Famed restauranteur Danny Meyer's book Setting the Table: The transforming power of hospitality in business should be on your nightstand if you want a powerful internal culture.
His high growth, highly successful companies are all founded in a philosophy of hospitality. He believes (and we do, too) that businesses of all kinds can benefit from the same approach.
"VIrtually nothing else is as important as how one is made to feel in any business transaction. Hospitality exists when you believe the other person is on your side...hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you."
OK—so it's easy to think we offer hospitality to our customers. That's probably something you should examine to be certain.
But let's go further: do we extend it to employees, too?
More from Danny: "Learning to manage volunteers—to whom, absent a paycheck, ideas and ideals were the only currency—taught me to view all employees essentially as volunteers. I know that anyone who works for my company chooses to do so because of what we stand for. It's up to us to provide solid reasons for our employees to want to work for us, over and beyond their compensation."
What do you stand for? How are your company core beliefs and brand promises shared with employees? What does your brand do for them—not just to them?
Watch this excerpt on YouTube where he talks about his hospitality "discovery" and leading with intention, rather than intution. Read the book.
You'll be inspired. Let us know what you think!
