Business Lessons from The Bear Part 1: Respect

If you’ve watched ‘The Bear’ on Disney+, you’re either a fan or you’ve run a mile.

It’s a fast-paced drama that drops viewers into the middle of a dysfunctional Chicago kitchen. All steam, speed, rock music and foul-mouthed dissent smoked with mouth-watering food, passion and a sheer love for perfection.

It’s a kitchen maelstrom.

A madhouse where the young, brilliant chef, Carmy – who has inherited the burger restaurant from his dead brother – seeks to turn a bunch of culinary challenged odd jobs into a first-class kitchen.

And it’s a place where we can learn so much about how people tick and what makes teams work.

My mission is to take every episode and turn it into a lesson for employers, communicators and leaders.

In this blog, we’ll look at the value of respect and trust for leaders, as demonstrated by Carmy in Episode 1.

So here goes.

The Bear: Pilot script

“101”

Transposed from the episode

CARMY

Can somebody grab me a knife? A Sharp one, please! TITO, WE NEED A POT FOR THE GIARDINERA, CHEF!

RITCHIE

(Incredulous) “Chef!?” Kill me! I wonder if Bobby Flay here wasn’t runnin’ around the farmers market like a nouveau-riche-ass-bitch, we wouldn’t be having money problems–

_________________________________________________________

In his book ‘Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre’, Keith Johnstone described a famous exercise he undertook with all his students.

At their first meeting, students would sit on chairs in a semi-circle around him.

He’d make a point of removing his chair from the circle and would take a seat on the floor in front of them. From there he’d address students: outlining what he hoped they’d cover together during the course.

While maintaining eye contact, Johnstone would ask his students questions about themselves.

One at a time, the students would come of their chairs and join him on the floor off their own accord.

After a while, once they had all spoken, he’d stand up. And once stood, he’d give them their first direction.

In one action, he’d flipped the status and earned the respect of the room.

By using the term ‘Chef’, our hero from The Bear (Carmy) reinforces a culture of mutual respect for everyone.

By using this phrase, he’s essentially saying:

I respect you for the craft you bring to the kitchen, and you respect me.

And in doing so he creates a level of expectation. A sense of standards.

By levelling the status, Carmy creates an environment based on mutual growth.

As Simon Sinek points out in his book, Leaders Eat Last:

The rank of office is not what makes someone a leader. Leadership is the choice to serve others with or without any formal rank.

So, to be a successful leader, Carmy shows us that respect must go both ways.

The Business Argument

Building a trust and respect based culture will promote a happy workplace, and therefore drive better results.

As our Employee Engagement Consultant, Jennifer Robinson, notes in a previous blog, our purpose as leaders must be to ‘help people see their own success tied up in the success of the business.’

And research from SHRM shows that this approach works.

If employers work towards a positive working environment then they will have better luck retaining their people.

The productive culture promoted by positive employee experience makes workers 68% less likely to consider leaving their jobs.

This all ties back to value. When people feel valued, and can see their value within the company culture and it’s achievements and future, their work will improve.

What can leadership do?

• Go out of your way to acknowledge people every day; and find time to listen to what they have to say
• Find ways to emphasise the unique strengths that people bring with them to your business
• Hero your people: put them in your internal and external communications

Final Thoughts

It may seem like simple stuff, but coordinating and cultivating a respectful environment is often overlooked.

Sometimes, re-examining your surroundings can open up new opportunities for development.

In the next instalment of this series, I’ll be looking at another lesson Carmy, Ritchie and the team can teach us – nailing the basics.