Surviving your Business Nightmares

Surviving Your Business Nightmares

Four business lessons of Gordon Ramsay

Chef Gordon Ramsay: What do you mean 'no crab cakes'?

From the outset I have to admit to being a big fan of the hit TV show, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, both of the original UK show and the even grittier, though slightly more formulaic, version that airs in the USA.  The expletive-laden outbursts and the ego-maniacal owners, coupled with the confrontations and the final resolution, make for compelling viewing.  Although no further episodes are now going to be made, the show often runs on several channels in the USA at any one time, including BBC America. Nevertheless, whilst this is primarily a piece of popular TV entertainment, there are some valid business lessons that can be drawn from Gordon Ramsay’s style and approach.

If you can't stand the heat ...

Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant or hotel kitchen can testify to the sometimes febrile and volatile atmosphere that exists. The egos of chefs and owners can often blind them to the reality of what is going on within their business, many agree to appear on the show as a last ditch attempt to save a business that has been hovering over the precipice long before the ‘man in the whitecoat’ puts his head around the door and blasts them with an f-word laden broadside.  Much has been made in the media of the fact that a significant percentage of restaurants subsequently folded after appearing in the show, but this may be more a result of the fact that they were already on the ropes, rather than being directly attributable to Ramsay’s interventions.  Having avidly viewed many of the episodes, here are four helpful business lessons that I feel can be drawn from Gordon Ramsay’s approach, whatever your business:

"I'm Gordon and you are?"

Firstly, there is the personable and team-centred approach to everyone in the organisation, at whatever level. Saying that Gordon Ramsay has a personable and people-centred style of leadership, may sound slightly oxymoronic, given that he is renowned for the explosive and confrontational approach that he adopts in the show. Nevertheless, he always engenders a team spirit amongst the members of the business and approaches everyone, from the pot washer to the manager, in an inclusive and even-handed way. Partly this is personality, but it is also symptomatic of the need to keep a diverse team of people together, such as those you would find in the average kitchen, and tied into a common vision. He tries to pull everyone along who share in the vision, but this doesn't blind him to the need to cut out the deadwood, if they are sabotaging the mission and holding the business back.

"You can't serve the customer that!"

Secondly, no compromise on quality for the customer. He is an acknowledged and respected expert in his field and he has a laser-focus on delivering quality to the customer, even if this requires trampling on a few egos in the process.  He has no time for chefs that lack the passion to ensure that the food leaving from the pass is of the highest quality, made from the best freshest produce; but also in ensuring that the front of house is focused on giving the customer a quality experience. Here his approach is similar to that of Steve Jobs at Apple or Jeff Bezos at Amazon, both of whom were known to blow-up at those who don’t share the same passion and obsession for delivering a quality customer service.

Ego ...

Thirdly, don’t let ego blind you to what is going on within your business and seek help, when you need it.  When we have been running a business for a while, we become proud of that achievement and, sometimes, that pride blinds us to the need to seek help from time to time. A coach or a mentor, which is often the role that Ramsay is playing here, can help us lose the scales from our eyes and focus on a clearer vision for the way ahead. To help achieve this, he often has to confront that self-belief head-on and he is certainly not shy of pricking their egos in order to help them see the best way forward.  Often the coach can see the business more objectively and look beyond the obstacles that we believe to be insurmountable, with solutions that help us achieve our goals and fulfil our vision.

Keep it simple

Finally, keep it simple. Many of the restaurants that he visits have over-long menus or produce unnecessarily complicated dishes. Ramsay encourages them to focus on what they are good at and play to their strengths, whether that is a culinary style or the availability of local home-grown produce.

It’s not often that you can draw business lessons from a hit TV reality show, but Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares may be an exception because of the subject matter and also the format within which they approach the specific problems of each restaurant. In one respect it is a televised version of a management consulting process, but focused on the catering trade. Nevertheless, I do feel that these four business lessons are something from which we could all draw some inspiration, but maybe with not quite so much swearing.

So, what are you waiting for? Get the #$@&% on with it!

Written by Will Trevor, Founder and training consultant at Windsor Training
Email: will.trevor@windsortraining.net

Picture Credit: By 'gordonramsaysubmissions' [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons