I think in a kitchen or any kind of workplace, there are a lot of unhappy and unlucky people. The cook has complained to everyone that they always get passed over for promotion and continues to complain. That person will probably never get promoted because no one wants to be around that person who’s constantly complaining about things. The unlucky person that whenever they go, service seems to fail. It’s NOT because they’re unlucky it’s probably because they’re a poor performer.

I think in any kind of workplace, there’s an imaginary division between the good performers and the bad performers. The bad performers are the people who think that they got passed up and the good performers are the people who just put their heads down and work and get things done and move up in the carriers. What the bad performers seem to miss is that most of the time they’re not getting promoted has everything to do with their ability to perform, and their negative attitude. They rarely think that they have a negative attitude, but they’re always complaining. You know types in the workplace. The people who will tell you that they could do everyone’s job better if they paid to do so. And the other person who just shuts up and gets it done and does more gets promoted over them. People want to promote people that don’t give them more headaches and don’t cause more trouble.

I’ll share with you all a story that happened to me several years back (I hope I don’t get in trouble sharing this). But when covid hit, I got transferred to another kitchen in another city because the kitchen I worked in, got shut down. So my role was kitchen lead, back down to a regular kitchen team member. I was cooking on the same playing field as everyone else. But it doesn’t stop my nature of working hard. I busted my ass off twice as hard. I was stronger, faster, and more disciplined than ever. Then one day, an ex co-worker of mine, was slightly more older than me and she was working in the company longer than me. She asked me “How are you so good at what you’re doing?” I didn’t say I was second in command in my last job. All I said was “I don’t mind the hard work.” She was impressed by my dedication and said there was a job opening here as kitchen lead. She said that she’s interested, but she’s not willing to prove it until she gets paid more. And that person, she was a mediocre cook, but she always make excuses, being either late or calling in sick. In my eyes, I can’t imagine her getting promoted because of her habits and her attitude. Fast forward a month later, I had a meeting with my boss and store manager. They said that they’re very impressed with my work and ability to lead. They offered me the position of kitchen lead, again. I happily accepted it. Everyone in the company was excited and happy for me. Everyone except that person and her group of co-workers are nothing but jealous and disgusted. That later became her downfall. She became more toxic, called in sick, and just simply didn’t show up. She ended up a bad performer and got fired. I can safely say that this particular cook may be the worst cook I ever worked with.

So, my advice to anyone who is trying to work their way up or trying to escape this vicious cycle: 

1. Change your mindset and attitude: This has to be the most important thing that needs to be addressed. If you think any kind of promotion or pay raise will come to you on a silver platter, you are wrong. You are lazy. And most importantly, you already lost the battle before you started. Good things don’t come to you when you just wait and do nothing, but to people who are high performers and active problem solvers. People want to promote employees that will help them solve problems. NOT just identifying them or worse, creating more problems. As the old expression goes, “A person that can fix one problem has more value than a person that can find 10 problems.” Why? Because they’re built differently. They’re wired differently. If you think like everyone else and act like everyone else then you will end up like everyone else.
2. Surround yourself with people who are better than you- If you’re part of the unhappy or unlucky click or people, maybe look at the people that you’re surrounding yourself with and say, “Maybe I need a group or a new group of co-workers.” Because you learn from each other, you help each other grow, it’s contagious. BUT the same thing goes when you surround yourself with miserable people. Surround yourself with motivated, engaged people and you’ll have no other option but to become motivated and engaged.
3. Find a mentor- this is something that I’ve done recently for the past year and trust me, it’s a game changer. Having someone more experienced and knowledgeable than you professionally will give you an edge in any kind of industry. They can provide feedback, tell you what your blind spots are and how to fix them, they can get you into jobs that are hard to get into, can provide you with the answers you need or very useful information that can get your answers. Trust me, this is an absolute game changer and it will help you accelerate your career. 

At the end of the day, everyone wants to be better because they want to achieve their goal, have money so they can put food on their table, or all of the above. The question you have to ask yourself is “What are you waiting for?” Because you can say whatever you want and can listen to every advice anyone gives you. But if you don’t act, you will never get what you want. There’s no something for nothing in this world. The person who acts will always have every advantage over someone who doesn’t.