Leadership Lessons from Cooking

If I invited you over to the house so I could cook for you, I would do that. I’d cook. It wouldn’t be much and I’d probably choose to use the charcoal grill. I do have a mean ribs recipe and I’ve been known to bake coffee cake that people think really good.  For the sake of this analogy, let’s say we will grill up some hamburgers.  If I did that, you could say, “Terry cooked.”

However, if Kelly (my wife) took over and put together the food, you’d have a much better experience.  It would taste better.  To say “Kelly cooked” would mean something different from “Terry cooked.”  Both describe the same experience.  One is much better. Way better.

Everyone can cook. Some can cook for many years and say they are experienced.  Even a “veteran” cook.  However, some just cook better.  Their food tastes and looks better. They not only have the experience of cooking, but there’s something different about what they do and produce.  One of the reasons is seasoning – both in the food and in the cook.

Good cooks have learned how to create food that is amazing … and good cooks have learned.  They don’t just have the experience. That experience has mattered.  Which brings up this principle:

Seasoning is more important than experience.

Anyone can have experience, but it doesn’t mean they’ve learned from it. This is true in most fields of work.  Some coaches just coach better. Some leaders just lead better. Some teachers teach better. What often creates the separation is that they’re seasoned. 

What does seasoning look like?

Seasons = transitions. Those who are seasoned have experienced the up’s/down’s and twists/turns and learned from them. The word season suggests that one has seen the changes of time. I love it when I interview someone for a job and it’s clear that, no matter what he/she will see from us, they’ve handled it before – and well.  Someone who’s parented teenagers until they’re out of the house will write a very different book about parenting than the one whose children are still in their early teens.  They’ve seen the range of seasons.  Knowledge plus experience does not equal seasoning. Seasoning requires wisdom and teachability.
Seasoning = A depth of taste.   We could travel to a nearby Starbucks and order a tea chai latte. It’s good, but it’s basically a few ingredients mixed together and a bunch of sweetener.  If we drove a little farther and visited a Teavana store and smelled their Samurai Chai Mate tea, your sense of smell would recognize the many ingredients that make up that excellent chai.  Seasoned leaders are no different. They possess an array of ingredients as to why they’re successful. They’re not performers, counselors, or dictators.  They give oversight and direction that provides a rich aroma to their work.  And there’s more to them than meets the eye at first glance.
Seasoning = Hospitality.  This train is one I see this often when I’m coaching leaders.  Seasoning denotes a level of hospitality just like a cook desires as she creates her best dishes.  Her goal is to have her guests could enjoy a meal with her.  For the cook, hosting is part of the meal.  Food wasn’t meant to be gulped on the way to a meeting, but good cooks want us to savor the experienced with family and/or friends – and come back for more.  Leadership is no different.  I can tell a leader’s seasoning level by watching how people react when he or she walks into the room. If the response is muted or cautious, that speaks loudly about the flavor of the group.  And of the hospitality of the leader.

We want to lead with such seasoned grace that people want to “come back” for more.

This week, you and I have a wide range of experiences ahead of us.  What if we consciously worked to let those “season” us, to teach us how to see the world in fresh ways, and to savor the diversity in people we encounter?  Let’s not just work to make it through another week, to chalk up another whatever,  but rather let us learn, be curious, develop wisdom, and develop character and practices that are richly seasoned.

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