My Guru, My Guy

We have noticed the?#businessbook?shelves are full of?#management?advice from some unlikely sources, e.g. Harry Potter, Shakespeare, 50 Cent, Moses, Winnie The Pooh. So why not that optimistic omnivore Guy Fieri?

Can you think of another CEO that more consistently embodies his corporate brand ideals? He himself is Comfort Food – warm, celebratory, familial, fun.?What are the apparent management tenets of the Fieri Filosophy we might all glean?

1. COLLABORATIVE. Surround yourself with allies – not yes-people but the like-minded (passionate, dedicated). He is family-first, perhaps to a fault. “If you all get along and have shared values and a common cause, it should work” – Simon Sinek. And whatever the motives, dozens of other celebrity chefs follow our bleach-blond pied-piper, and he is remarkably comfortable sharing the spotlight with them.

2. OPTIMISTIC. Look on the bright side. I would want to work for someone who smiles and makes others smile. Sure, I would like to one day see outtakes of whenever he does spit out those bites he hates, but we are never shown that – a global audience of millions hungers for an ever-positive celebration.

3. HARD WORKING. Get to work. Is there any substitute for putting in the time? He clearly has the grind of all great entrepreneurs, and yet has somehow outhustled the already superhuman work ethic reputation of a chef.

4. RESILIENT. Don’t pay too much attention to the haters. He let a 2012 scathing review from the New York Times roll right off his back. He seemingly lives with too much enthusiasm and too much gratitude to let the small stuff get to him.

5. SINCERE. Be yourself and be kind. Look, I don’t know him. He could be a prick off-camera. But can you think of any presenter who is more consistently WYSIWYG real? I have my 10,000 hours of mastery watching this guy. His enthusiasm isn’t implausible (see Fallon). He genuinely enjoys the people he meets and exerts zero moral superiority (see Ripa). He gets his point across without faux rage (see Oliver).

6. CHARITABLE. Share the wealth. As restaurants closed during the pandemic, Fieri launched the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund and raised over $25 million. The Guy’s Grocery Games episodes routinely salute and fund local charities nationwide.

Trust no government official... except perhaps The Mayor of Flavortown.