Archive for October 2011
28
Music, Pizza, & Debauchery: A Night with Mike Edison
0 Comments | Posted by The Ian's Crew in News
Are you in Chicago the first weekend in November?
How do you feel about not-quite-mainstream author events?
If you answered, “Yes!” and, “Really positive!” you’ll want to swing by our Ian’s Pizza Wrigleyville location and meet Mike Edison, author and all-around colorful character, as he hangs out and does whatever he wants in our restaurant on Saturday, November 5th at 7:00pm.
He’ll be there to talk about his new book, “Dirty! Dirty! Dirty!” along with New York Superstar Piano Wizard (Mike’s description) Mickey Finn. We’ll also try to coerce him into the kitchen to try his hand at making our pizza homage to him, a special featuring seafood gumbo and Andouille sausage.
Judging by his past employment (editor of both High Times and Screw Magazines, in addition to a truckload of other various and sundry gigs) he’ll be up for almost anything.
Which, as you know, is just how we like our fanatics!
At Ian’s Pizza, we strive to practice Servant Leadership.
“Okay,” you say, “That sounds swell. But what exactly is Servant Leadership?”
We’re glad you asked!
Essentially it is the philosophy that says management best serves its employees (along with the company and the community) by acting as support and giving employees what they need to succeed. This is very different from the more common hierarchical business model where orders come down from above and workers just follow direction.
It’s a more holistic view of the workplace, taking into account the needs and well-being of the people who work there. Not just out of the goodness of management’s heart, but because the more involved workers are, and the more they feel valued and respected, they better they will do their job, ultimately resulting in a better experience for the customer (and everyone else, really).
It’s not a new concept — Robert Greenleaf first coined the phrase in 1970, and countless excellent books have been written about it since. And while it sounds pretty involved for a pizza by the slice joint that specializes in feeding late-night customers (who are not necessarily the quietest group of folks, by the way…) we say it’s all the more reason to give our workers some respect. Their jobs are not easy and the management knows that, since they’ve spent years doing that front line work themselves.
The restaurant industry in particular is known for its “churn & burn” philosophy of using people up, then just hiring fresh meat. None of that leads to a quality environment for either the public or the company culture, and we wanted to do it differently.
As we see what’s happening all around us these days, we’re thinking maybe it’s time for businesses to try collaboration, empathy, and an ethical use of power as a model for running their company. Just a thought.
