Leadership Lessons from Top Chef Masters

While watching Top Chef Masters, this season, I was not only struck by the craft and creativity of the chefs, but also, the leadership wisdom that I could garner from them:
Competition and Camaraderie can go hand in hand
All the chefs who participated in the series know their competition well, they know each chef’s strength and respect them for that. When it’s time to compete they compete to win, but there is genuine camaraderie and respect.
There is always something to learn from competition and instead of the usual attack or defence mode, the camaraderie mode, may bring out the best in each person.
A leader can still learn
One may think, given that these chefs are well known and cater to A-list celebrities, nothing can ever faze them. They seem to know everything and everyone. But, they don’t.
In a teppanyaki challenge (cooking on a hot steel plate that forms the center of the table.), none of the chefs had ever worked on a teppanyaki and did not have any time to learn. So they had to improvise as they went- learning to use the teppan as they cooked.
As leaders, unlike outside perception, we may not know everything that there is to know. We may fear the unknown, but if we don’t use the opportunities around us to learn and understand, we may be stuck where we are- in our own comfort zones.
Criticism can be a new way of learning
At the end of each day of cooking, the chefs have to face the critics who are judging their dish. The chef with the least favourite dish is sent home. Receiving this feedback is hard since it is given in front of their peers, the feedback is given by industry renowned food critics and it is aired on international television! It is definitely not a safe environment to receive criticism. But they do.
As leaders, we must be open to feedback — positive and negative. We would like everyone around us to give us feedback in a sensitive manner, but not everyone is trained to do it that way. What we can consider is our own response to the feedback and see whether we can take something back that we can work on.
Every day is a new battle- fight fair and fight well
In an episode where each chef had a cook-off with another chef and only one would be selected, a chef ran short of a portion to serve the judges, he also dint have the fish to make an extra portion and realized it minutes before the competition ended. Looking at his predicament, the other chef competing with him, gives him the portion of fish that he needs.
When asked why the chef did that in a competition, he said, that we will be judged on the merits of our dish and the battle should be fair, so I had to help the other chef to complete his dish.
As leaders and managers, to be in a position of power or control, we may want to hide our knowledge and understanding, keeping others at a disadvantage. But, sharing knowledge can help you present a stronger, more capable team and the collective effort and intellect can put you far ahead of other teams.
You are on top one day and down the next- but that’s part of the game
These chefs are competing with their peers who are best in the business. So, while everyone has a strategy- a strategy to win, it doesn’t always work that way and the chefs take it in their stride. It is not to say that they lack emotion- emotions run high, they express themselves passionately, but at the end of the day, they acknowledge that it was just not their day and someone else did better.
All of us come in to win and hopefully to learn. We bring our A-Game to the table. But some days just don’t go well. The fact that we tried and that there is always another day to think of a new strategy and learn from the failed one, should energize us.
By Deepti Lewis
