Book Review: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

This week's review is on Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara.

After years in the restaurant industry, including helping lead Eleven Madison Park to 3 Michelin Stars and recognition as the world's best restaurant, Will Guidara offers his story and the secret to his success: caring above and beyond what is required. Seriously, that's the secret. The magic of this story is tracing Will's journey, that of his restaurant and team, and the permutations that that care takes to be put into action.

In tracing this book, Will's story remains inspirational, especially as he recognizes the influence of his parents and mentors on his path. The journey of the restaurant is - at times - difficult to trace - don't expect a blow-by-blow account of menus, recipes, service and more - but instead dip into it like a buffet of finger foods. It is the last third testing element - that of service - that seems most relevant for industry and schools. For schools are at their heart part of the service industry with curriculum in place of menus, teachers in place of serving and cooking staff, desks in place of tables, and more.

Not great cover design

Each chapter of Guidara's book moves the first two elements forward, while bolding 1-3 concepts around "unreasonable hospitality." The biography of self and restaurant help illustrate both the demand for the incisive quote and the action of putting it in place. Not quite a listicle, the book still offers that type of feel interwoven with the story of Will and the story of 11MP.

Some key concepts he offers:

• "Service is black and white; hospitality is color." (5) - genuine care and engagement is more than doing what's expected

• This concept of service is born out of the way you treat your team and this carries forward as Will puts it: "These people believed, as I do, that how they served their clients was as valuable as what they served" (7)

• Intention means "every decision, from the most obviously significant to the seemingly mundane matters. To do something with intentionality means to do it thoughtfully, with clear purpose and an eye on the desired result" (22). Agreement on the little things also leads to alignment and agreement on the big ones. "The way you do one thing is the way you do everything." (72)

• "Let your energy impact the people you're talking to, as opposed to the other way around" (28) as lived as kaisen or the idea that everyone "in the organization should always be improving, getting a little better all the time" (29)

• "a 'cult' is what people who work for companies that haven't invested enough in their cultures tend to call the companies that have" (31)

• Manage "95 percent of your business down to the penny; spend the last 5 percent 'foolishly'" (46) - this allows you to reward and recognize guests and staff

• Defining a system as - "everybody would know what they were supposed to be doing and how they were supposed to be doing it" (63). These systems can be rooted in "simple pattern recognition: identify the moments that recur in your business, and build a tool kit your team can deploy without too much effort" (210).

• Call on leaders to "recognize the strengths of the people on their team, no matter how buried those strengths might be" (66) this call leads to the necessity to give feedback constantly (70) and to have a daily team meeting. This meeting builds a team from individuals. This feedback is important to note as "there is no better way to show someone you care than by being willing to offer them a correction...praise is affirmation, but criticism is investment" (140).

• When working with team members - the struggles fall into two camps those trying and those not trying. They require different supports and as a leader we should focus on the former and push out the latter (74-75). Those hired should be considered as having the potential to be "one of the top two or three on the team" (84) and Guidara even highlights waiting to make a hire so that he could bring a "class" of three new hires at once to help with culture.

• Focusing on the ancillary can make an impact too! For the restaurant that was coffee, cocktails, and beer - for schools it could be front office service, parent conferences, and the first day of school - set the tone well.

• The idea of a "happy hour" - weekly meeting of presentation by a staff member on an interesting, pertinent, or relevant idea, concept, etc.

• The idea of having a new hire make an immediate recommendation "to do one thing to make the reservationist's office better. This was a mandate, not an invite, though they could decide what to do and how big or small" this helped set people at ease, gave them a voice, brought in fresh eyes, and broke the ice. (115)

• Creating systems for support - in the restaurant - this is "DBC" - Deep Breathing Club - when someone was showing being overwhelmed - and hand signals for support and help.

• "Gifts are a way to tell people you saw, heard, and recognized them...a gift transforms an interaction, taking it from the transactional to relational" (217)

As the school market becomes increasingly competitive - it is key that our schools remain hospitable. Like Purple Goldfish or Be Our Guest, Guidara's book is a call to build up a culture that showed magic and appreciation. This call is one we must heed to show not only our faith but our mission is aligned with forming the next generation to be one of servant leadership.

Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Good For: Those looking to be creative around offering hospitality.

Best nugget: Drink your best wines on your worst days (17)