication, making sure that communication is flowing from one to the other. But the part of communication that I want to talk to you about right here, as a leader, the biggest part of communication is making sure that other people understand your vision. If you are in charge of a restaurant, you need to be able to make sure that you can convey that vision of what you want this restaurant to be like. And the better that you can communicate that the the more clear that that scene or that picture that people can see. The more that you can pass that on to them, the more that they'll understand it. And they will start to act in a way to help progress. That vision. You need to talk about your vision, your mission, the whole purpose around why you're doing what you're doing all the time, all the time. In fact, the more that you talk about it, the better people will understand it. vary it up a little bit, talk about stories, talk about experiences that you've had. Explain it in different ways, shapes and forms, but talk about it over and over and over. If you feel like you've been talking about it a lot, then talk about it again, because that's the point where you you're gonna get to, once the once the staff, once everybody around you understands your vision, understands what you're trying to accomplish, they will begin to act toward that vision. And you need to make sure that the direction that you give, and you start to create goals and standards, that all of those aligned with that vision. And as you create those standards, and that direction, and create those goals for your staff that aligned towards that vision, everything will start to stack on top and you will, the vision will become a reality. And you'll be amazed at how quickly and how easily it now becomes because everybody already understands what you're trying to do. And they've got this the mindset that we are all working on this together. It's not the chef's vision that he's got that we don't quite understand. It's not the restaurant managers vision. It's not the corporate head vision. This is our vision, because you've talked about it and you help them to mold it and understand what it is. So, the next part I want to talk about is respect. Again, there's the respect that other people will have to you But you need to understand that authority that you have the power that you have, and that you hold in this leadership position, there is an innate power in a authority that you get by receiving a position. But that is just the basic level of authority. And you need to make sure that you do not abuse that authority. Because as you have that respect of other people, you start to have a huge impact on the lives of other people, you need to begin to understand that because the lives that you that you are dealing with, you may have power over whether they are going to get paid or not, whether they're going to work or not. You can have power in the things that you say, and the things that you do that impact not only while they're at work, but also their lives moving forward and at home. And so you need to understand the power that you have as a leader, they will look up to you, and the more that you are respectful of your own authority. And the more respect that you give to that power, the more respect they will give to you. They need to know that you're going to be on their side, that you've got their back, that you will advocate for them. And as they understand the vision, that you will be able to advocate for them. And because you know that they have your back as well. So begin to understand your staff. The more that you understand their staffs, the more that you understand their goals, their hopes, their visions, their passions that they have personally outside of work or with work, the more they will begin to respect you as well, because they will see you not only as an authority figure, but also someone who understands them. And that will also help create your vision. Now, there are going to be times where you have to do disciplinary action, that is a guaranteed, you need to make sure that you're respectful to them in that disciplinary action. And because when you're giving that disciplinary and when you're doing that corrective action when you are, you know, trying to help somebody become better understand that, that is what you're trying to do. That is the multiple goal that is that education, that helping to improve. You know, you've set high standards towards your vision. And if people aren't meeting that standard, you need to help them elevate them so that they can then meet that standard, understand why they're not doing it. Now, there are going to be times where as much as you push, and as much as you try and elevate, they're not going to do it. And at that point, you do need to let them go. Because if you manage, if you keep on to that person that is not willing to do what you're supposed what you've asked them to do, they're not respecting you in your position, if they're not following the standards that you have set, holding on to that person disrespects everybody else that is, so there going to be times where you do have to let somebody go, because they're not meeting that standards. Hopefully, you have been understanding towards them, you've helped them and tried to elevate them. And at that point, they know that they're going to get fired, they are going to get let go. And if you do it, right, it is it's very mutual concern. There will not be any, you know, harsh feelings, or, you know, burn the bridge and, and just kind of get rid of you kind of thought they will respect you for what you're doing. There was a time where I had that exact same thing happened to me, they tried to work with me, I wasn't ready. At that point. I knew it, I understood it. When I finally got let go, I was completely okay with it. In fact, I really respect him, it's still at this point in time. And as you begin to understand your staff, encourage your staff to begin to understand that you know, their co workers. Encourage them to get to know each other outside of work. And encourage them to really get to know who they are as a person. Because that will start to help them to be willing to serve each other and begin to really develop that selflessness of we are working as a team. And I know this may be difficult for me right now, but it's going to serve the team it's going to serve the vision, the purpose moving forward. So get to know each other, respect your staff, respect the authority that you have.

