Managing with Julia
What’s your recipe to be an effective manager? Don’t know what I mean? If not, you might find this post of interest in helping you create a new receipe or learning how to enhance the one you currently use.
Last August, my niece and I went to see “Julie & Julia”—a delightful movie about the life of Julia Child who, in 1948 and in her mid-thirties, discovered her career as a French chef and educator then evolved into a major cookbook author and television personality and making public appearances until her death in 1992. The character “Julie Powell” was portrayed in the movie as a young writer whose job was to answer phones for those needing help after 9/11. She felt frustrated at work and started a blog about Julia Child. She also decided that she was going to cook 524 recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking co-authored by Julia Child in 365 days.
This spring, this same niece lent me her copy of My Life in France, an autobiography of Julia Child written with Alex Prud’homme. I started reading it at a pace of about 10 pages a day. However, when I was about 100 pages into the book last weekend, I thought, “Why am I reading this? I don’t really like French food! I grew up on the basics, I cook the basics and I eat out to savor complicated dishes.” Not one to give up on a book, however, I began to think about why I should continue reading and that brought me to remembering the first time I heard about Julia Child.
When I was a junior at the University of California at Berkeley, I had a part-time job as a work-study student in the Art & Music (A&M) Department at the Main Branch of the Berkeley Public Library. As a Librarian’s Assistant, I helped patrons locate books, albums (!), and prints of major artists. And I was also to report the behavior of a regular visitor—one of the many “characters” who at times put mirrors on the top of their shoes and stood very close to a female patron who was wearing a skirt.
Bruce Munly was the Librarian for A&M and manager of one full-time and many part-time employees. Other part-time people included four middle-aged (and slightly older) women married to college professors and another Berkeley undergraduate student (he later became my husband).
“What did you think of Julia?” was Mr. Munly’s ritual greeting when one of the women arrived in the department. They then would proceed to talk about the delicacy that Julia had prepared on the latest episode of “The French Chef” on our local public broadcasting station. It was “all about Julia” for the first ten to fifteen minutes of a woman’s shift—and would often be revisited, many times when another gourmand arrived to talk about what Julia had prepared.
An effective manager who made the most of this diverse group, Mr. Munly organized a staff dinner once or twice a year. This potluck supper was held at his or one of the women’s homes, often one in the Berkeley Hills with a spectacular view looking out beyond the Golden Gate Bridge. When it came time to volunteer to bring food to the dinner, Mr. Munly and the women would decide which dish they would bring—usually a “Julia” dish. The college students and the full-time employee would bring wine, bread, and possibly dessert—first asking the “elders” for specific instructions on what to buy.
Memories of one—if not the best—workplace experience of early career came flooding back to me last weekend as I turned each page of My Life in France. Ignoring the world outside, I gave myself the afternoon to follow Julia’s journey through her writing career which she embraced enthusiastically and spent the evening learning how she had found her way to television. Reading her book was like eating a good meal; I finished it feeling satisfied and satiated with good memories.
Looking back at his management style, I see how Mr. Munly maximized the talent he had in his small department. He created a congenial atmosphere—based in part on Julia’s recipes—where he engaged and motivated his team to be productive through food, a love of the arts, and a great spirit.
At the close of each episode of “The French Chef”—and at the very end of her book—Julia wishes everyone a bon appétite!
As I asked at the beginning of this post, what is your recipe to be an effective manager? No matter your “cuisine,” or your particular management style, I wish you time to think about how you manage. Specifically, what is the thread of the conversations you have with your staff members and how do you connect with them on a regular basis?
While you are creating and enhancing your own recipe of effective management, I wish you bon appétite!