Learning from the world of hospitality.
What do restaurants and tech companies have in common?
Probably more than you can think of.
Credit: Tara Donne
I recently finished Danny Meyer’s book "Setting the Table". Published in 2006, it covers his inspiring career, which started in 1985 when at 27 he opened Union Square Cafe in New York City, and most recently included the launch and instant success of of Shake Shack. His “employees first” and “enlightened hospitality” principles have deeply influenced the world of hospitality, but it’s his business and leadership tips that resonated the most with me.
Here are a few highlights and Danny’s quotes:
The art of good communication is based on understanding how the message makes your audience feel: “Poor communication is generally not a matter of miscommunication. More often, it involves taking away people’s feeling of control. Change works only when people believe it is happening for them, not to them. And there’s not much in between.”
An abundance mindset drives growth: “The mindset “We’re just hanging on” perpetuates scarcity. Investing money, imagination, and hard work to create a mindset of abundance achieves abundance.”
Surprises and delights create loyalty: “I encourage each manager to take ten minutes a day to make three gestures that exceed expectations and take a special interest in our guests. That translates into 1,000 such gestures every year, multiplied by over 100 outstanding managers throughout our restaurants. For any business owner, that can add up to a lot of repeat business.”
Soft skills are hard to train for, get smart at hiring for them: “We aim to hire people who possess an emotional skill that chef Michael Romano calls the ”excellence reflex” [...which] is rooted in instinct and upbringing, and then constantly honed through awareness, caring, and practice. The overarching concern to do the right thing well is something we can’t train for. Either it’s there or it isn’t. So we need to train how to hire for it.”
How managers become great leaders: “For our managers to become great leaders, we identify and assess a number of crucial character traits that are a subset of the five core emotional skills—optimistic warmth, intelligence, work ethic, empathy, integrity, and self-awareness”
Problems are not just negative for a business, they are part of it and how you handle them is key: “The most successful business is not the one that eliminates the most problems. It’s the one that becomes most expert at finding imaginative solutions to address those problems”.
A good read for any leader.
Credit: Union Square Cafe