Embracing Leadership Excellence in the Hospitality Industry

This newsletter is designed to be a resource and a tool for hospitality leaders with practical strategies that you can use today! You will find insights from leaders that run hotels, restaurants, food service operations, casinos, attractions, catering businesses, and even vendors. Those insights coupled with real world experiences create powerful opportunities for application and growth.

Embracing Leadership Excellence in the Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry, with its dynamic environment and people-oriented ethos, calls for leaders who are adaptive, empathetic, and detail-oriented. Abby Poklar, Josh Abelson, and Mike Hogan, three luminaries in the hospitality landscape, share their insights on best practices for effective leadership, each one offering a unique slice of wisdom.

The Art of Listening and Relationship Building

Abigail Poklar , the Chief Development Officer at COSI, emphasizes the significance of fine-tuning one's listening skills and fostering relationships. She states, “I think one of the most important things we can do as leaders is to be great listeners, have relationships, and when there are barriers and things we need to deal with, we deal with them.”

This mantra underscores the importance of active listening in leadership – absorbing the words, emotions, and underlying messages of those we lead. Listening bridges gaps, fuels understanding, and fosters a sense of belonging among team members. Simultaneously, Abby highlights the need to cultivate genuine relationships, extending beyond professional confines. When obstacles arise, and they invariably will, these relationships serve as a strong foundation to tackle them head-on, fostering an environment of mutual trust and respect.

Understanding Business Nuances and Embracing Hard Work

Joshua Abelson , the Co-Owner and General Manager at The Industrial, advocates for comprehensive business understanding and the power of perseverance. He asserts, “getting your feet wet with understanding all asset, all aspects of the business is super beneficial. And then, really just kind of putting in the work.”

Leadership in hospitality, as Josh suggests, requires a well-rounded comprehension of the business, from operations and finance to customer service and human resources. By immersing oneself in all facets of the industry, leaders can make informed decisions, anticipate challenges, and drive innovation. To complement this understanding, Josh stresses the value of good old-fashioned hard work. Leaders must embody a roll-up-the-sleeves mentality, paving the way for others to follow.

Upholding Standards and Accountability

Michael Hogan , the General Manager at The Renaissance Cincinnati, focuses on the pivotal role of maintaining high standards and accountability. He shares, “You’ve got to have standards, you've got to remember that you have to hold yourself and you have to hold your product, you have to hold your department to a different level. That's more important today than it's ever been.”

Mike's perspective draws attention to the benchmark leaders must set and uphold for themselves, their product, and their department. Hospitality is an industry built on service excellence, and to deliver on this promise, leaders must demand high-quality performance across the board. Accountability is paramount. Leaders must lead by example, holding themselves to the very standards they expect from their team.

Wrapping Up

Leadership in the hospitality industry calls for a delicate balance of listening, relationship-building, comprehensive understanding, hard work, and unwavering standards. As Abby, Josh, and Mike demonstrate, it's about empathizing with team members, comprehending the intricacies of the business, doing the work, and upholding high standards. When these practices are in sync, leaders can create an environment that not only thrives but also inspires, paving the way for exceptional service delivery that the hospitality industry prides itself on.

What Can You Do Today?

1. Audit your leadership style, and see if it is producing the results you are looking for, then go down one level and do the same. There are three different styles here, and more represented in the leaders around you. If you aren’t getting the results you are looking for then don’t be afraid to adjust your style.
2. Review your standards to make sure they make sense. In many cases you have standards that are contributing to slow or poor performance, and it’s incumbent on you as a the leader to question what you can change to improve your operation. Unless it’s a brand or legal requirement, everything is fair game to change.

Let’s Use This During a Meeting or Standup?

1. Ask your team what their favorite leaders throughout their career have done best, and ask for examples. Make sure you come with an example of a leader that has inspired you (I shouldn’t have to say it, but make sure that leader isn’t you!)
2. Ask your team what they believe your “core processes” or standards are. You will get a wide variety of answers, but you will see that many answers are actually part of a continuous process or standard that permeates the operation. This will give you a blue print for where to start evaluating your standards.

AI Prompt of the Week

Last week I introduced AI as a topic in the hospitality industry with an intent on creating practical applications for hospitality leaders, regardless of your level of tech savviness. For this prompt I used ChatGPT3.5, which is completely free to use. Sign up for an account by going to OpenAI.com and going from there.

As Josh Abelson pointed out, you need a well rounded comprehension of your business to be effective. AI has made it much easier for anyone to learn virtually anything. One of the frequent questions I dealt with as a leader was to help my team understand the P&L and then leverage that knowledge to create insights. AI can now help with that.

I'm a leader in a restaurant and I'm now responsible for analyzing and creating insights from a profit and loss statement. I've never done this, and I need to learn quickly. Please provide a learning plan with links to resources that will prepare me for my new role.

Here are just the first couple of paragraphs that it returned:

Congratulations on your new role! Analyzing and creating insights from a profit and loss statement is an essential skill for a leader in a restaurant. I can help you with a learning plan that will equip you with the necessary knowledge and resources to excel in this area. Here are the steps you can follow:

1. Understand the Basics of a Profit and Loss Statement: Start by familiarizing yourself with the basic components and structure of a profit and loss statement (also known as an income statement). This will give you a solid foundation for further analysis. Here are a few resources to help you get started:

• Investopedia: Profit and Loss Statement (P&L)
• QuickBooks: Understanding Profit and Loss Reports

What’s Next?

Listen to the full conversations at the links below where you can gain additional insights like:

• Retention strategies for every level of the organization
• Delivering unique customer experiences
• Using purpose to build buy in

Learn More or?Be a Guest?