The Myth of the Most Important Thing

Hang around leadership circles long enough and you’ll hear it:
“The most important thing in your business is…”
Fill in the blank—coffee quality, customer service, hiring, culture, systems.

But here’s what I’ve learned:
Most people get that sentence wrong.

Take Starbucks.

On your way in, what would you say is the most important thing?

• The coffee?
• A clean cup?
• A spotless bathroom?
• Hot water?
• A working payment system?
• Courteous, well-trained staff?
• Clean tables?
• Sandwiches that aren’t burnt?

Now imagine this:
Everything is perfect… but the coffee tastes bad. Suddenly, coffee is the most important thing.
Or, if the system overcharges you, billing becomes the priority.

It’s all situational.
Each part of the business becomes the most important the moment it fails.

And that’s the point.

The danger is making a process the most important thing.
That was the downfall of Richard and Maurice McDonald.

They built a booming hamburger business. Customers drove for miles.
But when they wanted to expand, they fixated on process—the choreography of the kitchen, how burgers flowed from hand to hand.
They couldn’t see beyond it.

They failed to scale McDonald's into a national brand.

Enter Ray Kroc.
He saw the bigger picture.
He understood it’s not just process—it’s the full experience.

So what is the most important thing?

All of it.

• Your team.
• Your customer.
• Clean bathrooms.
• Accurate billing.
• Honored commitments.
• Fresh coffee.

I've spent years in hospitality. I’ve heard every theory:

“The front desk is the most important—it’s the first impression!”
Sure—but what if the guest walks into a dirty room?
Or gets cold food at dinner?

It all matters. Because what’s most important is the total experience.

If the phone rings and no one answers, what message does that send?

If paychecks don’t arrive on Friday, how does that affect morale?

Your customers are both internal and external.
Internal customers—your team—are critical. Without them, you can't serve anyone else.

So no, it’s not just one thing.

Don’t believe the myth.
Reject the tidy lie that one process or one function is more important than the rest.

Embrace this instead:

“It’s all important.”

Your job as a leader is to put smart, capable people in every role, so wherever a customer stumbles into your business, they stumble into excellence.

Focus on one thing? You’ll miss ten others.

Build a team. Build excellence everywhere.

Make customers smile—inside and out.

That’s the real way to lead. And the real way to win.

Intersecting Life, Luxury and Leadership,
Chris Adams

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