A LETTER FROM CHRIS SUAREZ
BACK STAGE IS THE STAGE
This week our team spent 5 days putting on the biggest event that we have created up to this point. There were over 65 unique interviews, presentations, or panels. There were 4 different keynotes, over 65 agents shared from the stage, we had musicians, and authors, and CEO’s, and economists come and deliver timely information on where we were, where we were going, who we needed to be, and what we needed to do about it.
It was quite a production with music, and sound, and lights, and cameras. It was amazing to see 2,000 attendees sitting in the audience in dead quiet fixated on the stage - listening and learning.
And yet nothing on-stage would happen without incredible people backstage.
It struck me about day two of four, that back stage is the stage. So many of our team and staff woke up at 4am and went to bed at 11 or 12pm in preparation for everyone else to enjoy the show each day. They ran cameras for 9 or 10 hours straight. They took microphones on and off literally hundreds of times. They managing lighting and sound and music. They were there early letting people in. They were there late cleaning up after the people that they served. They returned the next day to do it all over again.
Will Guidara, author of Unreasonable Hospitality, was one of the events keynotes. He is one of the founders of co-owners of Make It Nice Hospitality Group which included Eleven Madison Park - eventually becoming the #1 restaurant in the world. While speaking with him, he said something in passing that stuck with me as I say backstage. He said that at Eleven Madison Park, “There was no front of house and back of house. There was only a kitchen and a dining room. And we viewed it as one.”
We may never see the kitchen, or its staff, but without the team in the kitchen, there would be no food to serve in the dining room. There would be no guests. And without a dining room filled with guests, there would be no need for a kitchen filled with chefs. One is not more important than the other.
As I thought about this sentiment, I couldn’t help but think about our real estate convention this past week, and in fact, every team in every city that was represented at the event. Every business has sales people, and operations people, and leadership. But the best teams have no front office and back office. They function as one. Without the operational systems, tools, and leverage, there would be no reason for the sales people to show up. Without sales people to deliver products and services, there would be no reason for operational excellence.
There is no front of stage and back of stage. Those chosen to be back stage to manage the sound and audio and lights may not be seen. But they are felt. They are equally important as those taking center stage for the biggest keynote. Without them, there would be no stage. Backstage is the stage.
Chris