Danny Meyer, Founder of Shake Shack — How to Win, The Art of The Graceful “No,” Overcoming Setbacks, The 6 Traits of Exceptional People, The 4 Quadrants of Performance, Lessons from Hospitality Excellence, and More (#665)

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“I spent the first 10 years of my career almost exclusively focused on trying to motivate problem employees to be better, like the weeds. What I learned was that our employees are like sunflowers. They will turn wherever the sun is. If I’m spending all of my attention on the weeds, I’m actually pulling the gravitational force that way. My grandmother’s lesson was right: If I water the flowers and spend more time with the people who maybe I’ve taken for granted because they’re doing such a great job, they actually crowd out the weeds and the weeds take care of themselves.”

— Danny Meyer

Danny Meyer (@dhmeyer) is the founder and chairman of Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), which comprises some of New York’s most beloved and acclaimed restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Maialino, and more. Danny and USHG also founded Shake Shack, the modern-day “roadside” burger restaurant, which became a public company in 2015. 

Danny is the author of the New York Times bestseller Setting the Table, which articulates a set of signature business and life principles that translate to a wide range of industries. He is the recipient of the 2017 Julia Child Award and was named by Time magazine as one of 2015’s 100 most influential people. Danny and USHG’s restaurants and individuals together have won an unprecedented 28 James Beard Awards, including Outstanding Restaurateur in 2005.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Musicor on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube here.

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#665: Danny Meyer, Founder of Shake Shack — How to Win, The Art of The Graceful “No,” Overcoming Setbacks, The 6 Traits of Exceptional People, The 4 Quadrants of Performance, Lessons from Hospitality Excellence, and More

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Want to hear an episode with someone who worked with and trained under Danny before making a name for himself? Listen to my conversation with Marco Canora in which we discussed “assy” Cabernet, hands-off mentorship, continuous glucose monitors, post-meal walks, how bone broth helped Marco survive the pandemic, not underestimating the little nagging things in relationships both personal and professional, and much more.

#545: Marco Canora — The Art of Food, Eating, Nutrition, and Life

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Danny Meyer:

USHG | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer | Amazon

Union Square Hospitality Group

Reservations Not Required | Shake Shack

A Danny Meyer Dictionary | The New York Times

Maialino, New York City

Da Giovanni Restaurant, Rome

Man Plans and God Laughs | Yiddish Wit

Anne Lamott on Taming Your Inner Critic, Finding Grace, and Prayer | The Tim Ferriss Show #522

Shake Shack’s Danny Meyer Reveals The Secret Ingredient Of His Success | Forbes

Law School Admission Test (LSAT) | Wikipedia

Elio’s, New York City

Union Square Cafe, New York City

Gramercy Tavern, New York City

Trinity College, Hartford

Explore St. Louis

Checkpoint Systems

Lessons on Hospitality from Danny Meyer’s Setting the Table | American Spa

Relais & Châteaux

La Réserve, Bordeaux | Trip Advisor

Restaurant Dubern à Bordeaux | Panier de Saison

What Michelin Stars Mean | Institute of Culinary Education

The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes’ | Gastro Obscura

Runnin’ Down a Dream: How to Succeed and Thrive in a Career You Love by Bill Gurley | McCombs School, University of Texas

The Pros and Cons of Staging in a Restaurant | Eater

The Two Things My Father’s Bankruptcy Taught Me | Inc.

How Shake Shack’s Danny Meyer Built an Empire Centered on Employees | LinkedIn

Tom Sawyer Whitewashing the Fence | PBS

Ending Tipping and the Virtuous Cycle of Enlightened Hospitality by Adam Brown | Medium

Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Timothy Ferriss | Amazon

The Daily Princetonian

Interview Questions That Limit Employee Turnover | Hospitality Hotline

An Iconic Photo That Belies The Real Story | Sports History Weekly

John McEnroe’s Epic Wimbledon Meltdown: ‘You Cannot Be Serious!’ | ESPN Archives

Theo Epstein’s Curse-Breakers | FiveThirtyEight

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis | Amazon

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Prime Video

Tabla Will Close in December — Danny Meyer’s First Ever Shutter | Eater NY

A Q&A With Danny Meyer: How to Close a Restaurant | The Atlantic

Ratatouille | Prime Video

Danny Meyer’s North End Grill Is Closing at the End of 2018 | Eater NY

The Culinary Institute of America

The Ultimate Guide to Tipping in America | Travel Insider

Cold Turkey by John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band | YouTube

New York City Restaurants’ “Hospitality Included” Movement Slowly Picks Up Steam | Nation’s Restaurant News

The Modern, New York City

A Return to Tipping, But Let Them Be Shared | USHG

This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin | Amazon

Special: Lockhart Link Burger At Shake Shack | Pop.Bop.Shop.

SHOW NOTES

Editor’s note: timestamps will be added shortly.

The meaning behind Maialino.

Control vs. surprises.

A pivotal conversation.

Converting the cranky.

ABCD: Always be collecting dots; always be connecting dots.

Danny’s first steps to chefdom.

Being paid the worst to learn from the best.

How business is like gardening.

A virtuous cycle of stakeholders.

The politely genuine decline.

Six qualities Danny looks for when hiring.

Work ethic lessons from Theo Epstein.

Should they stay or should they go?

Softly landing from a favorite failure.

Taking on tipping culture.

51 percenters.

Most gifted books.

Seth Godin is a mensch.

Danny’s billboard.

Hope vs. optimism.

Parting thoughts.

MORE DANNY MEYER QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Hospitality is a team sport.”
— Danny Meyer

“I kind of have a mixed bag with this whole control thing. I want to determine which island the boat is heading for, but I’m completely open to all the pivots I’m going to have to take in order to get there, because there’s no sailboat race in history that was ever a straight line between A and B.”
— Danny Meyer

“Even if you get the best tomatoes, you’d better not throw them in the back corner of the walk-in refrigerator and bruise them so that they lose their sugar. Treat them the right way. Well, guess what? Same thing goes for people. You can have the best recipe in the world for how you hire people, but you’d better pick the best tomatoes. You’d better treat them the right way if you want the best sauce.”
— Danny Meyer

“I spent the first 10 years of my career almost exclusively focused on trying to motivate problem employees to be better, like the weeds. What I learned was that our employees are like sunflowers. They will turn wherever the sun is. If I’m spending all of my attention on the weeds, I’m actually pulling the gravitational force that way. My grandmother’s lesson was right: If I water the flowers and spend more time with the people who maybe I’ve taken for granted because they’re doing such a great job, they actually crowd out the weeds and the weeds take care of themselves.”
— Danny Meyer

“The world keeps moving, and if you don’t keep moving with it, you will definitely not keep up.”
— Danny Meyer

“Can’t we please have a charitable assumption about one another?”
— Danny Meyer

“There is a difference between hope and optimism. I think that hope is an active act.”
— Danny Meyer

“ABCD: Always be collecting dots so you can always be connecting dots.”
— Danny Meyer

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Morton Meyer

Roxie Frank

Audrey Heffernan Meyer

Leonard Zelig

Alice Waters

Jeremiah Tower

Joyce Goldstein

Mark Miller

Wolfgang Puck

Paul Prudhomme

Michel Reybier

Bill Gurley

Julia Child

Tom Sawyer

Huckleberry Finn

Adam Smith

Milton Friedman

John B. Anderson

Jeffrey Zurofsky

Jeremy King

Serena Williams

Michael Jordan

Muhammad Ali

Sonny Liston

John McEnroe

Usain Bolt

Theo Epstein

Billy Beane

Groucho Marx

Floyd Cardoz

Joe Baum

Seth Godin

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