Chef Gordon Ramsay, of Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nighmares, and YOUR Career

Lately I’ve watched a number of Kitchen Nighmares reruns on Hulu, and have been impressed with the process that Chef Gordon Ramsay goes through to turn a restaurant around, from brink-of-death to healthy-enough-to-survive (and even thrive).  Here are some things that I’ve seen in most shows, and how they apply to your personal career management:

Change the menu – All menus get a makeover. Sometimes they are completely redone, going from a general restaurant to a steakhouse.  Sometimes the makeover is a reduction in menu items, as the restaurant has spread itself too thin, and the huge menu is affecting profits, operational complexity, and overall food quality.

Career advice: Reevaluate your offering and consider changing it.  Are your skills current, focused, and appropriate for the next few years?  Are you spread too thin?  Are your skills commoditized, or are they differentiated?

Change the environment – A few days into each restaurant salvation Gordon Ramsay’s design team comes in and completely redoes the restaurant – light fixtures, tables and chairs, colors, etc.  Even the outside gets a facelift, at the very least a new sign.  One owner said, kind of dejected, “I could have done that myself… I could have gone down to the sign guy and bartered, and gotten an awesome sign.”  Yes, he could have, but he DIDN’T.  What can YOU do but aren’t doing?

Career advice: What does your image say about you?  Is it time to change something… your dress, hair style, accessories or even your briefcase or laptop bag?  The first impression is so important, but so are ongoing impressions.

Change the attitudes – Amazingly, restaurant owners and chefs think Gordon is going to come in and tip-toe around their restaurant and food creations, and are very surprised when he starts cussing them out, yelling at them, and telling them they are running the business like it were a game they were not interested in.  

It’s painful to watch, but he’s pulling some small grain of passion out of the abyss, a passion which has been hidden away for a long time.  Only when the owner and/or chef gets that passion again are they ready to listen and focus on getting serious about their business.

Career advice: in this ever-flattening world, we need to be open to change, and not engrained in how things are, should be, or used to be.  Many times this means we humble ourselves so that we can at least hear and consider what experts say.

Communication – in every episode I saw there were serious communication problems.  The chef, under pressure, either doesn’t communicate at all, or shouts… and shouts… and shouts.  Owners get into fights with staff, blame flies all over the place while no one is figuring out how to solve the problem, or get to the root problem. Panic and emergency feed combined with poor communication cause major grief.

Career advice: communication is the key to so many things, and it is kind of easy, but do we really communicate well?  Do our writing skills (email, etc.) need help?  Can we communicate under pressure, or do we lose it?  This essential skill is something that merits an investment – improve your communication and perhaps you’ll change the trajectory of your career path.

The support team – I’m amazed as I watch the server staff and hosts support changes that the chef and owner think are crazy.  The support team knows what’s going on, they can see the forest through the trees, they are not as hung up on pride, and they MEET WITH THE CUSTOMERS more than anyone else.  More amazing than supporting the changes?  Their loyalty.

Career advice: You have loyal fans, and people who wish to support you.   Appreciate them for what they do, and for their loyalty to you.  Consult with them frequently to see how you are doing, and find out what they think you should be doing differently.  They might not always be right, but the different perspective will be invaluable.  Who are your loyal fans?  Rod Colon of the ETP Network says your Board of Directors include your spouse and kids.

Focus on quality of food – Gordon Ramsay slams almost every single dish he sees.  The presentation (one restaurant used a funnel to shape their salads into a cone-shape … he burned the funnels with open flames!) doesn’t work, or there’s too much garlic, or too much salt, or any other thing.  Know what?  The resident chef always thinks their food is fine… as does the owner.  And they are very offended that Gordon thinks their food is worse than dog food.  Here’s one thing I love… when Gordon Ramsay goes into the kitchen to teach the chef new recipes, they are always excited to learn from The Master.  The pride goes away for a while and they are like kids in a candy store.

