25 Years in Professional Kitchens Taught Me Three Things About Leadership

25 years in professional kitchens taught me a lot about leadership. Here are the three most important lessons.

Lead from the front

You have to know how to do every job in your department. Not because you'll do it better than the person hired to do it — you shouldn't. But because when things get hard, and they always get hard, your team needs to see you in it with them.

There's something that happens when a leader picks up a mop, jumps on a station, or steps behind a dish machine during a rush. Resentment disappears. Respect builds. The invisible wall between leadership and crew comes down.

Delegate — and let people fail

You cannot do everything yourself. Leaders get into trouble when they try.

Push tasks down to your sous chefs, your managers, your leads — and then let them run with it. Let them own it. And yes, let them fail sometimes. I have learned more from failing than from any success in my career. Your team will too.

The only exception: if a task could get them or you fired, keep it on your plate.

Do not micromanage

I don't hire robots or yes men. With either, you spend all your time giving instructions instead of leading.

Give your people the freedom to do their jobs, make decisions, and be creative within reason. They'll be more engaged, more invested, and more likely to stay.

And here's the part most leaders get backwards — take the blame for failures and give your crew the credit for successes.

That's it. Lead from the front, delegate with trust, and get out of the way.

25 years. Three rules. They still work every time.