This Moment Rewired My Entire Approach to Work
I’m sitting in the back dining room of Union Square Cafe (USC), eating family meal with my fellow employees before the dinner shift. Michael Romano, the restaurant’s chef, approaches with a plate of pasta, stands before us, and starts to describe the appetizer special, hand-cut tagliatelle with porcini, as the scent of wild mushrooms wafts over the table.
A server, trying to be clever, asks Michael, “Why is your food better than other fine dining restaurants?” The question is a trap, but Michael doesn’t miss a beat. He smiles, takes a deep breath, and calmly replies,
“A lot of chefs cook for themselves, like it’s an experiment. But I cook for you. When you eat my food, you can feel that.”
A wave of heat rushes to my face, and I attempt to hide my emotion as Michael hands the plate around for us to taste. I had been a host at USC for more than a year, and I was still working as a freelance landscape designer at a nearby architecture firm. I had only added this job at Union Square to help pay the bills. This job wasn’t supposed to mean anything.
But that moment shifted the way I saw my life. Here was one of the owners of the restaurant proclaiming that he worked to bring joy to other people. As I sat there at Table 46, I stopped thinking about my work at USC as a job and started thinking about it as a career. I started to see that my work could have a higher purpose and that I could change the world.
From my first day, I knew this place was different – not just compared to other restaurants, but compared to most other places on Earth. It took me a while to figure out why working there made me feel so good. And then I heard that quote.
When you stand before your team, you don’t always know where each person is emotionally. But at that moment, it was if Michael was speaking directly to me – not about food, but about my purpose in life. His seemed so clear. I wanted some of that.
I’ll bet you’ve benefited from someone who has helped you see things differently. I certainly have. This newsletter is my way to pay it forward. Like Michael Romano’s food, this newsletter is For You.
When I started thinking about titles, I knew I wanted to include the word shift, because it has so many meanings: People in the service industry, from retail and restaurants, to nurses and cops, work a shift; business leaders looking to scale need to shift gears to grow; and when you’re stuck, it’s helpful to shift your perspective and view challenges from a different angle.
Get Your Shift Together is a reminder that we’re each responsible for our own growth. We won’t get stronger by watching someone else do the reps. It’s also a reminder to not take ourselves too seriously. Decades ago, longtime mentor Richard Coraine used to host a new manager workshop with the same title, which always generated a few chuckles. Shout out to Richard for blessing the title of this newsletter.
Every week, I’ll share stories, lessons, and learnings about shifts I have experienced, witnessed, or heard about from you.
In general, I’ll tackle four areas:
Exploring your personal and organizational purpose
How to create experiences that cultivate customers for life
How to encourage employee engagement and improve personal fulfillment
Optimizing financial performance
Please share your ideas, too! My hope is that these nuggets will help you navigate your journey, whether you’re leading a small team or an entire organization. The goal is to help you spot and generate the sort of shift I experienced more than three decades ago at that family meal. I look forward to connecting with you.
Until then, make it a great shift.
Mark
