Wolfgang Puck, both the man and the brand, are a household name. The renowned restaurateur and celebrity chef is known for his effervescent personality and his intense passion for food. In this episode of Yahoo Finance’s Lead This Way, the Austrian-American food icon takes off his gloves and apron and provides an inside look at how his curated leadership style fuels his global empire of award-winning restaurants.
In the restaurant business for over 50 years, and earning three coveted Michelin stars, Puck credits a diligent work ethic and his family style restaurant approach to hospitality as the keys to his success. “I think you have to give people a family environment. They want to feel they belong to some culture or some kind of a family. I always tell people we have a family restaurant."
Puck’s influences have certainly shaped how he leads, crediting his mother for her compassionate encouragement and citing a tough introduction to the restaurant business. As to how Puck mentors his staff, he says, “I want them to maybe feel the passion I have and maybe they learn something from that and they grow that way and learn more and become a good chef or own their own restaurant.”
Puck began his career in some of France’s greatest restaurants, including the Michelin two-starred L’Oustau de Baumanière in Provence. After coming to the U.S. in the early 1970s, Puck gained prominence as chef of Ma Maison in Los Angeles before opening his first flagship restaurant, Spago, in 1982.
Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants, cookbooks, catering service and other products are managed under his three business divisions: Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, Wolfgang Puck Catering, and Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc.
Lead This Way is a new series that features big interviews with the business leaders shaping our world today. In these one-on-one conversations, we reveal how their approach to leadership helped them become Wall Street titans.
For more on our Lead This Way Series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
WOLFGANG PUCK: People like a family environment. I always tell people we have family restaurant. The job of a leader is to lead the people. And for me is leading by example.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: For over half a century, Wolfgang Puck has been a dominant figure on the culinary stage, building a multi-million dollar empire that includes more than 20 fine dining restaurants across the globe. So what's his recipe for success? And how is family at the core of his leadership style?
WOLFGANG PUCK: I think you have to give people like a family environment. They want to feel they belong to some culture or some kind of a family. The team. All right.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: The team.
WOLFGANG PUCK: I think if I treat the employees well, the chef, the manager-- they're going to treat the employees well. Because it's a trickle-down effect. If I would yell at them and be abusive. They would do the same things.
And, I think, we want the people come here and enjoy what they do. We don't want them to think, Oh, Wolfgang is terrible. I don't want to go to work. But I have to because I have to pay rent.
I want them to maybe feel the passion I have. And maybe, they learn something from that and they grow that way and learn more and become a good chef or own their own restaurant. You see? It's like a family restaurant.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: I love that.
WOLFGANG PUCK: It makes us really is really nice.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: I feel like you have such a good connection with everyone you work with.
WOLFGANG PUCK: Look at that, I got skinnier.
JEAN-PHILIPPE MATHEUSSEN: Everybody's been working for him for like 30, 40 years. And to me, that means everything.
WOLFGANG PUCK: Are you all right?
- Yes.
WOLFGANG PUCK: OK.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: What is your biggest challenge as a leader? Not just for this industry but a leader period.
WOLFGANG PUCK: Obviously, what is the job of a leader? Is to lead the people. If you are a general, you have to lead people. And I think for me, is leading by example. So if I wouldn't show up to work, in the morning or at lunch, and I said, I come in at 3:00 PM in the afternoon and that's it.
But I'm here in the morning. I go to the markets. And I show people actually, how it's done. How I like it done. And what I think is the best way to do this business. So that's how we present it to the guests. We take it into the dining room nice and hot. This is a tomahawk. So this is a great steak to share.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: So what is your teaching style?
WOLFGANG PUCK: I think when I was younger, my teaching style was more rough, you know? I used to yell much more. And because that's the way I learned. I remember when I was in Austria, the chef was crazy. Even at Baumaníére, Thuilier used to yell all the time if something wasn't right. Something didn't come out right.
And for me now, I try to teach people and not yell at them when they do something wrong, everybody makes mistakes, but to teach them how to do it the right way. And I think that's really the most important thing. To be positive.
So to give people a positive experience. So when they work, they say, OK, I learned something today. Generally, if somebody makes a mistake. I said, this is the way we do it. Let me show you.
Teaching. It's hard because you have to do it over and over again to really teach people our culture. To teach them how we want things cooked or how we want things served. How they have to come and smile. Sometimes that's the hardest thing.
And I tell everybody. You know, if you have nice teeth. Smile. Be friendly. Because that's a big part of your experience. So this is the kaiserschmarrn. My mother used to make it for us. It's like a pancake or a souffle. Hmm, it smells so good. It reminds me of my childhood totally.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: Growing up, did your mom-- was there a guiding principle or a piece of advice she gave you that you still go back to this day?
WOLFGANG PUCK: Well, my mother told me just make sure to make more money than you spend. And you will be OK. I said, OK, you know, it's still today. In the restaurants, I say, we have to make more money than we spend. Yes, we can lose one month's money. But we have to make it back the next month. At the end of the day, if we don't make money, we don't stay in business.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: You're a big family man. We saw that in the kitchen. How do you strike that work-life balance?
WOLFGANG PUCK: Half the family work together. Like my son, Byron is working with me. I think that's the most difficult thing for all of us in the restaurant business. To find the right balance. To spend time with the children. But also, to show the children what work is. How you make your money.
Because sometimes, they spend $50. And say, it's only $50. And I always tell them, you know how hard it is to make $50?
ALEXANDRA CANAL: True.
WOLFGANG PUCK: That's true to get to the point where you can make $50, where you actually have somebody else do the work and you don't have to do it. And get a little piece of that. Then you have to be really good at doing something. So to me, I think value is an important part, you know?
Instilling value in the kids. And you only can do it if you spend time with them.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ALEXANDRA CANAL: Are you ever going to retire?
WOLFGANG PUCK: No.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: Well, what makes us so fun?
WOLFGANG PUCK: I think, if you love what you do. You're passionate about what you do. You're never going to stop. And I think I always tell them, I hope I die not in the middle of service in the kitchen, maybe, when every customer got their meal. I keel over and they take me away.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: So no plans to put down the steak knife just yet?
