At a macro level, the food and beverage industry is a no-nonsense industry that shares a similar inspiring message as preached by Mahatma Gandhi, "the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Equally heartening, in many respects, Bob Dylan released the spiritual hymn “Gotta Serve Somebody” on August 20, 1979; I was 19 and working the Orlando restaurant scene, dreaming of a position at the new Walt Disneyland Resort but could not find the nerve to apply. My ignorance of the finer expectations of the food service industry was deep and wide, with subtle nuances of stupidity. But I was hooked and found a job that included a meal each shift; thank goodness! Someone shared, "If you work for five years in any industry, it will most likely become your career field," 35 to 40 years ago.
Passion and Commitment: The Cornerstones of Success in the Foodservice Industry
Since then, I have worked in five states, opened two hotels and four or five restaurants, and worked in several free-standing restaurants and numerous city clubs, along with some of the friendliest country clubs in the southeast. I earned associate, undergrad, and graduate degrees at prestigious educational venues in four and half years while achieving the Dean’s List status throughout. I competed in local, state, and international culinary salons and coached five separate student culinary competition teams. I volunteered a lot of time to help new members in our chosen field as I had been helped over the years while attending the "School of Hard Knocks."
Throughout this experiential period, passionate flames roared within more often than not. If the passion faded, I added new logs to the fire to coax the flame back to a barn burner! Passion and commitment have to come from within. One cannot purchase passion; you either have passion, you are building passion, or you need to understand what passion is and what passion can do for you, and commitment is the same way.
The food service industry is one of the few where it is difficult to randomly or purposely experience two back-to-back days in the same manner. You may see the same people but not serve the same people. You may work in the same kitchen, just not on one specific task, will serve different people, will not cook the same food nor work the same stations. There are many variables when working with food, and no two people have the same technical skill set or expertise.
Even in large international hotels like the Peninsula Bangkok, Thailand, with 370 guest rooms and 770 staff members, 102 celebrate 15 years of service and numerous prestigious hotel properties, i.e., Raffles Hotel Singapore has one employee on staff per guest on the property. Passion and commitment for and to service at either the Peninsula Bangkok or Raffles Hotel is legendary. The "Gold Standard" of service at Ritz Carlton properties professes every day, "We serve ladies and gentlemen by ladies and gentlemen."
The Parable of Pigs and Chickens in the Foodservice Industry
Consider the following parable. What and how do pigs and chickens contribute to your breakfast every time you have it? Answer: Chickens can only lay one egg per day and may even go for more than one or two days without laying an egg. In this sense, chickens are involved or participating in your morning repast. But every time you ordered breakfast bacon, ham, sausage, or any other breakfast meat with the pig in the center of the plate, that pig was thoroughly "committed" to ensuring you had bacon, ham, or sausage on your plate!
Humans have established an organizational parable where animals mimic human behavior. The crux of the lesson suggests a breakfast of bacon and eggs requires the ultimate sacrifice of a pig and the daily eggs chickens lay, and you can find people who are fully committed to the mission, goal, or any other soft or hard skill and watch as they complete their task with a lot of positivity and accuracy. The aspiring young cook should find a seasoned experiential mentor who is both a pig and a chicken in that they have mastered the balance between being committed to the task and unwinding to recharge.
The pigs of the food service industry are committed to doing an excellent job with the best intentions and understand there is a mountain of practical and technical knowledge to learn and attempt to master. They swap lost time from family events, meeting with friends, or investing in long-term relationships in favor of overtime and charitable opportunities while advancing their skills and fortifying their resumes. The pig is often the young aspiring person with few responsibilities outside of work. The pig always needs help to maintain a balance between the work, social, and personal realms of life.
Conversely, the chicken has purposely achieved more of the elusive "balance of life." They work hard, are knowledgeable and respected, and live outside the food service industry. The passion of the chicken is toasty and comfortable; just right, you might think or say. Usually, the chickens have matured in all three realms of life. They recognize the critical importance of creating an ideal circumstance allowing the development of long-term relationships, cultivating a life around family, the social and personal benefits of life-long friends, and the essential work to develop such relationships.
Conclusion
It is easier for a pig to gravitate to becoming a chicken than a chicken to rise to become a pig. What are your thoughts on this analogy? Is there a place for both personas in the workplace and, more specifically, in a busy commercial kitchen?
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