Bringing a Vision to Life

In his book, Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect, Will Guidara recounts his first time attending the prestigious awards ceremony for the Top 50 Restaurants in the World, confident that his fine dining restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, would be placed somewhere in the middle of the pack. His excitement and bravado quickly came crashing down when they landed in last place, and he found himself juggling his own frustration alongside the dejection that his team felt.

“After a setback, it’s a leader’s job to take their team through their own emotional reckoning—from disappointment to motivation—and to chart the course ahead, because everyone has to be aligned on what you’re going to do next.”

He started that conversation by outlining what businesspeople might call a big, hairy, audacious goal – turning things around to become number one in the world.

On the surface, you might think that someone telling you that you’ll go from last to first is a bit of a pipe dream, and maybe this guy is not to be trusted. (I’ve talked before about how important it is to prevent your visions from accidentally becoming illusions or delusions.)

But Will Guidara is a precise and focused visionary leader. Even if he’s not 100% clear on every step that needs to be taken, he’s always focused on building the proper foundation to allow his team to try, iterate, and ultimately thrive.

“It was a tremendous risk to articulate that dream out loud. When you set a goal for your team and fail to achieve it, you run the risk of damaging morale—and this was a particularly audacious benchmark, given that slipping a single spot would mean falling off the list entirely…. At that meeting, we were inviting the team to decide to go for it with us. When you’ve surrounded yourself with talented people, there’s nothing more powerful than a collective decision.”

Prior to sharing his bold declaration, Will spent years building the right team of people – ones who were loyal, hardworking, and dedicated. But his staff didn’t just blindly follow him as a leader, believing everything they were told without question. Each team member was invited to become a co-creator of the restaurant – inventing new ways of thinking and operating, challenging assumptions, and developing their ideas and innovations for the benefit of restaurant guests and employees alike.

Will not only had a team of people who trusted him, but he also trusted and empowered them to use all of their talents, skills, strengths, and superpowers to grow alongside the restaurant and the people around them.

As part of this process for building the right team, he continuously took stock of what worked and what didn’t. He actively listened to the people around him for both praise and criticism – frequently learning more from his mistakes and missteps than his successes. He was enormously clear not just about the people and pieces he needed to have in place to succeed, but also about which people or ways of working could lead to their downfall. He knew where he had strengths and gaps, and how to tap into the right people at the right time to fill those gaps, leading to the next step in their success.

Will also made a point to speak with clear intention and respect for his team. “Language is how you give intention to your intuition and how you share your vision with others. Language is how you create a culture.”

He had the elements in place and perfected his work over time, building themselves up from a New York Times 2-star restaurant to a 4-star in just a few years, and going from one Michelin star to three in a single year. This is a Herculean feat in the restaurant industry, and Will accomplished it by focusing not just on the details and how to execute flawlessly, but on how his team could develop their own innovations in fine dining.

Knowing this foundation was firmly established in his team, he had a much better chance of achieving his big vision and finding the resources he needed to get there. The following year they jumped from last place to #24, and just a few years later accomplished their goal of being #1.

As the old adage goes: if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. No one – no matter how successful you are – accomplishes anything in a vacuum. To move any idea forward, you have to get others to believe in you. Those people can help amplify your vision or course correct you along the way – both of which are crucial for success.

How are you engaging the right people, ideas, or resources to help bring your visions to life? Feel free to join the conversation on our Substack to share your thoughts. 

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