The Bear: Excellence in Animal Services
By Meaghan Colville, Shelter Director, Cincinnati Animal CARE (Best Friends Executive Leadership Certification Graduate, Cohort 2)
Don’t have time to read? Listen to the podcast recording now!
Warning: ‘The Bear’ spoiler alert!
In the second season of FX’s The Bear, a story about a struggling restaurant and the human dynamics within it, there is a moment when Richie, a self-sabotaging and volatile underachiever, realizes his potential and finally buys-in to what it takes to run an elite, 5 star, Michelin restaurant.
During restaurant renovations, Richie is begrudgingly sent to train with the best chefs in the world and learn how to run a 5-star restaurant. After much resistance, he finally gets it. He begins to see what is possible when a group of people work seamlessly together and are without doubt committed to achieving the best outcome they possibly can. Richie becomes enamored with the culture of excellence and everything about him changes; how he dresses, how he speaks, and how he performs every day. He becomes a leader and the epitome of professionalism, inspired by the excellence that he has been immersed in.
I have always been intrigued by excellence. I love learning about and understanding how the best become the best. What are their habits? What is their mindset? Who are their mentors? Whether it is in sport, art, or business, I am completely fascinated by people who seek excellence. This storyline in season 2 of The Bear in which Richie goes from goof-off to passionate professional is one that resonated with me and got me thinking about how this could apply to animal services.
I know a lot of really good shelters, including my own. Cincinnati Animal CARE has done a lot of great work and produced some great results for our community. However, I recognize that we are not always firing on all cylinders.
In an industry that has not always been a model of professionalism and one that can sometimes be led by bleeding hearts, not the most business savvy, I’ve observed that our processes are sometimes clunky, we are short-staffed and under-funded, and like a lot of nonprofits, can deal with a build up of negativity that comes with such a difficult line of work. These dips in process and attitude can often result in sub-par work being done, ultimately impacting our ability to reach our potential. Many shelters have great people in them, but even the best can fall victim to mediocrity. Excellence is hard and it doesn’t just happen. It must be intentional and a daily focus.
What is Excellence?
Excellence is doing what needs to be done at the highest level every single time. To perform at excellent levels, a team needs excellent leadership. They need to be trained and excellence needs to be expected. But people also need to be self-driven with an inherent desire and commitment to perform at the highest level. They need to hold themselves accountable, especially when no one is watching.
Excellence is driven by passion for the mission and sustained by habits and accountability. Everyone has to believe in excellence and leaders must be willing to part ways with those who are not aligned, recognizing that excellence isn’t for everyone. Mediocrity is easier and therefore more commonplace. Excellence takes a special group of people.
Excellence must be consistent and disciplined and when enough people buy in, it becomes part of the culture. Organizational excellence is when a group of people consistently perform in this fashion. Excellence breeds excellence.
Excellence in Animal Services
In The Bear, excellence is exceptional employee discipline manifested through perfect table settings, pristine work stations, high standards of food preparation and display, and incomparable customer service. The team in the front of the house works in concert with the back of the house, coordinating all aspects of the restaurant business from the second they open until the last customer leaves. Everyone is on the same page and “every second counts” is written on a sign that hangs on the wall under the clock.
In animal services, I believe excellence is:
- Performing tasks efficiently and completely without cutting corners
- Working across departments to finetune protocols that enhance productivity and maintain positive momentum
- Customer service that rallies ongoing support of the organization and mission
This means every inch of your kennels are cleaned. Your front lobby is organized and tidy. Your team is trained and knows how to work together and communicate to the public. No stone is left unturned- every aspect of your organization is expected to be at its best.
Why does it matter?
Simply put, we have people and animals counting on us.
Oftentimes, a job or task doesn’t require excellence to get done. Average or mediocre levels of performance are more than enough to finish the job and do it well. But in our line of work, the level of our performance directly impacts the well-being of others. We have animals and people counting on us and they deserve nothing less than our best. Excellence must be the standard when lives are on the line.
Excellence in Your Organization
Excellence starts with leadership and it must be a priority and expectation for all of us. I admit that there are times when I allow average work to be enough or allow mediocrity to permeate, whether it is in my own work or the work of others that I oversee, because it’s “good enough”. However, in order to build a culture of excellence, I must lead with excellence and expect excellence.
Excellence must also be present in recruitment. Attracting and retaining people who value excellence and are committed to it is not easy. Not everyone has it in them and that’s ok, but it is up to leadership to make sure it is prioritized when hiring new staff. The more people that are brought onto the team who value excellence, the more it will become a part of everyday culture. Many people who watched The Bear or read this blog may be asking themselves, what’s the big deal? Good enough is good enough. But I know there are a group of people out there like me wanting more than ‘good enough’. Over the next few months, I’ll be doing an excellence inventory at Cincinnati Animal CARE with the intention of turning our good work into great. If you are someone who is also inspired by greatness, please reach out to me at m.colville@cincycare.org to let me know what inspires you and what you think excellence in animal services looks like at your shelter or organization.
