Leadership Lessons from "The Bear" - Lesson 6

The following contains spoilers from season 1 and 2 of The Bear, which is streaming on Hulu.?

This is the sixth of ten lessons derived from the FX series “The Bear,” be sure to check out my prior posts to catch up!

A short recap: If you haven’t seen the show, I recommend it.

An award-winning young chef (Carmy) from the world of fine dining comes home to Chicago to run his family's Italian beef sandwich shop after the suicide of his older brother, who left behind debts, a rundown kitchen, and an unruly staff.?Carmy wants to transform the restaurant into a top-tier establishment, but is confronted with personal challenges, unresolved debt, and a chaotic and toxic work culture that is resistant to change.?

Our sixth lesson:

6. The importance of customer experience (CX).

It seems cliché at this point to highlight the importance of the customer experience, but the show does a good job of highlighting how important this is in the restaurant and hospitality industry.?

?Early on, the focus for the sandwich shop is more on the User Experience (UX) – the sandwiches they make are very, very good – but the overall Customer Experience (CX) is not even a consideration.?The level of disfunction of the team, along with a questionable approach to customer interaction, makes it clear the shop is surviving based solely on the quality of the sandwiches.?

?Once Richie spends some time ‘staging’ at the high-end restaurant, he develops an understanding of the importance of the broader CX – of key importance, the art of ‘listening’ and making note of what the customers need.?

?The research that goes into knowing the customer -before they arrive for their reservation – and creating a unique experience for them, sometimes with ‘surprises’ to ‘blow their minds’ results in joy not only for the customer, but for the servers as well.?

?The scene with Richie singing Taylor Swift in his car on the ride home brought out exactly how rewarding it can be to exceed those customer expectations.?The UX – the food- is important (and requires its own set of research and feedback to perfect), but it’s only a portion of the overall CX.

?Ready for Lesson 7?