Career advice: Every chef thinks their food is the bomb, and many professionals think their competency is as good (or better) than the next guy.  But every chef had to step it up, and accept their final product was sub-par.  How is your quality?  You really, really, really should get outside assessments of this.  One way to do it is through Reach’s 360 degree assessment tool.

Focus on profit – Gordon is not there to make the food better, or to make the ambiance nicer, or to fix personnel issues.  Gordon Ramsay walks in the door to fix financial problems, and help restaurants that should be healthy become healthy.  Whether it’s looking at inventory, making portion sizes smaller (even making plates smaller), or having the server staff sell more variety of the menu, it’s all about becoming profitable.  WITHOUT APOLOGIZING FOR IT.  

Career advice: you may want to chase your passions instead of a paycheck, which is noble.  But passions don’t pay the bills – money does.  Make sure you understand the role of money in your current situation, and what you’ll need to retire, and make that a priority.  An added benefit?  Once the restaurants turned around financially, an immense amount of stress melted away.  Not that money will solve all of your problems, but it can’t be neglected.

Gimmicky things to get people aware of the restaurant – whether it’s organizing a bikers ride, giving away hamburgers or meatballs, or having a town BBQ party, Gordon got the staff OUT of the restaurant and into the town, to let them know there was something new, something worth coming to the restaurant for.  

Career advice: The restaurant people had to get outside their four walls and get into the community and let them know they are there, and what they do.  You have to do the same thing.  How?  Have a social marketing strategy.  Write white papers.  Speak at conferences.  Start a blogtalkradio show.  Volunteer in the community.  Initiate “never eat alone” lunches.  Help other people, without being asked.  Get proactive about this… your “community” isn’t going to come to your cubicle to find you – you need to go where you’ll find them.

Brand and Tagline – Many restaurants go from one brand to another during the show.  A hokey restaurant which specializes in serving people from a retirement home becomes the town’s premier steakhouse, an Italian restaurant on the brink of death becomes branded as serving the world’s best meatballs… In a number of shows Gordon walks around the neighborhood to see what the competition looks like, and where the opportunities are.  Why go from retirement home restaurant to steakhouse?  Because there was NO steakhouse in the entire town!

Career advice: Same as changing the menu, is it time to reconsider who and what you are?  There were some huge branding changes in the show, and sometimes the hardest part was to swallow pride and accept the change, with a certain amount of faith and trust.  Consider the idea that you might be branded completely wrong, and need help (and the guts) to change everything.

ASK THE CUSTOMER – the chef is usually in denial, and on many episodes they say “no one ever complains about the food,” leaving Gordon Ramsay with his mouth wide open in disbelief.  The look on his face says “You serve crap, and are proud to do it just because no one is complaining???  Where is your professional pride??”

Career advice: The more you assume, the less you ask, the more trouble you’ll be in down the road.  That 360 assessment is SO powerful because it allows you to see what other people think of you, and perception is reality.  DO NOT neglect asking your customer what they think about you, and trust what they say.  Even if you think they are not qualified to have a real opinion, they will certainly have their perception… and they might even talk to other customers about you!

The spouse knows the pain – the restaurant is usually the dream of the owner, and the spouse knows how much blood, sweat and tears went into it.  They also know that things aren’t going so well, AND they are at risk of losing EVERYTHING (home, etc.).  Gordon meets with the spouse to determine if the husband is really ready to change.  

Career advice: in my last job I frequently asked my team’s spouses what they thought of the company.  Responses gave me an idea of what my team really thought.  What would your spouse say about your current career path?  They will know if you are passionate about what you are doing, or if you are settling and unhappy.  Take that spouse inventory, and you might learn something about yourself!

It’s been fun to watch Chef Gordon Ramsay, who tells it like it is, and says the hard things that most people don’t want to hear (but they need to hear it).

This post is sponsored by Susan Guarneri, the Career Assessment Goddess.  Susan recently coauthored Job Search Bloopers (a really fun book!) and speciliazes in Reach’s 360 Assessment and personal branding.  Susan Guarneri is a JibberJobber Career Expert Partner, and blogs as the Career Goddess.