This study frames Melman’s leadership style/behavior within five dimensions, such as Vision, Organization, Communication, Trust, and Creativity, where those dimensions evolved with time and create an impression that his leadership journey began with Participative leadership style, before embracing Servant leadership style. Accordingly the study reviews Melman’s actions and words, before substantiating its position.
Vision
Melman opened Eccentric in 1989, partnering with Oprah Winfrey, but soon he found that business is not catching up as per his expectations due to the fact that they were “trying to do too much with “steaks, fish, American, French, Southern.” Accordingly he launched Wildfire, a chophouse, which became instantly popular in the area (Black, 2007). This instance clearly shows his ability to think both inside and outside the box, which is further consolidated by his own words, such as ““I am always thinking of what I need to do to make sure we are in business for the next 40 years – not just the next five” (Huron, 2012, p.33).
Organization
Melman was once in deep thought regarding how to improve his business while supervising at his restaurant, Gino’s East, when he observed that it takes 45 minutes of waiting for the customers to get the thick-crust pizza on table. At that point it occurred to Melman, “that to make money you needed to sell something before everyone got their food.” He kept that idea in his mind for years, before executing it in Big Bowl, another restaurant of the Lettuce Entertains You, where it served Bao, a steamed Asian bun, which became instant hit and had made Big Bowl such a success (Black, 2007). This instance clearly shows his ability to meticulously organize a new project.
Communication
Working with 70 partners, achieving a global presence, and constantly improvising the product quality and service ideas cannot be possible without high ability to communicate with people all around. However, Melman prioritizes listening to communicate better as it becomes evident from his own words, “If you’re listening, your customers will tell you what they want” (Huron, 2012, p.33).
Trust
The fact that Melman has around 70 working partners and most of them are from the organization itself strongly suggests that mutual trust is one of the major drivers in Lettus Entertains You. This assumption gets further consolidated by Melman’s own words – “Everything I’ve ever done I’ve done with partners” (Black, 2007), or when he says, “When the leaders of an organization get cavalier with their decisions, who does it impact? Employees. When the economy was down, my partners and I had a meeting. We didn’t want to let people go. So the partners took a reduction in pay that day. We benefit when things are good, and we should absorb the impact when things are bad” (Huron, 2012, p.33).
Creativity
The fact that Melman not only created numerous novel dishes, but also created several unique ways of serving, easily speaks of his high level of creativity. His own words on this topic reveals how he achieved that status – “People always tell me I’m so creative. But I’d say creativity is 80 percent discipline and 20 percent art. My creativity comes from paying a lot of attention to what people have to say” (Huron, 2012, p.33).
Theoretical Perspective of Melman’s Leadership Style
Understandably, there remain several untold leadership qualities between the lines of the above vignettes or in Melman’s sayings, such as articulation of an appealing vision, explaining its significance, setting clear task objectives, planning appropriate task strategies to achieve those objectives, and empowering the members to participate in the phases of planning and execution.
However, the clues from his words and actions strongly suggest that in the latter part of his career, Melman has become more driven by the Servant Leadership Style (Greenleaf, 1977), a holistic, transformational leadership style that suggests following 11 principles to make the most of leadership. One can check Melman’s activities within that framework to ascertain that he has risen to the rank of a true servant leader:
Calling: Melman possesses an intrinsic drive to serve, over and above other qualities;
Listening: He possesses excellent listening skills;
Empathy: He holds strong concerns about his employees;
Healing: He provides ample room to the employees for guidance;
Awareness: His acumen of what will work and what not, speaks of his high level of awareness;
Persuasion: It would have been impossible to raise an empire of restaurants without the power of persuasion. According to Pestana (2015), Melman is keen to “find a way to say yes” also corroborates the above assumption;
Conceptualization: time and again Melman proved that he is highly capable of anticipating both the macro and micro situations;
Foresight: His decision to close Eccentric and to start Wildfire easily endorses his high level of foresight;
Stewardship: His words, “It’s the responsibility of the leader to make other people successful” (Black, 2007), endorses his class of stewardship;
Growth: Starting in 1971 and establishing 80 restaurants by 2000s easily endorse his innate commitment towards the growth of his organization; and
Community Building: His own words, “We are very protective of our employees. The better we treat our people, the better they treat our guests” (Huron, 2012, p. 33), clearly speaks of his intention towards community building.
Therefore, judging all available clues, this study infers that Melman began his leadership career with participative leadership style, before gradually evolving into the status of a servant leader.
References
Black, J. (2007). The 7 habits of a highly effective restaurateur. Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/December-2007/The-7-Habits-of-a- Highly-Effective-Restaurateur/
Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Ramsay, NJ: Paulist Press.
Huron Healthcare CEO Forum. (2012). Leading through transformation: Top Healthcare CEOs’ perspectives on the future of healthcare. Retrieved April 12, 2016, from https://www.huronconsultinggroup.com/Insights/Report/~/media/5CBEA77527CC4062B 76756EA48A981FD.ashx
McCrimmon, M. (2007). What is Participative Leadership? Web article. Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://businessmanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_participative_leadership
Pestana, P. (2015). Insights to great restaurant leadership. Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://fohboh.com/profiles/blogs/insights-to-great-restaurant-leadership
Yukl, G. (1998). Leadership in organizations. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
