“There are three phases of Mastery: Mastery of the Head, the Heart, and the Hands.”
Michael Neff
Our first series introduces a specific definition of Mastery—what it means, what are its components, and how to achieve it. To help us explore the concept, we have gone to some of the best minds in the Bar Industry and asked them to talk us through their own Mastery.
Visit our YouTube channel for the Masterclass Playlist, where you can get samples of all of our conversations. Then follow the links (or come on back here) to listen to the full podcasts.
Mastery of the Head
The Head Layer is the data layer, and the one where many training programs start and stop. While this may be the case, it doesn’t diminish the fact that learning is a lifelong journey, and finding out as much as you can about something you love is an important step on the path to Mastery.
“Do you want to know stuff, or think you know stuff?”
Michael Neff
It is also where marketing lives, so proceed with caution. Remember that being told something is different than learning it, so use all of the resources available and get your information as close to the source as you can.
Mastery of the Hands
Mastery of the Hands is essentially mastering the body. This is the layer of Mastery that comes with time and practice, when what you do starts to become automatic. When your body starts to know what is necessary, it frees your brain up to think about the myriad details that need to be addressed to deliver a world-class experience.
“Being in a busy bar and knowing that, with all of the things you’re doing, you’ve tuned your body to have proper responses that you no longer need to consider.”
Michael Neff
Programming your body takes time, though. We only have so much of it, and when we spend it, we can’t get it back. This one goes out to you “program hoppers” out there, who spend small amounts of time behind many bars. Take the time to get your body tuned correctly in one place.
Mastery of the Heart
Mastering the Heart is the very apex of Mastery, when everything you are merges with everything that you do, everything you’ve learned, and those three things meld perfectly together to create something beyond what you are aware that you’re capable of. Sounds like some new-age stuff, I know. But it’s a real thing in life, and certainly a real thing for bartenders.
“That flow state is an experience of truly losing yourself in an activity of any sort. If you ever watch it, it’s truly amazing. But if you ever experience it, then you start to get a very different idea of the possibilities of what it is that this job is and what we can do for a living.”
Michael Neff
The very top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is what some call the “flow state.” The brain can only process so much information, and if you are a master of your craft, you sometimes enter a state where your body fully takes over and your brain fully commits to one specific moment at the same time. This, more than anything else, describes Mastery of the Heart.