How to get a Michelin Star

There’s a scene in FX’s brilliant series The Bear on Disney+ where someone turns to Jeremy Allen White’s character and says:

‘You want a star?

You’re going to have to care about everything more than anything.’

And it accidentally encapsulates exactly what it is like to lead.

You can’t just care about the product the work on stage the show.

You have to care about the signage the toilets the balance sheet the prices the toil the wellbeing the customers the roof the brochure the neighbours the trustees the sponsors the recruitment the onboarding the leaving the structure the cashflow the artists the risks the targets the socials the community the licenses the permissions the deficit the law suit the mistakes the accidents the awards the reviews the drinks the ice creams the overtime the flops the partners the council the sector the schools the offices the IT the PR the car park the reporting.

If you don’t want a star of course then you needn’t worry.

You can care about any one of those things and forgo the rest.

But who goes into leadership in pursuit of mediocrity?

If you want to excel at leadership you have to care about it all.

More than anything else you have to care about everything.