Hospitality and a God Wink to Write Another Book
Let me jump right into it. In true hospitality form, I don’t want to keep you waiting.
I was in my first full time leadership role in the hospitality industry, as a Housekeeping Manager for the grand opening of the beautiful and vibrant Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, in Kissimmee, FL. I was 22 years old, fired up, and full of energy gazing out into the classic atrium for which Gaylord Hotels and Resorts are known. That was the backdrop to a guest speaker our General Manager, John Caparella (who later became the president of The Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas.), had invited to come inspire us. I don’t recall the guest speaker’s name, and I don’t remember much from his speech. However, I remember this one, timeless and transferable leadership principle which has rung in my head every day since.
He said, “Friends, you’re working in this dynamic business of hospitality. Whether you work in hospitality for the next couple of years or the next twenty years, remember that the essence of true hospitality is the ability to make people feel welcome, comfortable, and important.”
File that away for a second, and we’ll come back to it. In fact, those three words provide the framework for the pages and chapters which follow.
Then there was that one time I met Danny Meyer
(NYC Restauranteur, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, Author of NY Times Best-Selling book, Setting the Table, and co-founder of Shake Shack…)
In the early summer of 2018, I was in New York for Book Expo America and a number of events surrounding it promoting my first book, Ballgames To Boardrooms: Leadership, Business, and Life Lessons From Our Coaches We Never Knew We Needed. (For the six of you that purchased it, and for both of you that read it, thank you!) The event was great. I learned a great deal about the industry, met some dynamic people, and the notion to write another book began percolating in my mind. However, I was a bit tired and unsure of my ability to run the gamut once again – the outline, the writing, the promoting, the costs, the time, etc.
The conversation with myself went something like this, “Will I be able to write it? If I do write it, will anyone besides my family and friends care? Will they want to read it, or would they value the content?”
Self-doubt. It’s real. We often need inspiration and motivation to get our groove back. Sometimes all we have to do is actively go look for it.
I was staying near Time Square. I had the rest of the night off from events and Book Expo happenings. I took off walking down the streets of NYC. Having grown up in Eastern Kentucky and living in either Orlando, Las Vegas, or Southern California for my entire professional career, the extent of my experience with New York City usually begins and ends with whatever I see in a movie or on television. So, a stroll up and down the streets of Midtown Manhattan is inspiring in itself.
For my second book I had been thinking a great deal about doing something around “Hospitality Leadership”. Up to that point, I’d spent the previous 20 years working in various lines of business in the industry, putting to practice all I’d learned in both my undergraduate and graduate studies of all things hospitality.
Well, to tell this story, the following is a quick note and message I sent to my parents, my wife, and a few close friends that evening I took off walking with a purpose, looking for some inspiration:
Danny Meyer, accomplished and renowned restauranteur (creator of Shake Shack), wrote a best seller back in 2006 titled, Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. We had a few classroom discussions and case studies around Danny’s book when I was in grad school at the Cornell Hotel School. I loved his style and was intrigued by his restaurant concepts. One of his early restaurants which is still very popular, is Blue Smoke, known for its great barbecue, whiskey and bourbon drinks, and most of all, their genuine and authentic service. Danny Meyer, himself calls it, “Enlightened Hospitality”.
I’m staying at a boutique hotel called The Moxy, on 36th and 7th. This evening I took off walking south, toward the Flatiron District where I thought Blue Smoke was located. I was in search for a nice cocktail, some good food, and old school hospitality inspiration.
I sat at the bar, and as I’m ordering my second drink, having already finished my baby back ribs (side note: I was taking a quick break from my healthy diet and workout regimen. I’m human. Sorry I’m not sorry.), I logged onto Amazon and bought Danny Meyer’s book, in hardcover and audiobook, to perhaps see where he left off and where I could potentially pick up on this idea of treating your staff and teams with the same levels (or more) of hospitality as your Guests, Customers, and Clients, to create cultures of belonging as opposed to toxic corporate corporateness.
After my purchase, I asked the bar tender, “Have you ever met Danny Meyer?” She didn’t even look up, as she was craftily swirling another whiskey drink for a Guest a few seats down the bar, and proudly she answered me, “Oh yeah, all the time…”
She then looked up and started cracking up laughing with her coworker. She said to me, “Uh, Danny is literally standing behind you right now.” I turned around, and sure enough, there he was. He looked just like the fella on the picture on the website, Amazon’s book details section, and everything else our friends at Google serve up when we search “Danny Meyer.”
I cracked up, and my two new friends, the bar tenders, did the same. Danny saw and heard the commotion and came right over to me. They told him what just occurred, introducing me to him in the process. I added that part about me ordering his book, not twenty-two seconds ago, in two versions, on Amazon.
He engaged me in conversation, asking if I’m in hospitality. I told him a bit of my story, having worked in hotels and the travel industry for twenty years – Disney on both coasts, opening a couple of hotels in Las Vegas, and my graduate studies at the Cornell Hotel School. I also told him I had met him several years ago at Pebble Beach Food & Wine. (Working at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas at the time, we sponsored the event. While the brand marketing team and I were hosting a happy hour for chefs, exhibitors, attendees, and invited special Guests, I actually handed Danny Meyer, himself, a Heineken. Great moment.) He recalled being there, but I don’t think remembered me. All good. I didn’t take offense. (…on the outside…but it stung a bit on the inside…)
I kept it together.
I told Danny about my book, Ballgames To Boardrooms, and my thoughts about my second book being around Hospitality Leadership. I told him I wanted to expand on many of his principles and perhaps some new perspectives as well.
He said, “Well we need more hospitality leadership, that’s for sure.” He also told me he was honored that I came into his restaurant, bought his book, and wanted to meet him. We chatted for about ten more minutes. I told him I often go to restaurants, sit at the bar, and observe the staff. I told him his team is so connected. I commented that they’re so nice to not only Guests, but also each other. They help each other. They make each other laugh. They have fun. They’re clearly serious about good, old fashioned service but they don’t take themselves too seriously. Beyond that, it was obvious they genuinely liked and trusted each other.
Danny perked right up, smiled, and said, “I know! They’re amazing. And that’s what I look for, those intangibles; and that’s the culture we’re trying to create at all our restaurants.”
He thanked me for noticing it and letting him know. He promised to pass along the accolade to the team, to recognize and praise them. He also invited me to his breakfast spot called, Daily Provisions, for breakfast tomorrow before I head to the airport; in classic hospitality fashion. “Invite the Guest back…”
I love hospitality, and I love a good God Wink.
Let the second book project begin.
