Who is a leader you admire, and why? (250 words)

I have fond memories of late nights and delicious meals at Union Square Café, one of the flagship restaurants of New York restaurant legend Danny Meyer. However, to me -- a confident yet disillusioned chef -- Danny Meyer was a peer and a rival. Gradually, my natural rivalry grew into admiration as I began to comprehend Danny’s contributions to the hospitality industry. What had started as a Romanesque café had grown into a global hospitality group (USHG) founded on a simple principle, “Enlightened Hospitality”. This ethos changed the entire restaurant world, inspiring us to treat customers as guests and to hire based on personality, not experience.

Over the years, Danny Meyer has always trusted his instincts. He believed in Madison Square Park when he invested in Shake Shack, he believed in better wages when he introduced no-tipping to all of his restaurants, and now, as age makes operations less appealing, Danny has leveraged his reputation and expertise to create Enlightened—a hospitality private equity fund. At Enlightened, Danny invests outside the restaurant industry and demonstrates that hospitality is fundamental to every business.

As I prepare for CBS and Danny and I both divest from operations, I can’t help but compare myself to him again. When I was considering leaving Restaurant Name, I spoke with Danny about my future: he encouraged me to think critically and to follow my instincts. As I begin the next chapter, I intend to follow Danny’s lead and continue to broaden the definition of hospitality.