We can train you to cook but....

Danny Meyer opened his first restaurant, Union Square Cafe, in New York City in 1985. It was the start of Meyer’s (Union Square) Hospitality Group, a collection of fine dining, quick lunches, and Shake Shacks. 

Hiring has always been hard but Meyer uses a “51% solution.” 

We can teach you to cook, Meyer’s thinking goes, but we can’t teach you to be nice. 

His business is hospitality and he looks for people “wired to be happier themselves when they delivered happiness to you.”

This skill isn’t essential to every business but it is essential to him. Optimism, curiosity, empathy, self-awareness, and integrity, along with a great work ethic make his restaurants successful. 

Each business has its own “51% solution”. Some businesses are more ‘grow’ and some are ‘execute’. Some require ‘soft skills’ rather than ‘hard skills’. Every leader teaches their people some things and the best hire people who have the skills that can’t be taught. 

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