Be a chef

I recently finished the FX/Hulu series “The Bear.” It’s a great show about a chef, Carmen Berzatto, who works at a world-renowned restaurant in New York, but leaves to come home to Chicago and save his family’s fledging sandwich shop following his brother’s suicide.

About halfway through the season, I realized the challenges of running a sandwich shop sounded familiar to stories I’ve heard talking to landscapers. This is especially true for owners who want to make their company more organized and professional.

There’s one scene where one of the longtime employees is complaining to another longtime employee about how the diner used to be fun. The disorganized, fly-by-the seat-of-your-pants approach kept things lively.

However, the employee listening to the complaints disagrees, saying she is much happier now because the place is clean and organized, and she is a better employee because of it.

I’ve heard so many times of the struggles of operating under one, disorganized way, and the pains of shifting everyone’s mindset and unfortunately removing some from the equation altogether. There is also the family component of both industries. Landscaping has plenty of family-owned businesses and a lot of the challenges are similar to the ones on the show. For one, taking family baggage into work: We all know how that works out.

The one consistent way Carmen tries to improve morale is to treat everyone as a professional. Making food is a career, not just a job.

The same should be said for landscaping. One little detail I liked was that everyone referred to each other as chef. As orders came in and the day got busy, instead of saying the person’s name, they yelled, “chef.”

They aren’t just making sandwiches; they are people who care about their craft and are contributing to a business. You and your employees aren’t just mowing lawns. You are creating and maintaining greenspaces and enhancing the outdoors.

Do you have little things you do to create a professional atmosphere at your company? I’d love to hear some, so email me at the address above.

And go watch “The Bear” today.