Founder & Executive Chairman of Union Square Hospitality Group and Founder & Chairman of the Board of Shake Shack

Problem solving starts with the approach of, “Okay, I'm not happy with the hand of cards I just got dealt, but I'm going to find a way to win.” That's what really good card players do. They don't get better cards than I do, but somehow they beat me all the time. They play their bad hands better than everybody else. I think we're all capable of doing that in this business.

Pat yourself on the back for doing something really important. The world needs us more than ever.

Burnout is real. Sometimes you need to fill your gas tank, or you won't be able to fill the gas tanks of the people who work for you and certainly not your guests. So do you need to take a break? Is the idea something that needs to be tweaked? Is it time to end the idea? Or is it just that there's no such thing as a straight line between point A and point B? Sometimes the ups turn into downs. But if you have the resilience to stick with it, things can often work out pretty well.

Everything always works out in the end, and if it hasn't worked out, it's obviously not the end.

"Labor" sounds like a cost, whereas "talent" is the crucial ingredient. If we have this perspective, then we can really invest in the great people who choose to work in our company.

I've always been a believer in taking the usual hierarchy structure where I'm at the top and inverting it where I'm at the bottom. Great leadership starts with being a good follower. I think great leaders are often defined by the followership that they attract, but it also helps to know what it's like not being a "top dog." You'll have greater empathy as a leader later on.

If you're called to hospitality service, there are many really important life lessons to be learned. You're part of a team that has the humility to know that we will only be as good as we are together in the service of other people.

If I've learned one thing over all these years, it's this: it's far more important for people to feel heard by their leader than to be agreed with. There's a lot of things that you will not agree on with the people working for you, but they must feel heard. If they feel heard, they will understand when you disagree with them.

Leadership is a responsibility. It's not “do as I say because I'm the all-powerful boss.” You're earning the right through trust to persuade a team of people that it's worthwhile and safe to follow your lead.

Shake Shack came from my passion for caring for the community and for doing something for Madison Square Park. It was never intended to be a chain. It started off as a hot dog cart to be part of a piece of art so that people would feel safe going to Madison Square Park. Similarly, Daily Provisions, started as a gift to the Union Square neighborhood. These places found their way into people's hearts. That's the license to do more.

It doesn't have to be forever, but let your roots sink into the ground a little bit if you really want to get the most nutrients out of the soil.

I think that there's something in our society that makes people feel like they have to do everything really, really quickly, or they're gonna miss out. I don't have any regrets about the time it's taken to do all these various things. There's value in growing where you're planted.

At some point, I was sheepish about telling my parents that I had decided to give up my desire to be a lawyer and instead wanted to go into the restaurant business. For whatever reason, I thought it would be more acceptable to be a chef than to be a restaurateur. I always have loved cooking, and I'm a really good cook, but I've made a career out of hiring chefs who are much, much better cooks than I am. I know for a fact that I never could have succeeded at doing that had I not gotten some culinary training myself.