Four Leadership Lessons Behind Shake Shack’s Success

These leadership takeaways are part of a new primetime series, “CNBC Leader’s Playbook,” premiering January 7 at 10pm ET/PT. Hosted by Julia Boorstin, this series goes inside the minds of the world’s top business leaders to reveal how lasting success is built.

Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer never set out to build a huge company.

It all started as an experiment in “enlightened hospitality”. This is Myer’s belief that putting our people first provides a better guest experience, driving loyalty, revenue and long-term success for everyone involved.

The experiment began in the most unlikely of places: a hot dog cart in a New York City public park. An empire grew from that one cart solely because his philosophy resonated.

Meyer says the strongest companies operate in a virtuous cycle, and that virtuous cycle starts with their employees.

But it’s not about putting customers or investors last. It’s about understanding that engaged and motivated employees create a better guest experience, which drives revenue and ultimately greater returns for investors.

The idea is simple. Happier employees mean happier customers.

And that brings in more revenue, which means more money to reinvest in our staff, communities and suppliers, all of which ultimately translates into better returns for our investors.

If any link in that chain breaks, he says, the entire system breaks down.

Meyer says that while technical skills are important when hiring new employees, hospitality skills are a little more important.

You can teach your employees the skills they need to do their jobs, but you can’t teach them how to provide authentic hospitality that makes customers feel special.

That’s why Meyer looks for people with qualities not typically listed on a resume, such as kindness, optimism, curiosity, empathy, self-awareness, and honesty.

Meyer humbly understands that earning a guest’s trust today does not guarantee they will have it tomorrow. That’s why I believe that every day is an opportunity to prove your worth.