Coaching Model: R.E.F.I.R.E.

A Coaching Model Created by Clifton Carmody
(Leadership Coach, UNITED STATES)

A coaching model for restaurant and hotel professionals when its time to do it again, better.

When that plate comes out not quite perfect and its time for a do-over.

Refire it!

Those of us in the hospitality field is just like everyone else. We have challenges like everyone else. We have families, homes, and children like everyone else. We are like everyone else, but we are not.

When everyone else is off work on the holidays, we are working. When others are celebrating, we are the ones making sure the celebration goes well. We are different. We know that depending on where milk gets spilled, there might actually be a reason to cry. Our front line staff somehow stays forever young as we grow older. Our livelihood is often dependent upon staff not yet old enough to drink.

We may have gotten into the industry due to the romanticized idea of sexy restaurants, hotels, and bars…but things change. We changed. What started out as busy shifts with a wad of cash in pockets and closing the neighborhood watering hole, changed. We grew up. We got the families, homes, and lawns that need mowing. Those fun late nights became old with challenging customers who drank too much or the drunk employee that wreaked havoc on the shift. Worse yet, we have seen our peers stumble and fall. Occasionally its time for a reboot, a redirect, a refire.

As a restaurant professional you know what happens when there is a line out the door, tickets piling up in the window, and your staff is getting tired. You get tired. Everyone is on autopilot. Maybe someone calls out the wrong dish. Maybe someone is not paying attention. Maybe the order was rung in wrong. A mistake is made. A dish comes back. It’s not right. It’s not acceptable. It was not what it was supposed to be. Its time to wake up, and shake it off. After all, you are a pro. Its time to make that dish right this time. Its time for a REFIRE.

Sometimes in life, we get tired. Or we are not paying attention to where things are going. Where our career, business, restaurant, hotel, or family life is heading. All of a sudden there is a wake-up call. Something needs to change. We need the metaphoric REFIRE. We need to shake off what did not work, see what is working and start moving in the right direction.

Sometimes life (or the dish) does not show up the way it was supposed to turn out. Now its time for a REFIRE.

This is the REFIRE coaching model.

As a client, you will work with the coach to help you reflect on what is and is not working in your life or business. Based on your values and current needs, you and your coach will work on a plan with a way to implement it. Together, you two will work on rekindling your purpose, passion, and happiness while understanding and working with the peculiarities of one of the greatest industries in the world.

R – REFLECTION: Before going moving in the wrong direction again (or making the dish wrong again), its time for some honest reflection and assessment. Through some honest self-inquiry, we can work on seeing what is working and what might not be working. Where are you now? Creating awareness of the situation is the first step.

Appreciative inquiry questions 

Questions that could be answered at this stage of reflection:

• What is working in this situation?
• How am I living my values?
• How is my lifestyle working on my life’s mission?
• What do I like about this situation?
• What is trying to emerge?
• What do like about where I currently am?
• What do I dislike about where I currently am?
• What is trying to happen with this situation?
• What no longer is serving me?
• Who do I need to become?

E – ESTABLISH GOALS: This is where you ask yourself, what is it that needs to emerge (or what is the dish supposed to be?) Set up some goals based on values and purpose. Establishing goals based on where you want to go after reflecting on what is not working.

Questions that could be answered to determine where you want to go in this situation:

• What can I do now?
• What needs to happen here?
• What is the purpose of this that I have committed to?
• How can I better live my values?
• What can I take up to better serve those that are counting on me?
• What can I give up to have a more fulfilling outcome?
• What is the next thing I need to do in this situation?
• What are three things I could do to move this forward the quickest?
• Where do I want to go with this?
• What can I change?
• When can I address this?

F – FIND A WAY: After reflecting on what is not working and then deciding where you want to go, the next step is to find a way to move in the direction of your goals. There will be obstacles you need to plan to overcome or you would have done so already. This is where the destination (goal) is mapped out.

Questions that could be answered at this stage:

• Who best could help me?
• What could I do to prepare for the next level?
• What are some expected obstacles and what shall I do when they present themselves?
• What order shall I approach my goals?

I – INNER WORK:  You have thought about where you are. You have determined where you want to go. You have mapped it out. Now you must embark on your journey. This is where the work happens. This step is where you become the person you need to become to accomplish your goal. Its time to allow that which is to emerge to start to emerge. You know what is wrong with the dish and now you mindfully make the dish. With tools to keep awareness during the course of the process, you proceed to implement the plan to reach your new goal. This is where the magic happens.

R – REVIEW: You have started the work. You have been mindfully working hard. But maybe something is not quite right. That is okay. Big changes are not just rolled out without challenges. Maybe outer circumstances need to change, maybe you need to change the path. This is time for reflection and possibly some minor course correction. This is the time to make some adjustments. This is the time to put the finishing touches on the plate before it emerges from the kitchen.

E – EMERGE: The goal is complete. The plate is finished and needs to be delivered. It is time to emerge and live life with the goal fulfilled.