One of the most fascinating facts to me about humankind is our capacity to adapt. Equally fascinating to me is our—often-demonstrated—inner conflict with change. We can find ourselves often resisting before embracing. This curious tension that we all experience has been part of my labor for most of my career. I have helped dozens of for-profit and non-profit organizations change in transformational ways. My approach and success have always been the same, and I have found that when an organization’s goals fall short, it is almost always due to those with influence not “leaning in!”
To illustrate this point, I would like to reference an experience I had one time flying on an airplane. I noticed two different types of people with digital devices. There were those that were comfortably relaxed watching a show and others leaning forward playing a game or working on their laptop. This illustration is never meant to cast a value judgement on what one does with their time but rather help illustrate the organic position the body takes when someone is perhaps more actively or personally engaged with a task, person, or object. I call this positioning, “leaning in!” And it’s not just manifested physically; it manifests mentally as well.
The Perch is going to present both some familiar and some surprising cafe elements. We are intentionally focused on guest experience, and the team we are hiring is being selected because they love engaging with people, but they will also be going through a lot of training to keep learning how to serve our community better. During this time when the team will be learning a lot, they will also be guiding guests so that our guests feel supported and understand some of our unique approaches. Sometimes this will be fun, sometimes it will come naturally, and other times, it may be hard.
In all those moments, I will be asking our team to “lean in” a lot. Lean into our guests, lean into the workflow, lean into each other, and lean into their own personal goals. I am also inviting you, our guest, to “lean into our space!” We crafted an intentional space to cultivate collaboration, it will have familiar elements, and surprising ones, but whatever you encounter, I promise you, we are approaching it as something personal, we are aiming to make it fun, we are crafting it intentionally to encourage and invite you to lean into what the space offers.
Our hope is you feel that sense of belonging, that you know you are invited, and that every time you come, you leave with lasting joy!