Book Review: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
I started the Bettering Communities Book Club in 2024 with the goal of creating stronger, intentional community with folks who love reading and learning. We reviewed our fourth book of the year this month, Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than they Expect.
Reactions to the Book
We had universal positive reactions to the book in our group, which was great news after a few books that have received mixed sentiments. We all agreed that the book was a quick read and those who listened to the audio version noted that the narration was excellent. I did not realize that FX’s “The Bear” was inspired by the author of this book and his award-winning talent in the hospitality sector!
Quick Summary
Author Guidara shares his experience across high-end restaurants and how his quest to deliver “unreasonable hospitality” shaped the workplace culture for his team and the customer experience. While this book offers a lot of deep dive examples into the nuances of managing the front of house of a restaurant, we agreed that there were many leadership lessons applicable to any industries within the book. Some of the takeaways which resonated with our group were the importance of not letting dedication to systems supersede the importance of people and how we can create a better employee experience by putting the organization’s needs first.
The 95/5 Rule
Author Guidara shares a concept he utilizes called the 95/5 rule, a concept where a business manages 95% of their business down to the penny (hyper scrutinizing every single expense) and 5% is spent “foolishly”. Guidara’s theory is that 5% has an outsized impact on the guest experience and is a “smart” investment. Guidara detailed the level of thought that went into minimizing waste in the restaurant - from analyzing breakage data to changing dishwasher shelf configurations and more. It seemed that within Guidara’s restaurants employees were hyper motivated to find savings to empower their ability to enhance guest experience. The restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, even had nomenclature for exceptional guest experiences which were delivered, calling them “legends.”
Legends, Dreamweavers, and Big Data
Will and his team were so committed to delivering “legends” that they created new positions within the organization that were charged with researching new clientele, understanding why they were visiting the restaurant and delivering custom-tailored over-the-top guest experiences personalized to them. Now in the case of a restaurant where you might spend more than $1,000 on dinner, this makes a bit more sense. When we looked at this through the lens of a local government or non-profit organization, we took the message away that we can elevate our own customer’s experiences by connecting with customers on a more human level.
Eleven Madison Park had a robust customer relationship manager software program which allowed their team to add vital guest notes - such as a client who would order steak medium rare but actually wanted it cooked to a medium doneness. By tracking these data points, repeat customers would not encounter the same “mistake” twice. Guest relations management within Eleven Madison Park even went so far as to Google-search patrons before their first visit so that they could be greeted by name at the door.
We were split within the group about whether this client “dossier” approach was impressive or creepy. It is unlikely, we figured, that government would ever track customer data at this level. Storing data creates a public record AND has the added vulnerability of becoming a cyber risk should a data breach occur. One book club particpant shared that their organization stored data at the parcel level from an economic development perspective - so that all team members could track conversation history related to a parcel and deliver consistent information to inquiring parties. Giving Team Members their Credit when Due
Will Guidara stressed the importance of giving employees the chance to use their interests and unique skillsets to advance the business. He gave examples of how employees with significant personal knowledge and interest in both coffee and craft beer elevated the restaurant’s brand in turn when these employees were inspired to leverage their interests. Too often employees who are mid-level do not get credit for the exceptional insights they bright to their organization. Will made it a priority to not only give credit where it was due to the hardworking employees, but also to ensure that when possible, those issuing compliments had the chance to deliver them directly to the source.
Some noted that letting your employees shine too brightly sets the business up for a competitor to poach all-star employees. Will disagreed, noting that “if you take exceptionally good care of your team, they won’t want to leave.”
Seamless Communication Cues
Eleven Madison Park used a series of invisible-to-the-guest communication strategies to let team members know non-verbally that they needed assistance with a guest. This meant that a) the stigma was removed from asking for help and b) all employees were on the lookout for these non-verbal cues from their colleagues. This no-team-member-left-behind approach was refreshing to hear about and likely contributed to forming a psychologically safe workplace.
There was also an agreement between the two owners of Eleven Madison Park - Will and Daniel - that each of them could pull the “it’s important to me” card to request consideration of something which the other was not initially in support of - such as keeping the restaurant open on Thanksgiving Day. In Daniel’s previous restaurants, opening on this day had been a non-starter - but Will used the “it’s important to me” card to suggest a change from the norm, which ended up having a beneficial outcome for team members and the business’ profit margins.
Teaching vs. Doing
Will was very forthcoming about his nitpickiness when it comes to absolute perfection in presentation. He noted that he had to take a step back from correcting others and instead teaching others his expectations and how to mirror this level of service on their own. Our group talked about how tempting it can be to take the shortcut and correct something for an employee - but how this can have a negative impact of deterring the person performing the action to learn, grow, and perform on their own. Teaching someone versus doing something for them can actually prove to be a gracious act of leadership.
In Summary
Our group really enjoyed this book and felt that it offered a lot of leadership takeaways that could be relevant across any industry. Some of the takeaways that stuck with us the most were:
The importance of how you can protect employee wellbeing by taking care of the organization first.
The way that having team members on the same page (data management systems, unsiloed communication practices, non verbal cues between employees) can enhance customer experience.
Focusing on forming genuine human connection with customers enhances everyone’s experience - the customer and the employee.
If we have an opportunity to teach rather than to do as a leader, we should explore it.
