What if leadership is much like preparing a gourmet meal? That's the tantalizing concept we're cooking up in today's thought-provoking episode. We're taking a juicy quote from Thomas Erikson and seasoning it with our own insights on leadership.
Picture this: if everyone were a driven leader, there would be no one left to be led; if everyone were an enthusiastic entertainer, there would be no one left to amuse; and if everyone were a detail-oriented perfectionist, there wouldn't be anything left to keep in order. With these savory morsels of thought, we'll discover how leadership, like cooking, demands a well-balanced blend of different ingredients.
What if leadership is much like preparing a gourmet meal? That's the tantalizing concept we're cooking up in today's thought-provoking episode. We're taking a juicy quote from Thomas Erikson and seasoning it with our own insights on leadership.
Picture this: if everyone were a driven leader, there would be no one left to be led; if everyone were an enthusiastic entertainer, there would be no one left to amuse; and if everyone were a detail-oriented perfectionist, there wouldn't be anything left to keep in order. With these savory morsels of thought, we'll discover how leadership, like cooking, demands a well-balanced blend of different ingredients.
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Speaker 1:
This is unleashing leadership, and I'm your host, travis Moss. And today is quote day, and we are going to talk about the chef, and before we do, we are right smack in the middle of fighting monsters. That was our last episode regarding surrounded by idiots, and we will be moving on to building trust for skill development. So that's a little bit of what we have to look forward to, and today our quote actually has nothing to do with being a chef, but it inspires me to think about the chef. And so there you go, and it's actually by Thomas Erickson himself the author of surrounded by idiots, and his quote is if everyone were a driven leader, there would be no one left to be led. If everyone were an enthusiastic entertainer, there would be no one left to amuse. And if everyone were a detail oriented perfectionist, there wouldn't be anything left to keep in order.
Speaker 1:
Alright, so what are my hobbies? Is cooking. I enjoy the grab bag cook with what you have style of challenges, but one thing that I always have is a well stocked spice cabinet, and in addition to the spice cabinet, I regularly have a pretty good selection of vinegar, oils and cooking wines, because I love playing around with putting different flavors together different seasonings and oils and vinegar or whatever. I love making different flavor combinations, and not just the different flavor combinations, but how I actually apply them. Do I apply them before the cooking, during the cooking or after the cooking? Because the different flavors and the different ingredients, they each have some different powers to them. Basically, they can change a meal in very different ways depending on how you use them. And it's a lot of fun and not only does it make the food taste good and it makes us really excited about eating in and eating healthy, but it is healthier for us when we learn how to use different ingredients, when you learn about not over cooking your oils and stuff like that. So it's good for us, it's good for us mentally, it's good for us emotionally and it's good for us physically. And so herbs, herbs, vinegar, oils and wines these are kind of like our monsters and you could pick any four ingredients, but they're kind of like monsters. You can easily make or break a dish by applying too much of a particular monster or not enough of a particular monster.
Speaker 1:
If you put too much vinegar in something I love vinegar, my wife not so much. A big fan of vinegar you have to find a great amount to put in there. So you still get the buzz of the vinegar, but it doesn't overpower the dish. If you really take your time and enjoy your meal, you still get the essence of that vinegar, but it doesn't derail the meal. It makes somebody who is not a huge fan of vinegar throw up in their mouth.
Speaker 1:
You can season things until the food becomes a garnish. Have you ever gone to a restaurant and there's so much salt or so much pepper on something? You can't actually taste the food. So it's a common mistake. Too much it's a good thing and it actually turns into a bad thing.
The point is is that we need to learn how to get the most out of different ingredients so that the recipe turns out to be a huge success. And sometimes you write the recipe as you go. You understand your ingredients to the degree that you really don't even need a recipe. You can be so creative that you can be like I'm trying to go for this flavor and I know, if I put those things together, this is what's gonna happen. And you go well, how would I know those things? Well, because if you learn how to cook, you learn how to cook by trial and error. You make something that tastes like you know trash and you throw it away. Well, you don't stop cooking and say, well, I'm just not a good cook, I don't have that skill. No, you cook something else and you learn again, and you learn from it Everything you do. You look at it and say, well, geez, you know I applied that early. It didn't end up with much flavor. What if I apply it late? Too much vinegar, too much salt? What if I put less in there? You trial and error and you learn these things. You learn how to get the most out of each of your ingredients. You learn when to apply each of your ingredients and you also learn that you can't make something out of something that isn't. Salt is always gonna taste like salt. Pepper is always going to taste like pepper.
Speaker 1:
You can hide things, but you can't change things. Things are what they are. You learn how to use them, not hide them. People are the same way. Celebrate the uniqueness of people. I'm not saying don't hold them accountable. I'm saying that you take an accountable person and you celebrate them for what they bring from a unique perspective. What is the flavor that each of them brings to life around them and the world in general? Good leaders are like good chefs. They understand the flavor that they are going for. They know what that dish is supposed to taste like or in their mind, they've got this feeling about that flavor and they look at their ingredients. They look at all these little monsters in the spice cabinet and then they comprise the dish, and that amazing dish always leaves you wanting more MUSICθ₯.