I’ve always had a thing for grilled food and, especially, meats. Over time, my grilling environment has evolved from a series of charcoal grills to a multi-burner gas grill with an infrared burner for searing. All of that seems pretty tame, however, compared to what I watched a grill chef do while presiding over a wood burning open hearth in Kansas City. It was mesmerizing and also quite warm seated nearby at the Chef’s Counter; quite frankly, I don’t know how that chef managed to face the 1000 degree heat up close and personal. I imagine what he was doing to be like stoking the furnace under the boiler in a steam locomotive!

A series of meats went onto the red hot grates, were duly seared, and then steadily moved off onto serving plates. The chef was focused on his targets, as one should be in the face of fire, so there wasn’t much conversation to be had until he caught a brief break for a sip of water. It was then that I asked him what sort of meat that was toward the top of the racks, hooked and bathing in the rising heat and smothering smoke. Imagine my surprise when he told me that round hunk was a Cabbage, not some smoky and delicious roast as I imagined it to be!

That cabbage, it turns out, was hanging there to get smoked through and through, which would require hours above those coals. And then, that cabbage was destined to be shredded and braised in red wine, to be used as a crispy bed under another dish: specifically “Smoked Egg and Trout Roe, Turnips and (you guessed it) Cabbage”.

Culinary art takes time and incorporates ingredients and creative processes you might never imagine. Some of those arise in the most unlikely places, such as hanging on a hook over an open hearth. My fascination with the potential for what can be produced from a grill has now reached an even higher level. I’ve grilled plenty of veggies as a tasty side on the grill, yet I have never elevated the basic cabbage to a higher purpose.

I’ve always had a thing for grilled food and, especially, meats. Over time, my grilling environment has evolved from a series of charcoal grills to a multi-burner gas grill with an infrared burner for searing. All of that seems pretty tame, however, compared to what I watched a grill chef do while presiding over a wood burning open hearth in Kansas City. It was mesmerizing and also quite warm seated nearby at the Chef’s Counter; quite frankly, I don’t know how that chef managed to face the 1000 degree heat up close and personal. I imagine what he was doing to be like stoking the furnace under the boiler in a steam locomotive!

So, why A Smoked Cabbage Story? Because, yet again, this moment transported my thoughts into a Leadership Story. As a leader faces the heat of battle, with an array of products to deliver in steady rhythm, magic happens when there’s something extra in the works that requires more time, patience and careful attention to elevate it to the right condition and for a new purpose.

The “Urgent” never stops coming, but the “Important” only happens when you take the time to develop its potential.

The next time you fire up a grill or launch a new initiative, just imagine what you might create…

Tempus Maximize!