For too many people, life isn’t about dreams, but limits. Their work and personal lives are good; they’re afraid they’ll make mistakes and lose everything going for great.
For too many people, life isn’t about dreams, but limits. Their work and personal lives are good; they’re afraid they’ll make mistakes and lose everything going for “great.” I wish everyone had the gumption and the guts to follow the example of author Will Guidara and his restaurant partner, Daniel Humm.
They could have been satisfied when their Eleven Madison Park was named one of the 2010 World’s 50 Best Restaurants. It was last on the list, but that’s still impressive—except to Guidara and Humm. To them, “50th best” just wasn’t enough. Instead, they set the goal of becoming the biggest and best restaurant in the world.
They did it—they reached number one in 2017—but it took time and tweaking and putting the whole team behind the goal to create the kind of culture that made it possible. The steps they took are detailed in Guidara’s book, Unreasonable Hospitality. I recognized many of the steps they took to reach the top in my own book, Do You Have IT?, about what it takes to be successful.
Guidara’s experience is in restaurants, but his ideas can translate to any industry. Your responsibility as a leader is to make both your customers and employees feel supported and valued, no matter your industry. “Fads fade and cycle,” Guidara writes, “but the human desire to be taken care of never goes away.”
DREAM BIG, THEN DREAM BIGGER
I gave Guidara’s book to everyone on my board of directors. Those 20 people gave me 20 different points that most impressed them, and none of them hit my number one point. That’s how good this book is—it’s full of ideas that resonate differently with everyone who reads it.
My top takeaway is about the need to dream big. We may have more success, more money, and more experience, yet we still don’t dream anywhere near what Guidara dreamed when he ran one restaurant in New York City and decided to take it to number one in the world. Why doesn’t everybody own their own business? Why doesn’t everybody achieve the highest results?
Because of this book, I’m pushing my team to dream bigger and aim for the branches where the best fruit is. There is a greater chance of falling and getting hurt on those weaker branches, but that’s where they need to be.
I want you to start looking at things in a different way: Rather than worrying about what you might lose, think about what you’ll gain. For example, I want my company to be the number one franchising business in the world and a Fortune 500 company.
Because of this book, I’m setting the bar here much higher than ever. I think you might, too.
DO YOU HAVE IT?
Guidara and Humm obviously had what it took to succeed at their goal, a topic I explored in Do You Have IT?
I was inspired to ask the question after watching a show about pop superstar Britney Spears. When she was starting out, Britney recorded many of her hits at a small studio in Sweden. According to the show, she decided she would be a star, so she went there early every day, stayed late, and worked her tail off. Someone from the studio said everyone knew Britney would succeed because “she just had it.”
That was fascinating to me. I turned off the show and started writing. What exactly is it? Is it something people are born with? Can they buy it? Can they learn it? How? In the end, I wrote a step-by-step guide for how to take a business or your life to the next level.
It’s never too late to look for it and develop it so you can reach your full potential. I think I’ve always had it since I was a hardworking high school basketball player, thanks to a work ethic gene from my dad that helped me tremendously. But it wasn’t until I started working in business that I discovered the habit that I call “Bring Along Others to Share In It”—the practice of mentoring those who come behind you.
IDENTIFYING AND CULTIVATING YOUR “IT”
I believe everyone has an “it” in them and it’s never too late to look for it. Here are some do’s and don’ts for your search:
- DO look back at some of your most successful projects. What did they have in common? In what part of them were you most effective?
- DON’T turn down projects because they’re too small (or big) for you. There’s no such thing—and it could be the clue that helps you discover “it.”
- DO seek feedback from mentors; ask them to identify strengths they see in you or recall moments when you seemed energized or confident. At our company, we see these benefits every day in our formal mentoring program.
- DON’T listen to anyone who tells you to “find your passion” or what you love doing. The golf courses are filled with passionate duffers! My advice is to find something you are good at and then get great at it by practicing and putting extra time into it.
- DO celebrate when you find “it.” You must always celebrate the wins, and that’s a big one.
GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF GREAT
Call it talent, drive, or ambition, but it’s different for everyone. You have to trust that you’ll know it when you see it. What matters is what you do with it, which is what I cover in my book. Once you discover your “it,” you must nurture it—creating a plan, putting in the effort, maintaining it every day, involving others, and, like Guidara and Humm, never giving up on it.
I’ll end by sharing a familiar saying: “Good is the enemy of great.” People will say, “I am good,” and as soon as I hear that, I know they will never be great. Once you start being satisfied with good, then you’re in trouble.
This article was originally published by Fast Company & Inc