Happy New Year!
Unreasonable… Not guided by or based on good sense. “Your attitude is completely unreasonable.” Beyond the limits of acceptability or fairness. “An unreasonable request.” Similar: Uncooperative. Obstructive. Unhelpful. Troublesome. Unaccommodating. Bullheaded.
It’s the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
The week the team at Hall | Stewart takes a much-needed break.
And, the week my thoughts turn from thinking about lawns and landscapes to reflecting on the year and thinking about the approaching new year. (I hope you have or will take time to reflect and plan for 2025.)
My reflection of 2024 took me back to the fall and a book study of Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.
It was my second time reading Unreasonable Hospitality. This trip through the book I teamed up with my daughter, Molly, to lead a book study with leaders and emerging leaders at our family’s restaurants.
If you are assuming Unreasonable Hospitality is only for those in the hospitality industry, it’s not.
The concepts are important in all businesses, homes, families, friendships, churches, communities…ok, let’s just say “everywhere.”
Simon Sinek described Unreasonable Hospitality: “This is a book about how to treat people. How to listen. How to be curious. And how to learn to love the feeling of making others feel welcome. It is a book about how to make people feel like they belong.”
Why is unreasonable hospitality important: The world needs more hospitality, needs to both show more hospitality and feel more hospitality.
As you reflect on 2024, let me share with you a few (ok, maybe too many to call it a “few”) key points that stood out to me from Unreasonable Hospitality:
Unreasonable is a word when used in a sentence is meant to shut down the conversation. But, no one ever changed the game by being reasonable. You have to be unreasonable to see a world that doesn’t yet exist.
Black and white – you are doing your job with competence and efficiency. Color – you make people feel great.
How you serve your clients is as valuable as what your service or product is. When you create a hospitality first culture, everything about your business improves.
“People will forget what you do; they’ll forget what you said. But they’ll never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
Whatever you do for a living, you can choose to be in the hospitality business.
Intentionality is a way of life. Intention means every decision, from the most obviously significant to the seemingly mundane, matters. To do something with intentionality means to do it thoughtfully, with clear purpose and an eye on the desired result.
All it takes for something extraordinary to happen is one person with enthusiasm.
Danny Meyer, founder of Union Square Hospitality Group, sayings:
“Constant, gentle pressure” was the idea that everyone in the organization should always be improving, getting a little better all the time.
“Athletic hospitality” meant always looking for a win, whether you were playing offense making an already great experience even better, or defense apologizing for and fixing an error.
“Be the swan” reminded them the guest should see a gracefully curved neck and meticulous white feathers sailing across the water surface, not the webbed feet churning furiously below the water driving the glide.
“Make the charitable assumption” a reminder to assume the best of people, even when they weren’t’ behaving particularly well. This applies to both team members and guests.
Run toward what you want, as opposed to away from what you don’t want.
Hospitality is breaking down barriers, not putting them up. The goal is to connect with people.
“It might not work” is a terrible reason not to try. Take a chance. You don’t reach the top by taking “no” for an answer. You need to be willing to fail. “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
When you realize perfection is unattainable you can either give up altogether or try to get as close as you possibly can. It is not possible to do everything perfectly, but it is possible to do many things perfectly.
The definition of excellence is getting as many details right as you can. Chase excellence in every element of what you do.
The aggregation of marginal gains is the idea that if you could improve every detail by 1% you would get a significant increase when they are all put together.
Ambition is an extraordinary thing, a nuclear reactor that provides unlimited amounts of energy. When you have success, you want more. Momentum.
Adversity is a terrible thing to waste.
The opposite of a good idea is another good idea. The opposite of “unreasonable” is “reasonable.” Also, a good idea. But reasonable is not going to get you to the top.
Don’t confuse hospitality with luxury. Luxury is just giving more. Hospitality is being more thoughtful.
Creativity is a process. Creative minds have a process to help them be creative, to hone their ideas. It is an active process, not a passive one. You can’t use up creativity. The more you use it the more you have.
Hospitality, unreasonable hospitality… we have the opportunity, the responsibility,
to make magic in a world that desperately needs more of it.
Don’t miss the opportunity to reflect on 2024 and make plans for a great 2025!
May your 2025 be filled with giving and receiving unreasonable hospitality,
Lorne Hall
Hall | Stewart Lawn + Landscape
(405)367-3873