Let's talk about the learning portion of it. One of the things that we love to do is we love to learn, we love to grow, we love to advance. And we need to show that in others by doing it ourselves, continuously learning, reading books, looking at magazines, reading recipes, experimenting, trying to develop ourselves. And not only in the cooking profession that you may be having, but also start developing yourself as a person. You know, taking courses to for leadership, watching this video is part of your self development. And really beginning to improve yourself so that you can become a better person, everybody else around you will see that you're doing it. And they will respect you as that in that aspect. Begin to challenge yourself. You know, if you're a chef, and you're watching this, start having some competition start going to competitions. You can start within your own restaurant, if you'd like, have little mini competitions, or start going out and having larger competitions with other executive chefs that are around. There are competitions going on all the time. So start setting goals, to challenge yourself. Set goals for yourself, set goals, talk with your staff and set goals with them. I have I've created this it's a free gold worksheet that talks about it gives you three different goals that you work on for an entire month I call it the three for 30. I did get it from a place that I worked at, but I tweaked it. His was just a basic three for 30. Mine, I've kind of tweaked it into turning into a really set goal so you can understand what the kind of goal you're looking for. You're setting goals in a personal aspect, things that will make you a better person, things that will in a professional aspect, things that will help you progress in your profession, whatever that is. And then the final one is your passion, something that you enjoy something you love. By able to kind of maintain those three things. It helps you work on three different goals that help elevate you and give you energy and excitement to move forward. Let's talk about learning. So that is at a cooking physics.com/three-four Dash 33 for 30.

Go ahead and go on there. It's a free, it's a free download that you can get. It's a really good resource. I've used it a lot. And it really helps to improve

the website, we'll teach you a little bit more about it and how to use it as well. So let's talk about the creativity. As a chef in the restaurant field in the culinary field, it is called culinary arts because we love to create. You know, there are many other arts that are out there where it's very difficult for somebody to make a living. Singing is one you know, orchestra or theater, or painting and sculpture and all those kinds of things it becomes it gets kind of difficult to be able to make a living in that aspect. But cooking, cooking is an established thing, you go into cooking, and it's an actual career that you've got a really good chance of making a living. As long as you work at it, you're guaranteed to be able to make a living. But what happens with what happens in the kitchen is too many times the importance of making sure that every single dish is exactly the same, that everybody is following the same procedures for the Executive Chef, that the dish, you know, regardless of which Cook is cooking, that you do that, do that dish that way. If the focus is primarily on that production and and on the on that portion of it, chefs can begin to lose the innate fire that comes from creating. So you as a leader, you need to create that atmosphere allow that room for creativity. Now the obvious is well just you know, do a special or whatnot. And that is definitely the case. Some other options that you could do is you as the chef could come up with an idea of your menu and have certain dishes and go to your staff and be like, Hey, we're going to have a little competition, I'd like to have a chicken dish with couscous, and a nice fruity sauce or something like that, I don't know, okay. But then open it up to your staff and be like and have a competition, have them create, create several dishes, have them competition to see which one they can come up with. And, you know, have fun, that feeds into that creativity, that also allows the opportunity for this for everybody to fail. It allows them the opportunity to fail in the pursuit of advancement, you need to encourage that you need to create a real a positive environment, so that the cooks and the chefs and the front of house staff, they don't feel pressured in to making sure that they have to be 100% all the time that they can fail. Okay. But making sure that that failure is always is isn't a a thought of, I'm failing, or I'm going to push myself to the edge of what I'm capable of doing that I know that I'm capable of doing, push myself to the edge, get into that uncomfortable position. And if I fail, I will be celebrated because I did that in the pursuit of advancement. If it's a failure, because of lack of caring, that becomes a disciplinary action. Okay. So you need to make sure that you understand those, what that failure is that failure is always going to be? Are you trying to become better? Why did you do that? Were you trying to become better? Were you trying to follow my instructions? Were you trying to do your best? Yes, great, I celebrate that it's great. What can you think you can do to become so that it doesn't happen? So it doesn't become a failure next time? How can you improve it. So make sure that you have that ability for people to fail, create that environment, because then they're willing to create, they're willing to expand, they're willing to really test themselves and grow and develop. It gives you, you know, all of these things are kind of building up. Because