Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business

by Danny Meyer

The moment people become managers for the first time, it will be as if the following three things have happened: An imaginary megaphone has been stitched to their lips, so that everything they say can now be heard by twenty times more people than before. The other staff members have been provided with a pair of binoculars, which they keep trained on the new managers at all times, guaranteeing that everything a manager does will be watched and seen by more people than ever. The new managers have received the gift of “fire,” a kind of power that must be used responsibly, appropriately, and consistently. The imaginary “megaphone” is to let our managers know that we place so much value on what comes out of their mouths that we want to make sure everyone hears it. The “binoculars” are to convey that we expect each of our employees—as well as our guests—to watch them as they exemplify the values and goals of our restaurants. The megaphone and the binoculars place a weighty responsibility on the shoulders of the managers. What they say and embody matters and will be heard, seen, and scrutinized by all. If we were a copy machine, managers would be the documents we’d want to replicate. We are very careful about which documents we feed into that machine. “Fire” is the most important element in management’s application of constant, gentle pressure. During my early, inexperienced years as a boss when I first got into business, it was far more important for me to please people and be l...

Three powers of a new manager.