Work through it over three weeks, one part of the book a week, or take a single lesson when you need it. Each lesson takes about ten minutes to read, and each ends with something to try in your own operation before the next one. A printable workbook gathers every question and exercise in one place: download the workbook (PDF).
Becoming
Chapters 1 to 5: calling, apprenticeship, example, the team, empowerment.01The Calling
After this lesson you will be able to tell, in yourself and in the people you lead, the difference between liking the idea of this work and being suited to it.
02The Apprenticeship
After this lesson you will be able to give and receive correction the way the best apprenticeships deliver it, and recognize what a shortcut past those years costs.
03Leading by Example
After this lesson you will be able to see your own daily gestures the way your team sees them, and use that visibility to set the standard instead of describing it.
04First the Team
After this lesson you will be able to hire for character over credentials, run a first week that forms a new colleague rather than processing them, and name the moments when your team needs you to stand in front of it.
05Giving the Keys
After this lesson you will be able to hand a specific decision to a member of your team with the boundaries, training and recovery plan that make the transfer real, and recognize when empowerment in your operation is a slogan.
Mastering the Craft
Chapters 6 to 11: creativity, perfection, the human touch, anticipation, recovery, integrity.06The Creative Act
After this lesson you will be able to build a small creative pipeline for your own kitchen, floor or team, with deliberate inputs, a low pressure place to test ideas, and a failure rate you can live with.
07In Pursuit of Perfection
After this lesson you will be able to set your section's standard above the audit it is measured against, act as the last set of eyes before the work reaches the guest, and hold a perfectionist bar without wearing out the people who deliver it.
08The Human Touch
After this lesson you will be able to tell specific noticing from generic warmth, interview for the one quality that cannot be taught, and protect the conditions that keep it alive in the people you already have.
09Knowing Your Guest
After this lesson you will be able to place your team's service on the four rungs of anticipation, build a guest profile that is checked against the person in front of you, and tell recognition from surveillance.
10The Recovery
After this lesson you will be able to run the first ten minutes of a complaint in the right order, fix what you have authority to fix, and close the loop on the cause.
11Staying True
After this lesson you will be able to tell a request that sharpens your operation from one that erodes it, and say no to the second kind without losing the ability to evolve.
What Comes Next
Chapters 12 to 14: technology, the long game, the future of luxury.12The Digital Discipline
After this lesson you will be able to sort any technology that touches your guests into adopt, resist or delay, using one test and three questions.
13The Long Game
After this lesson you will be able to name what a long career in this work costs and returns, and start distributing your own standard into other people this week.
14The Future of Luxury and Craft
After this lesson you will be able to test any new trend, tool or category arriving at your property against the fundamentals that will still matter when it has passed.