other. It is whether concerns can be raised directly and professionally. Can someone walk into your office and tell you something is wrong without rehearsing it for three days first? The trust that protects your program is the trust that allows for difficult conversations on a normal Tuesday. O, Operational Clarity. Are expectations consistent? Are processes clear? Ambiguity is expensive. It costs you in food safety, compliance, retention, and most of all, during transitions. When a long-tenured manager retires and her processes leave with her, you pay the price for years of ambiguity no one had time to address. V, Visible Leadership. Your team is reading you all the time. They know whether you show up on the line during service. They know whether you respond to a difficult email the same day or three days later. Visible leadership is not about being everywhere at once. It is about being consistent in the
places that matter to your team. E, Energy and Recognition. Are strengths named? Is effort acknowledged? I am not talking about employee-of-the-month programs. I am talking about whether you can name, out loud, the specific strength of the person standing in front of you. That is the foundation of mentorship, retention, and the long-term health of your team. This framework was developed in response to what I kept hearing from leaders in the field. They did not need another model that explained leadership in the abstract. They needed something they could carry into a Monday morning huddle and use. STOVE is meant to be exactly that. You will not get all five right every week. No one does. The goal is not perfection. The goal is to notice which condition is slipping and to address it before it becomes the next problem you have to manage. I want to leave you with the
diagnostic itself. Print the five letters. Tape them where you will see them. And the next time something feels off in your kitchen, do not start with the symptom. The conditions are always there. Leadership is the practice of paying attention to them. That is what it means to lead, support, and inspire. Leading is choosing purpose over routine. Supporting is building the trust and clarity your team stands on. Inspiring is noticing what is working and saying so out loud. Start with STOVE, and you are already doing all three.
Looking for More Support? Visit theicn.org to access ICN’s trainings, resources, and tools. Questions? Contact the ICN Help Desk via email at helpdesk@theicn. org or by phone at 18003213054.
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Dr. Danielle Barrett, Ed.D, MDA, RDN | Institute of Child Nutrition Dr. Danielle Barrett is an instructional designer, registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN), and education leader with more than a decade of experience in adult learning, public health, and culinary nutrition. As an Education and Training Specialist II at the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN), the nation’s only federally funded center dedicated to child nutrition programs, she develops and evaluates evidence- based trainings that advance the skills of child nutrition professionals nationwide. Passionate about culinary nutrition and instructional innovation, Dr. Barrett is committed to promoting healthy eating and fostering wellness in our nation's children.
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