An ode to excellence
When I think about professional excellence, I think about a waiter named Giorgio at El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma Valley. My colleagues still razz me for the instantaneous bromance I struck up with this man, perfectly captured in the picture below. You’ll notice broken stemware and wine spillage from the overzealous manner in which our glasses came together for a toast.
Average waiters only master the details of their menu. They are merely brokers of information. Top-notch waiters go much further. They match food and drink with the distinctive taste and temperament of a customer, based on a split-second reading of an individual or group. It’s an intuitive craft, not just a knowledge transfer. Giorgio is brilliant at it. He sized up the collective personality of our table and immediately calibrated his approach. Within a heartbeat of his opening salvo we saw competence, enthusiasm, and respect for our space.
But for me a choir of angels broke into evensong when Giorgio took my order. I was wavering between the paella and the steak, stumped by their equally compelling descriptions. Giorgio looked through my eyes and to the bottom of my hollow legs. He correctly sensed there was plenty of space to fill. He said, “Let me combine the two dishes for you.” I immediately stood up and said, “You, sir, are the best waiter I’ve ever had.” He paused to appreciate the fellowship of a kindred spirit, extended his arms, and we embraced. It was a sublime moment of human connection.
Extrapolating from that glorious memory, I think excellence for any professional service role has a technical and social dimension. Excellence is about mastering the details (technical) and embodying a purpose (social). The best waiters learn the nuances of food and wine (technical), but each of their actions enhances the diner's experience (social). The best salespeople geek out on the intricacies of their product, but each conversation is an opportunity to bring the customer to a better place. The other day I interviewed a sales candidate who said he enjoys updating CRM records as much as driving customer impact. I thought to myself, “That’s what excellence looks like.”
Walt Disney once remarked, “Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.” I took my colleagues back to El Dorado Kitchen some weeks after meeting Giorgio and was devastated to learn it was his night off. My co-workers commiserated as I stared glumly at the menu, having lost the desire to eat.
Giorgio, my brother, if you’re reading this, it’s not too late to make amends.