Annie identified with him, almost obsessively. āWe looked alike. We even sounded alike in the way he slightly rolled his Rs in words like āfreeā or ārestaurantā. And I loved his assertionsā¦ how he would say, āI take bribes but they never influence my judgement: thatās true incorruptibility.ā I was one hundred per cent part of him.
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He made most things sound or seem less ordinary, be it the cut or shape of a lapel, or his thoughts on love, or even spinach: āI can imagine that if a woman I was in love with cooked spinach with oil, I would also enjoy the slight heroism of liking it, although I didnāt usually enjoy it served that way.
Hers had always been a childhood full of bewildering contrasts. āTo break oneās addiction for continuity was an essential way of dealing with him,ā she concluded.
When Acquavella took him on, he said bluntly: āLucian look. Iām an art dealer. Iām not an accountant. Iām not a nursemaid and if you need any of those things youāve got the wrong guy. But you paint them and Iāll sell them.
He said: āI am so excited to be here; I believe in and love this restaurant with all my heart. Iām also clear about what my job is, which is to do whatās best for the restaurant, not to do whatās best for any of you. More often than not, whatās best for the restaurant will include doing whatās best for you. But the only way I can take care of all of you as individuals is by always putting the restaurant first.ā I loved this. It was a profoundly confident display of leadershipāboth a rallying cry and a way of telling the team, right away, exactly what they could expect from him as a leader. I was inspired to use that same approach as a template for my own first-day speech. Except that Christopher had worked as a server and a manager at Union Square Cafe for years before that promotion. He knew every inch of the restaurant, and every one of the people in that room, down to their favorite cocktails and the names of their pets. People trusted him. Heād earned the right to give that speech. I hadnāt.
And he insisted with every tool of his personality that they see the situation as he saw it, that they feel as he felt or as he convinced himself he did. As he worked on them, they began to tentatively sense ā not as with James, that they were led by a man of admirable vision and ability ā but that they were in this together, and that they wanted themselves to succeed.