Leading by example combined with light atmosphere breeds chemistry.

While on extern I had the pleasure of working under an extremely patient and hands on Chef. Raymond, My chef had a great sense of humor and greatly appreciated humor within the kitchen which mad the day go by quicker. The main thing I admired about this man was his tremendous work ethic. The amount of work that Raymond would put in within a day was amazing. He worked six days a week over 13 hours a day, and he never got tired. In his spare time Raymond runs marathons. In fact every year Raymond runs the New York City marathon and then comes into work and puts in a solid 10 hours. As I read over the the previous blogs I noticed that most of the chefs mentioned were very hands off. I find this very disturb and frankly it makes me challenge the integrity the leaders in our industry. I'm I'll about a chef expediting and observing others work but if you observe while participating and help your coworkers I think it makes your people respect and admire you more. There were times when Raymond would disappear and clean an entire walk in by himself. Twice I saw the man on his hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floors with the dishwashers. Raymond loved to work the al la carte hotline and many night I found myself shoulder to shoulder with the man throwing out covers at an amazing pace. It was amazing to see a true Manhattan veteran work the line. I learned so much from Raymond by simply watching his work habits and movements. He taught me to always look behind me when moving onto a new job so that you dot leave a mess that snowballs into a disaster. Raymond also loved to joke. He was very mischievous and with the combination of sous chef Chris, myself, a band of mexicans, and two African dishwashers the kitchen was fun place with a lot of laughing. That kitchen was incredibly comfortable and I relish the opportunity to work with Raymond or Chris in the future. The point of my ranting is that actions always speak louder then words and leading by example, patience, and humor will ultimately give you the respect of your coworkers and inevitably make them work hard for you.