Story by Angus Winchester. A drinks encyclopedia, Angus Winchester has 34 years of hospo experience from drink-making to running bars, working for the likes of Diageo as Tanqueray Global brand ambassador and now as the Global Education Director for BCB (Berlin, Brooklyn, Sao Paolo & Singapore). You can reach him @anguswinchester
How 24 bar staff moved from the city to a farm during Covid
Story by Angus Winchester. A drinks encyclopedia, Angus Winchester has 34 years of hospo experience from drink-making to running bars, working for the likes of Diageo as Tanqueray Global brand ambassador and now as the Global Education Director for BCB (Berlin, Brooklyn, Sao Paolo & Singapore). You can reach him @anguswinchester
So, one of the great pleasures I get as an “older” member of our industry is to see the growth and development of the people I have met along the way. To see young bartenders that one met years ago grow and become respected members of our fabulous industry is amazing and gives one hope for the increasingly professional nature of our jobs that until recently were still seen as the refuge for the uncertain, the misfits and the desperate.
“At the pinnacle of such joy is when you meet someone who has a reputation for excellence but that you have never met and then it turns out they are everything people say about them and more and for me the standout talk and person that exemplifies this was the talk by Jean Trinh about his struggles and finding solutions during Covid in Colombia.”
Even better is seeing the growth of the new leaders within our industry because while we generally have managers aplenty the profession needs new leaders to continue to connect with their teams and attract new talent. But at the pinnacle of such joy is when you meet someone who has a reputation for excellence but that you have never met and then it turns out they are everything people say about them and more and for me the standout talk and person that exemplifies this was the talk by Jean Trinh about his struggles and finding solutions during Covid in Colombia.
This story has spread like wildfire on the internet for all to see but just in case you haven’t here is the basic story of Alquimico during Covid. In the face of no government support and in a desperate attempt to support his staff, Jean Trinh suggested that they vacate their apartments and move 800 miles into the Colombian hinterlands and first build, then live and work on, a farm they had bought pre-Covid and he would feed and house them. And over half his team – 24 people – did exactly that in a truly inspirational story.
Managers make sure that their teams follow the rules and systems set up within an organisation to ensure that things get done the right way. Leaders inspire the team to follow those rules and these people are generally far rarer. They are the creators and drivers of Culture within their teams and do not just do good business but help the people in their teams become better human beings. When we are coaching new Leaders or examining those that exist we use the acronym INSPIRE to talk about the skills and traits of Leaders and Jean Trinh certainly shows them.
Good leaders have integrity and do the right thing even if nobody is watching and for Jean to care so much about his team while he could have walked away and looked after himself was special. They nurture their people and his offering to feed and house his team was a great example of that. They speak well in terms not so much in oratory but offer clear and honest communication. They display poise by displaying self-assurance, calm, grace and dignity – the opposite of panic – that builds trust and confidence. Jean also initiated this whole seemingly crazy scheme and was proactive as well as taking on the Responsibility for others. Finally, he not just displayed but created energy that fuelled his team and drove them forward in the face of terrible and severe challenges.
“In the face of no government support and in a desperate attempt to support his staff, Jean Trinh suggested that they vacate their apartments and move 800 miles into the Colombian hinterlands and first build, then live and work on, a farm they had bought pre-Covid and he would feed and house them. And over half his team – 24 people – did exactly that in a truly inspirational story.”
While I had read about and heard tangentially about the Alquimico story I had never met any of the team. I was given a sense of how special the talk was going to be as I watched the presenters go around the Main Stage area and reset the chairs, tidy away any rubbish and generally make the room presentable again. And during the talk several times I teared up and had goosebumps as I was engrossed by the story and the players. Great education is at its heart inspirational as well as practical and if there is a clearer example of inspiration than this session then I am unaware of it and urge anyone who missed it and aspires to become a leader to watch it again and again and again as this was the stuff of dreams born from a nightmare situation that all of us endured…