1: “I took a call recently from a Cornell hotel-school grad looking for career advice,” Will Guidara writes in his powerful book Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.
For thirteen years, Will served as General Manager of Eleven Madison Park restaurant in New York City, during which it was named the No. 1 restaurant in the world.
“The first thing he said … continue reading
1: As leaders, when we are short-staffed, it is difficult to resist the temptation to hire the first person who walks through the door.
“I know what it’s like to think, We need someone so desperately—how bad could this person be?” Will Guidara writes in his wonderful book Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.
“I’ve also (unfortunately),” he recalls, “been in a position … continue reading
1: In 2006, renowned New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer offered twenty-seven-year-old Will Guidara a career-changing opportunity.
Will was to become the General Manager of Eleven Madison Park (also known as EMP), a New York City fine-dining restaurant.
Will and Chef Daniel Humm were charged with reinventing the restaurant.
Eleven years later, the pair achieved the highest honor in dining when Eleven Madison Park. was named No. 1 in The … continue reading
1: “My dad had his own platoon in Vietnam,” Will Guidara writes in his terrific book Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.
“He’d be the first one to tell you it wasn’t a great one,” Will shares, “In fact, it’s highly likely he got it because nobody else wanted it.”
One of the soldiers in the platoon was nicknamed Kentucky after his home … continue reading
1: Question: What’s the best way to boost the confidence of young scholars suffering from imposter syndrome?
It’s not what we might think.
When sociologists Jessica Collett and Jade Avelis paired entry-level academic women with experienced, inspirational mentors, they discovered an unwelcome irony: The younger scholars felt “more insecure and inadequate, through negative comparison with their uber-accomplished elders,” Oliver Burkeman writes in Meditations for Mortals.
One of the … continue reading
1: “The fog was thick that day,” Anne-Laure Le Cunff writes in Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World.
It was the evening of September 8, 1923.
“Captain Edward H. Watson and Lieutenant Commander Donald T. Hunter were leading a fleet of warships on an engineering run off the coast of Southern California,” Anne-Laure writes.
“Because of the poor visibility, Captain Hunter had been navigating by … continue reading
1: “We do not learn from experience,” John Dewey tells us. “We learn from reflecting on experience.”
Yes, indeed.
But life moves fast. And without the right toolset, it’s easy to overlook the reflection piece and miss out on the learning.
To address this problem, author Anne-Laure Le Cunff has developed a weekly process she calls “Plus Minus Next,” a simple yet powerful tool designed to spark reflection … continue reading
1: Ever heard of the “effort paradox”?
It’s the reason most New Year’s resolutions fail.
We “overcommit to a bunch of lofty aspirations,” Anne-Laure Le Cunff writes in her book Tiny Experiments.
“The human mind has a love/hate relationship with effort,” she notes. “We are drawn to the idea of it, yet we would rather not have to put in actual effort.”
We think we will be happier if … continue reading
It was September 2022. Eliud Kipchoge set a new all-time world record for the marathon in Berlin.
“What many people do not know about one of the fastest marathoners in history is his habit of keeping a detailed diary,” Anne-Laure Le Cunff writes in Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World.
“This diary is not just a log of his physical training,” Anne-Laure notes, “it also … continue reading
1: Author Oliver Burkeman believes there are two basic orientations towards life.
We can either strive toward sanity.
Alternatively, we can operate from a position of sanity.
“The signature behavior of the striver-towards-sanity is ‘clearing the decks'”, Oliver writes in Meditations for Mortals
The striver-towards-sanity attempts “to deal with all the minor tasks tugging at our attention,” he notes, “in an effort to arrive at the point when we finally … continue reading
