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Coaching for Leaders

688: The Power of Leadership Through Hospitality, with Will Guidara

Coaching for Leaders

Dave Stachowiak

Management, Careers, Business

4.81.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Will Guidara: Unreasonable Hospitality

Will Guidara is the former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, which under his leadership received four stars from the New York Times, three Michelin stars, and in 2017 was named #1 on the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. He has co-authored four cookbooks, was named one of Crain’s New York Business’s 40 Under 40, and is the recipient of WSJ Magazine’s Innovator Award. He is the author of Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect*.

We expect hospitality from a restaurant or hotel, but we often miss opportunities for this mindset at work. In this conversation, Will and I discuss effective leadership as an act of hospitality, not only for the organization and team — but for the leader themselves.

Key Points

  • Service is black and white. Hospitality is color.
  • Hospitality elevates service not only for the person receiving it, but for the person delivering it.
  • Hospitality is a dialogue, not a monologue. With employees, this means giving feedback continuously.
  • When offering criticism, make a charitable assumption. The message is still the message, but the context matters.
  • Giving attention to your top performers does a lot to invest others in their work.
  • Make it cool to care.

Resources Mentioned

Interview Notes

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

We expect hospitality from a restaurant or hotel, but we often miss opportunities for this mindset in how we lead.

0:09.0

In this episode, leadership as an act of hospitality, not only for the organization and team, but for the leader themselves.

0:18.0

This is coaching for leaders, episode 688.

0:22.0

Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

0:27.0

Greetings to you from Orange County, California. This is coaching for leaders and I'm your host Dave Stahoviac. Leaders aren't born. They're made.

0:41.0

And this weekly show helps you discover leadership wisdom through insightful conversations.

0:47.0

One of the ways to think about leadership is through the lens of hospitality.

0:52.0

I hadn't thought much about that until I read the book of this

0:55.9

week's guest. An invitation for us to think about how do we bring hospitality

1:01.3

into our work as leaders, not only for others, but also for ourselves.

1:07.4

I'm so pleased to welcome Will Gadera to the show.

1:10.0

He is the former co-owner of 11 Madison Park,

1:13.2

which under his leadership received four stars

1:15.7

from the New York Times, three Michelin stars,

1:18.1

and in 2017 was named number one on the list

1:21.6

of the world's 50 Best Restaurants.

1:24.0

He has co-authored four cookbooks, was named one of Crane's New York businesses 40 under 40,

1:30.0

and is the recipient of the Wall Street Journal's Magazine's Innovator Award.

1:34.4

He is the author of Unreasonable Hospitality,

1:38.0

the remarkable power of giving people more than they expect.

1:41.7

Will, what a pleasure to meet you.

1:43.2

Similarly, I'm so excited to be here with you and I've been looking forward to this

...

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