10 Essential Leadership Lessons I Learned from Baking

Is there anything more comforting than the smell of freshly baked brownies wafting through your kitchen?

Maybe the aroma of apple crostada…or cinnamon cake…or cookies…

Okay, there are clearly some top contenders here.

As a sucker for baked goods, I love tinkering in the kitchen with my apron on — mixing spoon at the ready. And sure, baking takes time, commitment, and effort. But it’s coupled with satisfaction, learning, joy, and fun!

Unfortunately, as a busy CEO, it's hard to find time to actually bake. And even when I do, I'm usually thinking about the business. But over time, I’ve found that business and baking have a lot more in common than most people realize.

Baking and leadership always have to be super serious, right?

Here are the top ten lessons I've learned from plenty of trials and more than a few errors in the kitchen. (I’ve also sprinkled in some of my favorite recipes from around the web to inspire your next baking adventure! ??)

1. Lead (and learn) like a baker

This first leadership lesson from the ‘school of baking’ may seem counterintuitive, but it’s definitely a prereq. Whether in the kitchen or office, you’ll need to adopt a learning mindset if you want to win long-term.

The more I bake, the more I learn about baking. The recipes from Christina Tosi hold different lessons than Nadiya Hussein’s recipes. If I’m not open to learning, I’m missing out on a whole world of knowledge that could make me better.

Same goes for leadership. When you think you know everything there is, you can bet you’re missing out on major opportunities to grow — for yourself, your team, and the communities you serve.

So lead like a baker. Get in the headspace of being open to hearing different points of view. Collaborate with your team to address challenges and opportunities. Just as a recipe is there to guide you, your community can also give you guidance and support — but only if you’re open to it.

2. Prep your mise en place

I’m not proud to admit that there have been times when I set out to make banana bread with no bananas in the house.?

There was also the infamous time I started making cookies only to realize I had no baking powder, or that I forgot to add vanilla until it was too late. My mistake?

I didn’t prep my mise en place!

Mise en place (pronounced "MEEZ-on-plahs") is a French term that emerged from restaurant kitchens. It refers to “putting in place” all the materials, ingredients, and resources needed before starting.?

When your mise en place is ready, you’ll have everything you need for a successful baking project. You’re not going to get stuck halfway due to a missing key ingredient.

Similarly, the effective leader prepares for success. Have you communicated your expectations to your team? Is your mission clear before you launch? Are your processes streamlined to make it easy for new team members to follow??

Whatever preparation looks like for you, get your mise en place ready and you’ll be able to tackle any challenge that may pop up along the way.

3. Measurements matter?

While cooking has room for “a dash of this” and “a sprinkle of that,” baking requires clear measurements.?

And yet, the recipe that calls for 0.236588 liters instead of 1 cup is far less accessible to the reader. The takeaway for business leaders?

Measurements and the way they’re presented matter.

Your cake won’t come together when a quarter cup is swapped for a three-quarter cup. Similarly, leaders must have the right measurements to track and evaluate organizational progress.

In a perfect world, qualitative and quantitative data will work together to show you a fuller picture of your organization. In other words, the size and dimension of your fully baked cake are important — but taste matters just as much.

When evaluating the performance metrics for your organization – revenue, staff turnover rate, customer retention, etc. – consider the best way to accurately summarize your findings. Should you use a Net Promoter Score? Year-over-year percentages? Time saved??

And don’t forget to ask what qualitative measurements need to be in place. Do you have positive reviews from the families and customers you serve? How will you know if your team members are feeling engaged and satisfied vs. burnt out and ready to resign?

Be sure you have a clear measurement for every key ingredient to the business. From there, it’s all about presenting these figures to your team in a way they can understand and appreciate.

4. Every batch is different?

Even with the same recipe, no two batches of scones are identical. In business, as in baking, the final result can change due to factors outside your control.

On paper, your organization may seem like it follows a routine. But the reality is that annual, quarterly, or even weekly results can vary — sometimes greatly.

Staffing challenges may lead to innovations in classroom management and small group activities. Economic shifts can have a major impact on your revenue and enrollment rates. Technological changes may alter the way teachers and families communicate.

And of course, a global health pandemic can impact all of the above and more.

As a leader in early learning, or really any business for that matter, it’s important to find ways to accept that deviations from previous experiences aren’t always a bad thing. Sometimes change is simply out of our control.?

