Manage like an Executive
In the restaurant industry, the pressure is immense, and success and failure are separated by the thinnest of margins. Over a 20-plus-year career in navigating that make-or-break industry from the front lines, Executive Chef Andre Natera has learned a few things. It's time to Manage like an Executive Chef.
Step into the Kitchen
First Course: Choosing the Right Ingredients
Second Course: Bringing Your Ingredients to Life
Third Course: Serving Up Lasting Success
Step into the Kitchen
Meet Executive Chef Andre Natera
Learn how to manage your business like an executive chef with restaurant industry veteran Andre Natera.
First Course: Choosing the Right Ingredients
Shared Passion within a Diverse Culture
Seeking out new hires who share a common vision doesn't mean bringing on cookie-cutter employees. Each team member should have enough confidence to buy in to a common goal and win and lose together, yet also help create a diverse culture that holds everyone, regardless of status, accountable.
How To Be a Game Changer
In any industry, standing out in today's cluttered media landscape requires telling your unique story in a relatable way, reinventing yourself without straying from your brand's identity, and being bold enough to be the exception to the rule.
Second Course: Bringing Your Ingredients to Life
Constructing a Menu for Success
Building your "menu" isn't an excuse to show off all your flashy tricks or force too many touchpoints into one "dish."
Mutiny Won’t Be Tolerated
Valuable feedback from those you manage is one thing, but mutiny is another. You have to address it quickly and establish that it won't be tolerated.
Everything Is a Negotiation
Vendor relationships are tricky, but entering them from a position of confidence can work wonders. There are many vendors vying for your business, but only one of you, giving you the upper hand.
Don’t Let Cash Walk Out the Door
Fiscal responsibility should be evident in everything your organization does, and it's critical to instill that sense of responsibility at every level. If everyone views waste as dollars and cents, it's easier to visualize how much money is lost.
Third Course: Serving Up Lasting Success
Culture Keeps the Standards
In Chef Natera's kitchen, if you ask anyone how they're doing, they'll tell you they're "awake and ready."
Leading with Purpose
The building blocks of a great culture are a common vision, individual purpose, and a sense of belonging, and it starts at the top. Instead of practicing what you preach, preach what you practice. Learn from your team and delegate tasks to those with the skills to succeed.
Overcoming Adversity
Every organization and leader will face adversity. It's how a leader responds to those challenges that defines their true strength.