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- In today’s CEO Daily: What’s behind Danny Meyer’s optimism?
- The big leadership story: The Fortune 500 companies making the most progress on adopting and scaling AI.
- The markets: Mixed as Treasury yield continue their upward march.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. Danny Meyer is often accused of being an optimist. “I’m just as tired as anyone I know of uncertainty, cynicism, negativity, skepticism, bad news,” the founder and executive chairman of Union Square Hospitality Group told me yesterday. He can’t fix the tax code or the tariffs, though he did apologize to Canada for the latter after detecting my accent. What he can control is the question he starts every day with, and the title of his book that goes on sale today: What Could Possibly Go Right?
The last time Meyer wrote a book was 20 years ago, when he published Setting the Table, which popularized the idea of “enlightened hospitality” that put employees first and investors fifth (in a tier of five). The book was influential but, Meyer says, incomplete. “I had never scaled anything. I had no experience having a second version of anything, never mind over 700 versions of something like Shake Shack,” he said. “I had also never closed a restaurant.”
In fact, Meyer’s failures and how he dealt with them while continuing to grow are at the heart of his new book. And there’s plenty of good advice from the front lines of a 41-year career that’s spawned fine-dining icons like Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, and Eleven Madison Park (since sold), alongside catering, fast-casual, and newer concepts like Ci Siamo, which will soon open in Boston. Entrepreneurs, in particular, could learn a lot from this guy.
But Meyer also offers a valuable perspective on how leadership scales from personal ambition to an infrastructure for success. I’ve watched how he’s mentored others over the years, giving not just capital but good advice. He stepped down as CEO in 2022, handing the reins to restaurant veteran Chip Wade. “I had a couple of false starts with it before,” Meyer said, noting that it worked because he developed a process for empowering others and learning to let go. “What are all the things on the calendar that someone else on our team could do at least as well—or maybe better—than I can?”
He’s kept the title of founder and executive chairman, along with other responsibilities. “They all start with C. I still am our chief culinary officer. I’m our chief cultural officer: everyone is responsible for culture, but the buck has to stop with me. And I’m our chief creative officer, so when we have a new restaurant opportunity, I’m in the room helping to create what that concept should be.”
Most important is the role of engaging employees: “For 80% of our hourly workers, it is the first job they’ve ever had, and for 80% of our general managers, they started off as hourly workers.”
And, for all the complaints about New York, it’s where you’ll still find Meyer on a typical day: “No one is here by accident. It’s way too challenging,” he told me. “I think we all are getting our knives sharpened on the edge by being around so many strivers, and I just find that so energizing.”
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at [email protected]
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
