Emma Bengtsson was the chef of Aquavit in New York when I spoke with her for The Luxury of Attention. Aquavit held two Michelin stars at the time, and she was the first Swedish woman in the United States to hold them.
In the book she speaks to the temperament of the empowering leader. Most accounts of empowerment describe the operational side: the authority handed down, the budget a team member may spend, the decision they are trusted to make. Bengtsson describes the other side, the daily discipline a leader has to keep in herself for any of that to work. Patience is the first half. She told me that she builds an open and collaborative kitchen by being patient, that there are days when it is not easy, and that losing her temper costs more than taking the time to develop someone. Part of that patience is receiving every question, however small, because the question tells her how a person learns.
“Letting anyone on my team ask anything allows me to find ways to help them learn in a way that works best for them.” Emma Bengtsson, chef, Aquavit, New York
The second half is harder, and she names it directly. A head chef also has to know when to stop answering. The feeling of having solved something alone is, in her words, one of the greatest tools of motivation, and a leader who answers every question the team could answer for itself takes that away. I came to see the two halves as a single posture. The patient leader teaches the team that questions are welcome, and at the same time declines to answer the ones the team can handle. A kitchen that gets only the first half learns to ask and never to act. A kitchen that gets only the second learns to do neither.
“On the flip side, as head chef, knowing when to ask your team questions and when to let them solve problems for themselves is equally important.” Emma Bengtsson, chef, Aquavit, New York
In the book, Emma Bengtsson appears in Chapter 5, Giving the Keys, where her account of patience and restraint describes the temperamental work an empowering leader does every day, alongside the operational work of handing over authority.