The Power of Hospitality

My favorite restaurant is Grammercy Tavern in New York City. The first time I went was with my brother-in-law because it was his favorite restaurant. That's their goal, to be your favorite restaurant because you can't argue with someone's favorite. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is beautiful, but what sets them apart is their hospitality. Their ability to make a connection with their customer and create a community of belonging. You can listen to the owner, Danny Meyer, talk about how they accomplish this here.

How do they do it?

1. They put their employees first. You can't create a connection if you aren't connected to one another. A connected community that cares for one another and is committed to achieving together will always outperform a collection of disconnected but talented group of people.
2. Build a team of people with what they call high hospitality intelligence: kindness, optimism, work ethic, curious intelligence, empathy, self-awareness, and integrity. Why wouldn't you want to work with people like this?
3. They collect dots to connect dots. This is brilliant. The Gramercy Tavern team knows that they are in the human business and humans connect when they feel seen, heard, and loved. They collect dots (know their customer personally) to connect dots (create moments of hospitality).

Whether at work or at home these ideas apply. Put your family and employees first if you want to thrive in the world. Cultivate the values of kindness and empathy. Know your people and connect them together through hospitality that opens them to a world of possibility.