The Right Fit
One of my favorite stories in Will Guidara’s book Unreasonable Hospitality comes from his early days leading Eleven Madison Park.
When Guidara took over as General Manager, he inherited a divided culture.
The dining room blamed the kitchen.
The kitchen blamed the dining room.
Before making major changes, he spent months sitting down one-on-one with every employee.
Not to evaluate them.
To listen.
During those conversations, one employee kept showing up on his radar.
Eliazar Cervantes was a food runner who wasn’t particularly good at his job.
He struggled with menu details.
He lacked enthusiasm.
And by most traditional measures, he looked like an underperformer.
But the more Guidara listened and observed, the more he noticed something else.
Eliazar was steady.
Organized.
Respected by his peers.
The problem wasn’t the person.
The problem was the fit.
Guidara moved him into the role of kitchen expeditor—the critical bridge between the dining room and the kitchen.
He flourished.
The employee didn’t change.
The role did.
🎥 [3:00] Watch — “The Right Fit”
(From The Diary of a CEO with Marcus Buckingham)
"Your job isn't to put in what God left out. Your job is to draw out what God left in."
💭 Why It Matters
When someone struggles, our instinct is often to focus on what’s wrong.
We coach harder.
We add accountability.
We try to close the gap.
Sometimes that’s necessary.
But great leaders begin somewhere else.
Curiosity.
Buckingham found that when researchers asked great managers how they handled underperformance, their first response was remarkably consistent:
“I would ask why.”
Not because standards don’t matter.
Because people do.
In athletics, we often talk about Person > Player.
If all I see is the player, I’ll miss the person. And when I miss the person, I’ll often misunderstand the performance.
Today, I find myself carrying that same lesson into leadership coaching.
Coach the person, not the topic.
Because behind every performance issue, behavior issue, or accountability conversation is a human being with strengths, challenges, motivations, and circumstances we may not fully understand.
That’s what Guidara saw in Eliazar.
The more he listened, the more he realized the problem wasn’t the person.
The problem was the fit.
Sometimes underperformance isn’t a character issue.
Sometimes it’s a role issue.
Sometimes there’s a strength sitting right in front of us that we’ve never taken the time to see.
The best leaders don’t simply develop talent.
They uncover it.
📌 Quote of the Week
"The most important thing that a captain can do is to see the ship through the eyes of the crew."
— D. Michael Abrashoff
💬 Reflective Questions
Who on your team might be struggling because of fit rather than effort?
What conversation could help you better understand the person behind the performance?
✍️ Closing
People rarely thrive when they’re constantly being reshaped.
They thrive when their strengths have room to emerge.
Thanks for dropping in.
📅 Ready to lead from the inside out? Let’s connect.
See. Serve. Empower.
— Angel
Best post!