Shauna Moerke is…

It’s not just because I think he’s sexy. But he is sexy. But that is so not the reason. But man, is he sexy! Oh geez, when did this blog devolve into some crazy fan girl site?

Anyway, despite my personal feelings on the matter, and despite either the good or the bad you may have heard about him, Chef Gordon Ramsey embodies certain characteristics that I wish more managers and supervisors had. Here’s what I mean:

1. A strict, almost obsessive, need for quality. Think you’re going to send out that bland pasta dish? Slightly burnt steak? Not in his kitchen. He holds both his staff and himself to high standards and will not compromise. Customer satisfaction is key and you can’t get that through sloppy, inconsistent work.
2. Planning is everything when running an efficient kitchen. You have 60 diners and they all want their food now. If you aren’t prepared and organized there is no way that you will be able to feed them in a timely fashion. This requires putting in the time, effort and strategic foresight to anticipate needs.
3. Confrontation is necessary. Say what you will about getting into someones face and calling them a donkey or a pig (and these are the mild insults, trust me) but he never hesitates to let his employees know when they did something wrong. I’m not advocating being a bully or insulting your employees, that really doesn’t fly. But confronting them when needed? You better believe it.
4. Honestly caring about, rewarding, and encouraging the development of your employees. Despite his aggressive behavior, Chef Ramsey clearly cares about his staff and takes mentoring new chefs seriously. If you work for him for 1 to 2 years you can be assured of walking out of his kitchen with the knowledge, skills, and connections you may never have gotten otherwise. If you leave his employ at all, he has amazing staff retention. You may even be able to step right into a better position in one of his many restaurants, another chef’s restaurant, or even walk out with the financial backing to start your own.
5. Having the drive, ambition and passion for what he does. You can’t succeed if you don’t like what you are doing. How can you motivate your employees if you aren’t even driven to succeed? No one can deny the level of ambition, passion, and commitment Chef Ramsey brings to his work every day. It is inspiring and infectious. And it’s necessary if you want to get the best from your employees.

Managing people is hard and it’s very easy to do a bad or mediocre job. It’s especially easy for me, who doesn’t have any direct reports, to sit back and tell managers what to do. But supervisors owe it to their company, their employees, and themselves to do the best job they can. As a minion, I know that’s what I want in a boss. So try to find leadership inspiration where you can, and being a little sexy can’t hurt as well.