What I Learned Running The #1 Restaurant in the World ft. Will Guidara
5/12/20261 hr 21 min
Most people think hospitality is just about service. Will Guidara believes it’s about making people feel seen. In this conversation, Will and I talk about what it really means to care for people well—whether you’re leading a team, managing a business, sitting across from someone you love, or just trying to become a better communicator. From turning Eleven Madison Park into the #1 restaurant in the world to helping create the hit show, The Bear, Will shares the mindset that changed everything for him: the smallest moments often leave the biggest impact. We talk about thoughtful criticism, leading with grace, creating team culture, and why the best communicators listen for what people aren’t saying. Buy Will’s book, Unreasonable Hospitality and the field guide we dug into in today’s episode - https://www.unreasonablehospitality.com/books Leave me a voicemail to be featured on the show! https://www.jeffersonfisher.com/ask-jefferson Join me on Supercast for ad-free episodes, bonus content, and AMAs: https://jefferson.supercast.com/ Order The Next Conversation Workbook: https://www.jeffersonfisher.com/workbook Thank you to our sponsors: Cozy Earth. Upgrade Your Every Day. Get 20% off at cozyearth.com/jefferson or use code JEFFERSON at check out. Our Place. Visit https://fromourplace.com/JEFFERSON and use code JEFFERSON for 10% off sitewide. Upwork. Visit https://Upwork.com right now to post your job for free and connect with expert freelancers who can help you grow faster without adding full-time overhead. BetterHelp. Click https://betterhelp.com/jeffersonfisher for a discount on your first month of therapy. Order my book, The Next Conversation, or listen to the full audiobook today. Like what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a 5-star review! Suggest a topic or ask a question for me to answer on the show! Want a FREE communication tip each week? Click here to join my newsletter. Join My School of Communication Watch my podcast on YouTube Follow me on Instagram Follow me on TikTok Follow me on LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Jefferson Fisher· Host0:29
Welcome to the Jefferson Fisher Podcast. On today's episode, my guest is Will Guidara. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Unreasonable Hospitality. If you see a bright yellow book in an airport or a bookstore, it's most likely Will's. He is fantastic. He is the former co-owner of the restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York, and under his leadership, it was named the number one restaurant in the entire world. And he is also the co-producer of FX series Emmy Award-winning show, The Bear. There are so many gems from this conversation. We talk all about the art of hospitality in conversation. How, how do you bring creativity and deliver more than just the minimum expectations in how we interact with one, with one another. We talk all about how to have the right kind of meetings, how to get attention immediately, how to navigate the right way, and at the end of the day, how to do it with grace and kindness and a little bit of something spontaneous that you never expected. Enjoy.
Speaker 3· Host1:25
So you go to a restaurant and then it's easy to kind of pick up on those little