lunch menus and leaders

Today I was awake at 5:30 am and I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep. When I tried, these thoughts ran through my head: "fresh mozzarella for Monday, when will we start baking foccacia, how much basil will we use each week if we make pesto fresh every day, ..." and it goes on.

I'm still at D'Napoli. The new owner made me a pretty good deal to stay on and help him create some usable systems in the kitchen as well as launch a lunch menu (hence the early morning basil pesto computations). Yet, while I am still working there, sometimes I still feel as if it's day-to-day. I've got a good crew in the kitchen and, aside from working a few more hours than I'd like, things are running well in there. Our floor staff isn't having the same experience, however.

I have admittedly high standards for those who are in management or leadership. I believe in a few fundamental things about management. These may be naive beliefs, but I am not ready to give them up yet. They are (at least the ones I can think of right now): 1- Leaders work harder than everyone else. That is part of why you are respected. 2- Leaders/managers value their employees as their greatest assets, understanding that to lose good people is to sacrifice your own success. 3- Leaders respect those above and below them enough to be honest with them.
I guess the overarching thing here is this: If there is slack to be picked up, those in charge should pick it up.

That's not what I am seeing at work right now. People have been put into leadership because they know the right people (and I know this is how the world works, I'm not trying to change that here) and, being put in that place, they are not earning the respect they need because they still think that being a manager means telling people what to do and then counting the money at the end of the day.

I am so discouraged by the lack of good leadership I see (and I'm steering clear of talking about some leadership that really matters, that could have saved lives in the Superdome last week), but I'm not ready to give up on finding it out there somewhere. I no longer expect to find it though. I am not surprised to see overworked employees padding the wallet of some business owner who's seemingly forgotten what it took to become successful in the first place. When I said I still feel as if it's day-to-day there, this is why. If I don't see some efforts for real change, I don't know how I can support them and keep them in business.

Okay, rant over. To answer Steven, the writing is still underway. I am working on a project for the Boulder Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, querying magazines with article ideas, and maybe I'll start writing some short fiction again soon.

My wife made scones yesterday. They're calling. 

Comments

[b-rich]

you should answer that call.
I hope that this week will bring some new life into your place of work, and some good leadership. Until then, I know that you will do whatever is needed. Blessings.

[Juana]

i like your wife, i like scones, basically you and julie are some of my favorite people ever. i think and pray for you often father goose.

[Bob]

Regretfully, new leaders will emulate what they have seen in action while they were an employee. To change, requires either new leaders to emulate or training and education. Encouragement and praise work wonders! Also, don't expect immediate change. Slow and gradual change is what you will see. Just encourage the right actions when you see them.

[j. haas]

Waking up at some horrible hour early in the morning trying to remember if you got enough of something, is the worst part of my job easily and i would trade for anything. Keep up the good work, hard work is the best kind and find your blessing, its there

[Jonathan Capp]

Sean, at the church I went to last week, we read this unbelievable passage from Nehemiah about leadership. It basically talks about how all the people got in Nehemiah's grill about the management (rich dudes class) and he stood up for the people who were working and over taxed. The Bible is cool. Nehemiah 5:1-15

[Geoff]

I know you havent posted in a year or so, but I thought I would just say hi, none the less. So...hi.

[N Tony Biasell]

Sean, I am a bit slow in reading but I am glad that you are back. Keep writing. This is very good stuff.