How Hotel Managers Develop Authentic Power?

How often have you needed to persuade others in the Hotel to do something that they have not wanted to do?

It’s a situation that arises almost every day in the life of a Hotel Manager or Supervisor; whether it’s getting your Hotel Team to tidy their area of work again, or your colleague to change shifts, or a friend to attend a meeting on your behalf?

Some Hoteliers seem to be able to do this effortlessly and almost without anyone noticing, whereas others fall back on the power of their position to enforce what they want.

Persuasion skills can be learnt just like any others, and they are a key part of being able to influence others to achieve your aims and objectives.

We all know Hoteliers who aim to persuade by talking constantly. They seem to think they can grind others into submission, by simply reiterating their point of view constantly - over and over again - this, basically, is nagging. And it does sometimes work, of course, because their colleagues or a stakeholder do what is wanted, solely to get some peace. But, as a general rule, this is not an effective or an efficient way to persuade people in a Hotel.

Other Hoteliers fall back on the power of their position and order others to do what they want. This, in its most unpleasant sense, is coercion. Again, their colleagues or other stakeholders won’t necessarily like what they’re doing. A person may well give up. An idea may well be successful, because those involved are doing it because they have to, not because they want to.

A Better Way

Persuasion is to get others to agree with your idea and want to do something your way. And the best way of doing that is in a way that others don’t notice. But how?

The moral here is that you can’t force someone to do what they don’t want; instead, the art of persuasion is to get them to simply want what you want.

Research suggests being successful in persuasion involves keeping promises and appearing reliable. Other key skills for persuasion include showing Empathy and having good Listening Skills. If you listen, your audience will usually tell you what and how they are thinking. It also helps to be able to build rapport with people quickly. If we’re honest, we’d all much rather do what a friend suggests than someone we dislike, however sensible the idea.

It’s essential that you can get your point across succinctly and effectively, otherwise you’re never going to persuade anyone of the merits of your suggestion.

The final skill of good persuaders is being organised. They do their preparation; they know their audience and they know their subject. They have taken time to organise themselves and think about what they want to achieve.

It takes time, but develop these skills, and you will start to develop ‘Authentic Power’, which means that you have power in the Hotel because people believe in what you’re saying. Once you have this Authentic Power, you are likely to be much more successful in persuading and influencing others, whether at home or at the Hotel?

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My posts are intended for hotel workers, supervisors and managers around the world, who are (or want to become) actively engaged in learning and development.