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 Music ,  or 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

The post 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) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss .