The Forgotten Monk

The search for a mentor led me down many paths. Most of them I read about in books or see them on TV. Then I happened upon a show called ‘Kitchen Nightmares’. Gordon Ramsay whose restaurants won multiple Michelin Stars, published several books.. This is a man who knows how to build a successful restaurant from the ground up. He’s someone I would call the perfect mentor for anyone who would want to start their own restaurant. Not only because he knew how to run a highly successful restaurant and what standards they should apply to their business but also he knew the psychological pitfalls an owner can fall into.

In the episode titled “Did I stutter?”. Ramsay believed that the owner’s fear of failure was keeping the restaurant from succeeding. At first I was thinking, what is Ramsay talking about and the restaurant’s owner kept asking him, ‘what are you talking about?’. Then I saw it. I understood just what he was talking about. Every time Gordon suggested a change he didn’t like it. In the owners mind if he stopped doing what he was doing it would mean he failed. Finally the owner realized what Gordon was talking about. it was an Ah hah moment for him.

I really envied these lucky restaurant owners who had the opportunity to learn from an internationally acclaimed restaurateur. Not everyone gets the opportunity to be guided by someone so far down the road we want to travel down. Not everyone has someone point out clearly something that we are blind to, something that is keeping us back.

In another episode, where he turned the restaurant Dillons around.  He called the restaurants cleanliness standards awful.  The owners said they received a higher than average grade from the City and they clean the kitchen once a week.  Gordon took the owners on a tour of his kitchen.  Gordon’s kitchen defined clean, the owners inspected the fully staffed kitchen.  Gordon told them his kitchen is cleaned twice a day!

Watching a couple episodes, patterns begin to emerge.  Setting aside cosmetic changes to the look of the restaurant, the menu, food and service.  One of the key things Gordon seems to apply is to bring out the owners passion for his business and try to make that passion seen, felt and known within the business.   Once this is done the whole feeling within the restaurant changes.  The owners drive is increased, the ambiance of the place feels more important and personal.  Once this happens the owners change for the better.

My way has been to study everything I could about the greatest people in the field I wanted to be successful in; while at the same time have a deep understanding of who I am and what I am capable of accomplishing in the hopes that I’m not being blind to something.  To sum it up what I learned about business from watching the show is:

• Set a higher standard for yourself and/or your business
• Bring out your passion into what you do.  Make sure it is felt in your product or service
• Don’t be afraid to fail.  Failing teaches us what not to do.

How about everyone out there? Have you had the opportunity to learn from an expert or mentor or hidden monk in your field?

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