if you notice, as they're doing this, you will gain more respect, they will be learning. And as, as they're testing that, they will be able to test the vision that you have. And, and really start understanding to themselves what this vision is. So obviously, as they're creating an essay doing, make sure that you give credit where credit is due, you know, if somebody does something great, and they're creative, give them credit, and make sure you praise them and all that all those kinds of great stuff, and promote that professionalism in the pursuit of advancement, promote that professionalism, in if somebody does fail, that everybody else is professional about it, and respectful of it. The next thing I want to talk about is your integrity. Integrity, the fastest way to lose the respect of others around you, is to do as I say, not as I do kind of mentality. Having that integrity and that self discipline that you have to always progress to always become better. There will be times where you don't quite follow through, that's going to be natural. But if they see that you're building your self discipline, that you are learning how to do these things, and that you realize when you mess up, you own it. And you have that integrity. Okay, I'm having a little connection issues, but having that integrity and that discipline, that you become that role model. Show them that you truly believe in the things that you say, you know, walk the walk. You begin to having that integrity, you start to be in to build the feeling of a team, that you're really starting to build that I can trust you You can trust me, and that team starts to develop. Of course, part of being Integris. And having that integrity is understanding that this still is a business and you still need to make money. So If for some reason you need to do a cut, if you need to cut or or, you know, do other things that kind of deal with the money issue, they will understand that you're doing it because you are you have integrity not only to them, not only to your own values, but you also have integrity towards the business. And that you need to be able to focus on that integrity, because there are going to be times when you are doing the correction activity, corrective action for other people, and they need to know that you're doing it for the right reasons. You also need to demonstrate that conviction that you have, you know, who you are as a person who you are as a chef, who you are as a businessman, who you are as a friend, and as their mentor. demonstrate that by being Integris. Having that integrity, that personal discipline, that you need to be able to show to other people, if you're able to do that, again, the respect that they have for you, and their vision that they have you have given them just expands. The last thing is training. This is the difficult part in this environment right now. All the other things are great. And you can fairly do it just in the midst of what's going on the training. Everybody seems to be so short staffed. Everybody's seen everybody's having to work longer hours, or more difficult positions or multiple positions. And so that time is so precious. As a leader, you need to focus to make sure that they have the skills that they need. And the tools, they need to be able to do their responsibilities. You need to be able to train them in those responsibilities and help guide them. If you can't do it individually, you need to make sure that you can find some resources that they can go and learn for themselves. The more you do this, and the more that you become this mentor and inspire them to reach beyond what is the easy thing. If you let them know that you're interested in their training, you're interested in their advancement, you're interested in their progression in their creativity, you will be able to inspire others, you'll be able to teach and empower them to move on and to progress. You know, training. And team building really will help the entire operation run smoothly.

Now, definitely always look for training opportunities. Look for opportunities that you have when you're doing specials or creating new menus. Help them to understand what your vision is help them understand different skill sets. As they're doing their specials, or as they're doing their competitions or whatnot, kind of spend a little time with them and show them to the things that you've have learned over the years, so that they can progress so that they know that you are interested in them becoming better. So I've created an article that goes a little bit deeper into this, you can get that article at cooking physics.com/leadership goes a little bit deeper into this. And it's a nice little PDF, it's for FREE. And definitely go ahead and get into that. It just kind of goes a little bit more in depth as to what I was talking about today. The other thing is, you know, continue to work on it continue to grow, continue to develop yourself as a leader. Leadership in the kitchen is something that's very difficult, it's not very well taught in the kitchen. And if you have the great opportunity of working with somebody who has been able to mentor you and really help you move along in your progression in the kitchen. Thanks very much. Tell them thank you, because they are very rare and few and far between. So let them know. But continue your growth, continued development and continue to grow and learn. Again, we've got that three for 30 article, or we've got this leadership article that I've given you. So please try it out. And let me know what you think. So thank you so very much everybody. And I'm so glad you're here. If you have any other questions leave them in the comments below and I will be sure to get back to you and answer any questions you have Thank you