Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode five seventy nine. Today, I want to talk
Speaker 2: about something that has nothing to do with ORG charts,
Speaker 2: titles or performance reviews, but has everything to do with
Speaker 2: how elite standards are built and protected. Today we're talking
Speaker 2: about Michelin Stars. And most people think Michelin Stars are
Speaker 2: about fancy food, white tablecloths and plates that look like
Speaker 2: art projects. That's the surface story. The deeper story is
Speaker 2: one of discipline consistency in leadership standards that never Here's
Speaker 2: the part most people don't know. The Michelin Star system
Speaker 2: did not start as a restaurant award. It started as
Speaker 2: a business move by the Michelin Brothers, founders of the
Speaker 2: tire company that became Michelan. In the early nineteen hundreds,
Speaker 2: they created the Michelin Guide to encourage people to drive more,
Speaker 2: travel more, and of course, to wear out more tires.
Speaker 2: They printed guides with maps, gas stations, hotels, and places
Speaker 2: to eat restaurants came later. Eventually, the guide evolved into
Speaker 2: the gold standard for restaurant excellence, now known worldwide as
Speaker 2: the Michelin Guide. Here's where leadership shows up. Michelin inspectors
Speaker 2: are anonymous, no warning, no press release, no second chances
Speaker 2: built into the visit. They judge restaurants on the same
Speaker 2: core standards every single time. Quality of ingredients, mastery of technique, consistency,
Speaker 2: personality of the cuisine, value for the experience. No celebrity passes,
Speaker 2: no excuses, no off nights. That alone should make every
Speaker 2: leader uncomfortable. So let's break down what each Michelin star
Speaker 2: actually means in the leadership Lesson hiding inside each one.
Speaker 2: One Michelin star means a very good restaurant in its category.
Speaker 2: That's it. One star does not mean perfect. It means
Speaker 2: reliable excellence. If you show up on a random Tuesday,
Speaker 2: you're going to get the same quality you'd get on
Speaker 2: a Saturday night. The leadership Lesson this is a baseline trust.
Speaker 2: One star leaders do the fundamentals well. They return calls,
Speaker 2: they keep promises, they prepare before meetings. Their team knows
Speaker 2: what version of them is walking through the door every day.
Speaker 2: No mood swings, no leadership roulette. Most leaders never master
Speaker 2: this level. They chase big ideas while skipping consistency. Michelin
Speaker 2: doesn't reward potential, it rewards repeatable performance. Two Michelin stars
Speaker 2: means excellent cooking worth a detour. Now we're talking about
Speaker 2: something different. At this level, people change their plans to
Speaker 2: experience you. They go out of their way. The leadership
Speaker 2: lesson this is influence beyond position. Two star leaders are
Speaker 2: the ones people want to work for, not because of
Speaker 2: the title, but because of the experience. Their teams grow faster.
Speaker 2: Their standards are clear. Feedback is direct, wins are shared,
Speaker 2: Losses are owned. This leader does not rely on authority.
Speaker 2: They've built credibility through action. People trust their judgment. That
Speaker 2: trust was earned one day at a time. Three Michelin
Speaker 2: stars is the highest level. Exceptional cuisine worth a special journey.
Speaker 2: People plan vacations around these restaurants. They cross borders, they
Speaker 2: save money, They make it an event. The leadership lesson
Speaker 2: This is legacy level leadership. Three star leaders create environments
Speaker 2: where excellence becomes cultural, not enforced. The team holds the
Speaker 2: standards even when the leader is not present. The system's
Speaker 2: work the expectations are understood without being repeated. That is
Speaker 2: where leadership stops being about the individual and starts being
Speaker 2: about the organization functioning at a high level on its own.
Speaker 2: But here's the critical part. Michelin stars can be lost.
Speaker 2: There are chefs who cried when they earned a star
Speaker 2: and cried harder when they lost one. Why because the
Speaker 2: standard never relaxed. Michelin does not care about your past reputation.
Speaker 2: The only care about today's performance. That's leadership reality. Your
Speaker 2: past success buys you nothing tomorrow. Your title protects nothing.
Speaker 2: Your history does not excuse drift everyday. Leaders can apply
Speaker 2: this in simple, uncomfortable ways. First, inspect what you expect.
Speaker 2: Michelin Inspectors don't announce themselves. Leaders who rely on scheduled
Speaker 2: audits miss the truth, walk the floor, sit in on
Speaker 2: real conversations. Watch how work happens when no one thinks
Speaker 2: they're being watched. Second, consistency beats intensity. Michelin stars are
Speaker 2: not awarded for occasional brilliance. They are awarded for reliable excellence.
Speaker 2: Stop celebrating heroics that fix problems leadership allowed to exist. Third,
Speaker 2: protect standards quietly. Michelin doesn't advertise their process us they
Speaker 2: let outcome speak. Leaders who constantly talk about standards usually
Speaker 2: are not enforcing them. Fourth, except that standards cost something.
Speaker 2: Michelin level excellence is expensive time, energy, discipline, hard conversations.
Speaker 2: Leaders who want elite outcomes without discomfort are just lying
Speaker 2: to themselves. And here's the hidden lesson most people miss. Michelin.
Speaker 2: Stars are not about impressing everyone. They're about serving a
Speaker 2: standard faithfully, even when no one is clapping. That's leadership
Speaker 2: one oh one. If you want Michelin level leadership, ask
Speaker 2: yourself this. If someone evaluated your leadership anonymously on a
Speaker 2: random day, with no warning, would they experience excellence or excuses?
Speaker 2: That answer tells you everything you need to know. So
Speaker 2: leadership is not built during speeches or strategy sessions. It's
Speaker 2: built absolutely in the invisible moments when no one is watching.
Speaker 2: Elite leaders do not chase stars or trophies. They protect standards.
Speaker 2: The stars will follow naturally. That mindset, applied daily quietly
Speaker 2: separates average leaders from unforgettable ones. This has been the
Speaker 2: seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more, Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
Speaker 1: com