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 was, ‘I’m trying to figure out whether or not I want to stay in this horrible industry.’
“It was a short call,” Will recalls. “I told him pretty quickly it sounded like he shouldn’t.”
Life is brief. Work can be hard. If we don’t love what we do, it’s unlikely we will excel at it.
“I’ve had bad days and weeks like everyone else,” he writes, “but I’ve always been able to say, ‘I can’t imagine doing anything else,’ because I’ve always been able to tap into what’s important about my job.”
Will finds joy in the role that restaurants play in people’s lives.
“I genuinely believe that in restaurants we can give people a break from reality, even just for a short time—and, as cheesy as it sounds, that we can make the world a better place.
“Because when we’re really, really nice to people, they’ll be really nice to others, who will in turn pay it forward,” he shares. “That energizes me, even when I’m depleted.”
2: Helping people understand what’s important in the work they do is one of Will’s passions.
Before joining Eleven Madison Park, he was General Manager of casual food service operations at MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
“We didn’t see our guests as a bunch of customers looking for lunch,” he remembers. “We saw them as museumgoers—people on an adventure, realizing their dream of being inspired at one of the greatest modern art museums on earth.
“That simple shift,” Will writes, “had an automatic and profound impact on how our team acted, and on the hospitality our guests received.”
When Will speaks at conferences or meetings across industries, he often meets people who think their work doesn’t matter.
How come? Because he observes, “they haven’t dug deep enough to recognize the importance of the role they play.
“When I spoke at a real estate conference, it was easy for me to tell when someone was operating with passion and purpose,” Will writes. “Many told me they sold houses; the great ones understood they were selling homes.
“This applies to every industry I can think of. We can be in the financial services business,” he notes, “or in the business of providing people with a plan so they can provide a future for their families.
“We can be in the insurance business,” Will explains, “or in the business of offering people the comfort of knowing they and their loved ones are covered, safe and secure, no matter what happens.”
The key question we ask ourselves is whether we are showing up at work to do a job or be part of something bigger than ourselves.
“Without exception, no matter what we do, we can make a difference in someone’s life,” Will writes.
“We must be able to name for ourselves why our work matters. And if we’re a leader, we need to encourage everyone on your team to do the same.”
3: Some parents are not jazzed when they learn their children are pursuing a career in restaurants.
“They wanted their kids to be doctors, or lawyers, or bankers,” Will observes. “They didn’t want them to serve other people—and especially not as a career.”
He has a different perspective: “I wanted our team members to understand that hospitality elevates service not only for the person receiving it, but for the person delivering it.
“Serving other human beings can feel demeaning,” he notes, “unless we first stop and acknowledge the importance of the work and the impact we can have on others when we’re doing it.”
At the end of a strategic planning session involving the entire team at Eleven Madison Park, Will said this: “The moment you start to pursue service through the lens of hospitality, you understand there’s nobility in it.
“We may not be saving people’s lives, but we do have the ability to make their lives better by creating a magical world they can escape to—and I see that not as an opportunity, but as a responsibility, and a reason for pride.”
More tomorrow!
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Reflection: Do I see my day-to-day work as just a job, or as a chance to make life richer, better, or more meaningful for others?
Action: Take five minutes this week to write down why my work matters—and invite my team to do the same.
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