Adam Lamb + New Kitchen Culture

Edited by Julie Kauffman Strong

Introducing … Chef Adam Lamb. In the first story from our New Kitchen Culture Campaign (organized by Cooks Who Care) we’re sharing the words of Chef Adam Lamb. Adam is a career chef, most recently working as? Director of Dining in a retirement community. He is also a published author, the host of the podcast “Chef Life Radio,” and a coach/mentor within the Food Industry. Chef Adam Lamb has long been an advocate for creating a healthier, more liveable way of doing business within our industry. He shared his thoughts with Cooks Who Care, specifically on how he supports his team’s mental health, how he works to promote work/life harmony by preventing burnout culture, and about the importance of communication to build a strong team and good customer relations.

“I strongly believe that the operational health of any organization is directly related to the proportion of resources dedicated to the team's mental and physical health; but that is only the beginning.

We were lucky at the retirement community in that there had been a commitment by leadership to provide some good resources to the staff, such as a service where any associate who felt the need could call and schedule an anonymous appointment with a licensed counselor; all HR would know is that they would get an invoice for services rendered without any identifying information.?

Unfortunately what I found to be true in practice is that no one trusted HR, and didn't trust that the service was for real. I had, early on, made it a practice to conduct daily stand up meetings in each of the kitchens and would discuss everything from how to calculate a food cost to what our ultimate goal as a team was. After a few months, I realized that I couldn't expect anyone to be transparent and vulnerable with me, if I wasn't first.?

So, I looked for opportunities to speak plainly about my career, the challenges I encountered and my efforts to self medicate my problems away. Sometimes I felt foolish being so open, but it wasn't too long after that an associate asked me if I had a minute for him.?

We had a heart opening conversation about where he was at, and he left the office with the pamphlet about the counseling service. A couple weeks later I overheard him speaking to other employees about his positive experience with the counselor and encouraging them to take advantage of the service, if they needed it.

I can't help thinking that it doesn't matter what services are available to the associate, if we can't create a humble, nurturing, emphatic environment where one can feel comfortable coming forward to someone they feel a kinship with, or with someone that has had a similar experience and will 'get' them when they finally 'come clean'.?

The atmosphere of non-judgement must be so pervasive and clearly present in the environment that anyone cradling shame and guilt can be sure that they won't be laughed out of the office.

So it comes down to each one of us to model mature professionalism in every moment. Showing others how comfortable we are in our skin and being able to share our stories; and to tell the tale of our own acceptance, grace and forgiveness. That just might be the invitation that someone needs in order to finally take action to better their life, and know that hope is possible.

In a closed environment such as a retirement community or a country club there are unique opportunities to 'educate' customers or residents. I asked for, and was granted, a small portion of the weekly newsletter that I named 'The Kitchen Corner' where I wrote about our changing food focus, establishing nutritional information, what was happening in the market and letting the residents know of upcoming changes or events.

I also used the bully pulpit of my position to create clear concise communication, and expectations with the Dining Committee; being proactive on their requests while, at the same time, creating space with grace for our timely implementation of those requests.

When I first got to campus I found out that berries were served year round, regardless of the cost. I countered that by embracing, writing and talking about a new food focus where we found ourselves creating menus to be 1.) Seasonal 2.) Local 3.) Sustainable 4.) Organic foods in that order. I quickly found many willing partners amongst the residents who would champion this outlook and created a 'team' of invested individuals that would help spread the word. I used these same processes all through the pandemic to inform, and get early buy-in from the wider population about the changes that we would need to make to keep everyone safe. What I ultimately discovered is that the success of the team is in direct proportion to the amount of communication occurring.??

All anyone wanted was to be told what was going on at any time, and I often took it upon myself to be the bearer of bad news (owning the news regardless of who was to blame); at least I could communicate in a way - with compassion - so it could be heard, as well as being empathic while shutting up and actively listening.

And, while I get that not everyone has such a captive audience, there are ways to communicate with staff and guests now that didn't exist 10 years ago. A lot of companies now use external and internal podcasts as a way of staying connected as well as FB groups, YouTube playlists, live streams and email newsletters.

It's not our job as leaders to worry about how someone will hear our message, it's only important that we communicate that message compassionately and create clear expectations, outcomes or boundaries."

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You can learn more about Chef Adam Lamb and the work that he does by listening to his Chef Life Radio Podcast or through the Foodwerks Inc. website. We will be sharing stories from more Chefs and Food Industry professionals in the days and weeks to come. We encourage you to follow along, hear what they have to say, get inspired, and then share your story with us. If you are motivated to create a New Kitchen Culture in your establishment, we want to connect. Head to our new website www.cookswhocare.org to learn more.

3-Ways to Stay in the loop + get involved:

1. Want to share your story: https://bit.ly/Submit_Your_NewKitchenCulture?
2. Learn more about New Kitchen Culture: https://bit.ly/CWC_NewKitchenCulture_PDF
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