Lesson 6: Hospitality
Hospitality can define a dining experience. Chick-fil-A distinguished itself through exceptional hospitality when I was a kid: After receiving my kids' meal, they would hand me a complimentary ice cream along with a genuine “my pleasure” to make sure I wanted to come back every time.
This week, I reflected on the book Unreasonable Hospitality. The author, Will Guidara, delivers extraordinary hospitality at his restaurant Eleven Madison Park and details how they did it. He hired “Dreamweavers'' to focus on giving each guest a unique experience. One highlight was when a Dreamweaver recreated a beach in one of the private dining spaces when the waiter learned the guests had to cancel their vacation trip. Will describes how hospitality is about building a relationship by creating an experience that exceeds expectations.
My teaching experience at Banneker High School highlighted the joy of going beyond expectations. I started building lesson plans that included scholars’ names and favorite hobbies. Then, I began calling their parents to share good news, such as “Amyah got a 100% on her quiz”. Integrating personal details tailored the experience in my class to each scholar. It became my pleasure to offer hospitality, and I realized it was working when scholars and their parents began asking if they could come after school and during free periods for more tutoring.
Transitioning to the world of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, I see parallels of how to bring hospitality to my role. The mandate as a CEO includes acquiring, growing, and selling a small business. I spoke with an MBA student at University of Chicago Booth who told me about the long-term value that emerges from consistently exceeding expectations. I have heard of servant leadership, but I would like to be a hospitable leader. Like a dining experience, hospitality can define a work experience.
My values are love, humility, and wisdom. Each day I am a CEO, I need to ask myself how can I be more loving, more humble, and more wise as a leader? In striving for unreasonable hospitality, it is not only to serve but also to connect, leaving a lasting impact.
Hospitality is Lesson 6. Next week, I will share Lesson 7: Acceptance
