Leading Like a Successful Top Chef

What can organizational leaders learn from renowned Top Chefs?

Executive coach Miguel Noguerol sought to answer this question after personally interviewing award-winning top chefs from around the world as part of his research for his master’s thesis on leadership based on a leader’s emotional capacity, conducted at INSEAD, one of the world’s top business schools.

Passionate about the challenges of organizational leadership and haute cuisine, Miguel boldly examined the application of skills from contemporary emotional leadership theories by top chefs — all awarded Michelin stars or listed in the ranking of the 50 Best Restaurants in the World.

In this work, he shares with readers the fruits of this research. He identified three leadership archetypes — anchored in a leader’s emotional capacity — that serve as models for reflection and inspiration for organizational leaders across various industries and fields: the Passionate Nonconformist, the Determined Eagle Eye, and the Trustworthy Coach.

Each archetype consists of a set of leadership competencies that, when used together, aims to help leaders achieve Emotional Proficiency for Excellence in their business environments.

MIGUEL NOGUEROL has built a solid career spanning over 25 years working as an executive in multinational technology companies based in the United States, first in Brazil and later in regional leadership positions for Latin America, as well as globally.

Throughout these years, alongside his corporate career, he has always maintained a strong passion for culinary arts and haute cuisine. Miguel also has taken courses at renowned culinary schools, among them a professional program at the esteemed Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon, France, considered one of the premier centers of French haute cuisine.

When he enrolled in INSEAD’s master’s program in Consulting and Coaching for Change, he decided to combine his interests and conduct his research in a completely different field from where he had worked as an executive for many years: the realm of leaders who excel in a vastly different industry, that of renowned high-end restaurants.

In this book, the author shares not only the results obtained during his academic research, outlining leadership profiles based on a leader’s emotional proficiency for organizational excellence, but also his journey as a gastronomy enthusiast while interviewing award-winning chefs around the world.