Accepting that fact, while remaining focused on finding solutions now and in the future, is a key ingredient to successful leadership.

5. Go with your gut

I’ve talked a lot about recipes but the truth is, there’s no one recipe for effective leadership. A recipe – whether it be for seven layer bars or C-suite business leadership – can only take you so far.?

At a certain point, you need to trust your intuition.

After all, a recipe can’t hear, smell, or feel what you’re making. Only your intuition can lead you to say “this dough is too runny” and actually do something about it.?

When something goes off-plan in the kitchen, my intuition steers me through those setbacks and (hopefully) leads me to a successful end result that people actually want to eat. It also helps me identify when something needs reviewing, adjusting, and action within the business.?

The best part is, your intuition is made up of experiences and inner wisdom that is unique to you. No other leader has it, so use it!

6. It’s ok to challenge yourself

Having a go-to bake is comforting and secure. There’s less “what if” because you already have an idea of how it’ll turn out.?

But you can only have so much carrot cake before you gotta switch it up.

Try making churros! Or Paul Hollywood’s baklava with homemade phyllo pastry – which, if you follow The Great British Baking Show! you already know is a real challenge!

The fun of baking comes from figuring out the process, making your way through the creation, and then enjoying the final result at the end. The greater the challenge, the more satisfying the first bite.

As a leader, don’t be afraid to bring new and challenging experiences to the table. Just because you’ve always done things a certain way, doesn’t mean you have to keep on that path. Embracing the new will make your successes all the more rewarding.

7. When the cookie crumbles, make cake pops

Baking is synonymous with the occasional failure. Doughs don’t rise. Cheesecakes curdle. Things happen.

The real lesson is in failing and recovering. That may mean reworking a current plan, or? completely starting from scratch.?

The cake crumbled? Time for cake pops!?

In business, there’s not always an equivalent to making a Costco run for cookies if homemade doesn’t work out – but we can admit when things don’t go as we wanted, then make a plan to bounce back.

No one’s journey in leadership is totally smooth. Inevitably, failures or unexpected bumps in the road will come up. The ability to recover with grace and humility is what makes the difference between a leader vs. just another ‘boss’.

8. Add sprinkles?

You can’t help but smile when you see funfetti cake!?

Yup, I made (and ate) that.

In a single glance, you know it’s a party. And all because sprinkles were added to a batter that could have been plain. So why not add sprinkles to your role as a leader too?

In other words, let go and let yourself be motivated by the joy of what you get to do every day as a leader.

Remember why you started in this field to begin with. Visit your clients, students, and families. Relish in those relationships. This could mean finding ways to show appreciation to your employees, revisit your mission, or shake up your routine (see lesson number six!).?

Funfetti cake is best enjoyed when everyone gets a slice. The same is true when you sprinkle a little more joy into your leadership practice.?

9. Lick the spoon

Do you know the best part of baking? It’s that moment after your brownie batter has been put into the oven, the dishwasher is mostly loaded, and there’s one…dish…left.

The brownie bowl. The mixing spoon is in there with the last dregs of dessert gold: brownie batter.?

You know what to do. It’s time to lick the spoon.?

In a business framework, licking the spoon is indulging in the recognition of hard work.?

It’s taking a second to really lean in and appreciate everything you’ve accomplished. You may not know the final outcome of your endeavors just yet. Things could still go wrong. But you’ve made it this far, and you deserve to enjoy your success.

10. Savor the first bite?

If you have the patience to wait until your baked treats cool down, you know the splendor that comes from taking that first bite with your friends or family.

The taste of your baked creation is made all the better by knowing the work it took to get there.?

Even if you’re baking with a box mix, go ahead and savor that first bite. After all, you went from a box of powder to a fully fledged treat. That’s no small thing!

The same is absolutely true in my experience as a founder and CEO. The best part of my job is getting the opportunity to savor key moments – both big and small – in light of the journey it took to get there.?

Capture every moment

Whether it’s time spent at work or in the kitchen, our lives are made up of moments. These can be small joys like sharing a healthy treat with a young child, or major business milestones like expanding your centers or team.?

Whatever the case, these moments tell the story of who we are — both at work and outside of it.?

At MomentPath, we’re proud to help preschools and child care centers capture these moments and feel more connected to parents, children and their communities. To learn more about what we do and how we think about things like the role of technology in early childhood education, feel free to reach out or swing by our website for more resources.