The opportunity to be engaged through the external placement gave me a chance to exercise skills and learn. Being placed at one of the best culinary institutions in the world for the externship, the Momofuku Kojin in Toronto, I gained a lot of experience working in the real world. As a student in practice and an aspiring leader, I was keen to learn the different leadership practices that are effective in the restaurant industries. Through observation of interaction with the two principal leaders at the hotel, I appreciated common and leisure-fair leadership styles.
At the Momofuku Kojin, two significant chefs acted as the overall leaders offering guidance and advice to the rest of the members of the staff. These two are Chefs Steven Allery and Shauna Godfrey. While they were not the actual leaders at the establishment, these two members of the staff did work that could be considered leadership compared to other employees. They portrayed qualities such as decision-making abilities, accountability, delegation abilities, and excellent communication, which made them part of good leadership at the restaurant (Olar, 2019. However, the two great leaders exemplified different types of leadership styles.
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Between the two leaders at the restaurant, my favorite was Chef Steve. He won my accolade due to his constant effort to push me to be better and achieve more than I did daily. He encouraged me to push on and active even when things were going against my will and created a fighter spirit in me and engraved the ability to push on even in bad times. Also though his methods at times broke me down, I would come from his little talks re-energized and ready for the next demanding task. He was a vital entity to my continued presence at the establishment.
Chef Steve's leadership was mainly democratic, as he considered the opinion of every member of the team. Steve was not quick to judge or make decisions but rather made consultations with other employees at the Momofuku Kojin restaurant before taking action. One of the benefits of democratic leadership is empowering subordinates to the level that they can make decisions (Olar, 2019). I often felt appreciated and essential any time he consulted me on different issues at the restaurant. My favorite were times, he asked me to taste delicious meals and give an opinion on the taste, and even at times, provide recommendations for improvement.
Empowering group embers to aid in decision making is what makes a democratic leader great. Through the times when Chef Steve consulted me in making decisions, I felt exceptional and motivated. At times I was down and felt like my life was a mess. For example, one day, I got a customer's order wrong. The service staff came demanding an explanation which I lacked. While the rest of the staff looked down upon myself and made me feel defeated, Steve talked to the customer and made him forgive me. Moreover, he asked me to make a meal that I thought would make the customer happy. After helping me, we made a dish that made the customer a constant customer at the restaurant. By empowering me, Steve made what was supposed to be a mistake, an impetus to boost to my confidence levels where I did not expect at all.
Another trait that made Steve a great chef was his leadership by example. According to Olar (2019) , a democratic leader exemplifies what he wants to see in his subordinates. Understanding the importance of handwork in the kitchen, Steve is always on the clock and does not let time pass without doing anything. He often does double the work done by other employees in the organization. Consequently, he does not mentor lazy people. To fit in his schedule and be mentored by Steve, I had to work more than the rest of the student on the culinary internship.
As a democratic leader, Steve is a mentor to his subordinates and wants to see them reach high levels of work. Democratic leadership is participative and empowering and demands the willingness of the leader to help subordinates productive high standards of practice(Olar, 2019). Steve did not want to be the only one with the knowledge and ability to do stuff at the restaurant. He was quick to teach other different culinary practices and to encourage continuous learning. However, the more he explained, the more he was invited to learn, which made it hard to catch up with him.
Progress for subordinates is highly appreciated by Democratic leaders such as Chef Steve. It is not enough that assistants perform their duties according to laid up procedures. For a democratic leader, marked progress is the real measure of success in a group (Olar, 2019). As a great leader, Steve ensured that he instilled the motivation to progress from one level to the next in his subordinate. Each time I made a meal, Steve would not only congratulate me but also tell me to try to add to the taste or improve on the appeal or maybe try it on different customers.
On the other hand, Chef Shauna was one of the most beautiful people I have ever come across in my life. At first, I thought Shauna was only beautiful to me because we attended the same school. We would discuss different issues from school and interest each other in the well-about of the Culinary Institute of America. However, I came to learn that he was naturally a nice person who could not confront anyone, whether on the right or wrong. While he was certainly easy to approach and create conversations with, the leadership style was not as effective as that of Steve at the Momofuku Kojin restaurant.
Chef Shauna took a laissez-Faire approach to leadership at the Momofuku Kojin restaurant. In a laissez-fair leadership style, the leaders are hands-off, allowing members of the group to take charge and do as they wish (Olar, 2019). Shauna took the role of an observer in the kitchen and did not tamper with the working of other members of staff. However, at times, he would come and help me when there was a lot of work at the end of the kitchen. Such kind gestures made me extremely fond and close to him in a way that was both beneficial and limiting at times.
While it is necessary to know when to talk to workers and when to let them work on their own, Shauna mainly allows everyone does as they please. Shauna was calm and collected and bothered, not on what was happening in the kitchen. He was of the idea that too much supervision may delay the ability of subordinates to perform. The minimum supervision boosted confidence among members of staff to create and be better than they currently were at any given time.
The main challenge with Shauna’s approach to leadership is limited employee productivity. The Laissez-fair kind of leadership is associated with limited productivity among members of staff (Olar, 2019. At the Momofuku Kojin restaurant, some employees grew lazy after being left to work on their own. Instead of maximizing the chance to develop themselves, they became lazy and at times, engaged in small talks and other things that delay productivity.
In conclusion, Chef Shauna and Steve are among the best leaders at the Momofuku Kojin restaurant. Through their leadership, I was able to gain confidence and add skills to my culinary profession. They empowered me to be the best version of myself. However, it is notable that Chef Steve, with his democratic leadership style, was more critical than Shauna, who practiced a laissez-fair approach. A culinary leader needs hands-on practice and constant interaction with subordinates to exert the best kind of influence. Too much freedom may be disadvantageous to a culinary team.
References
Olar, A. (2019). 4 Leadership Styles to Use for Restaurant Business. Foodfindsasia. https://www.foodfindsasia.com/4-leadership-styles-to-use-for-restaurant-business/
