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Waking Up From The Nightmare

By Adam McLane on July 01 2010

I love Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America.

The premise of the show is pretty simple. Ramsey shows up at a struggling restaurant and helps the owner face a reality they are often avoiding. If the restaurant doesn't make money the doors will close.

The formula for the show is simple. He teaches them to keep the kitchen clean, the wait staff happy, and to simplify their menu. Over and over again Ramsey goes to restaurants and implements that same simple 3-step strategy... and it always works.

Call me crazy but I think the same strategy would work in just about every youth ministry in the country.

Keep the kitchen clean

On the show, Ramsey breaks down the restaurateur to demonstrate that they aren't doing the basics well. And the result is that they've lost control of their kitchen. Their food isn't fresh, their kitchen isn't clean, and their team doesn't respect their leadership.

The basics for every leader in youth ministry are the same. You need to manage your time well. You need to stay organized. You need to be prepared to teach. You need to train your volunteers. You need to challenge students to grow. You need to take care of your soul. A lot of times when our youth ministries are a mess it starts with our own ability to keep our kitchen in order. Just like in any profession, you need to be a master of the fundamental disciplines. And when you lose site of those your career quickly falls to pieces.

Keep the wait staff happy

Almost universally, Ramsey deals with an unmotivated and pessimistic wait staff. They don't believe the restaurant can succeed and worse yet, they aren't making enough money despite working very hard for a very frustrated owner. It's a two-way street. They will perform better when their employer offers a better product and everyone will win.

Our ministries are just like the restaurant. When the kitchen is dirty and the customers are unhappy, it's the front line staff who takes it on the chin. For those of us who oversee a volunteer or paid youth staff, taking care of the team is paramount. Our success and failure hinges on their ability to take ownership of their roles as well as go deep with students. If you stop loving on and investing in your volunteers, you are sunk.

Simplify the menu

It's better to serve 4-5 entrees that are truly good than offer 20 that are all mediocre. On every episode Ramsey sits down with the owner and takes about 75% of the offerings off of the menu. And the net result is always the same as profits skyrocket.

In youth ministry, its not profits we seek, it's changed lives. I think most youth groups would be better off if they narrowed their menu down significantly. What if you spent some time this summer narrowing down your ministry from 20 offerings to 2-3 that you did really, really well?

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Comments

From Jeff Goins on July 02, 2010

I love this show, too. Way better than Hell’s Kitchen. I learn all kinds of leadership lessons from Chef Ramsey. I really think that he’s a remarkable leader, entrepreneur, and visionary.

From Andrew Burden on July 03, 2010

In my cable-free world, I don’t watch many shows like this, but maybe I will check if it’s on Hulu. Thanks for highlighting the wisdom of taking good tare of your team. I’m a volunteer insofar as what I do directly with the kids, but I’m also part-time staff with the youth ministry in a technical role. That makes my “job” a little weird sometimes, and I understand very well the analogy of the wait staff “taking it on the chin.”

From Jason Browder on July 08, 2010

I just suggest to be careful how easily we become enamored with the worlds way of doing things and become complacent towards sin and unrighteousness. There are many young men and women who are looking to websites like this one to draw wisdom and insight as they seek to minister to youth. Let’s be mindful to direct them to the things above not the earthly. Our God is Holy and His name is to be revered. Cant help but be concerned that we would be looking towards something that is clearly of the world and vile in its nature as an example of a possible way to improve upon the youth ministry. I understand the need for introspection and commanding leadership but Gordon Ramsey is “not” in any way an example to be looked upon nor really to be mentioned as any kind of model for leadership towards any Christ centered ministry. Our model is clear and if our eyes are set more toward the scriptures than the television i would think that we would be much more inclined to adapt our ministries in line with Jesus and His example of leadership.

From Adam McLane on July 08, 2010

@jason- thanks for your comment and opinion. I’m glad we live in a world that is big enough and worship a God who is big enough to allow for strong opinions on all sorts of things. Obviously, you and I are looking at something from two different perspectives.

From John White on July 30, 2010

Great article. Gets the gears cranking on what to re-prioritize!

Waking Up From The Nightmare

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