The Tip of the Spear – Leadership and Empowerment
The phrase “tip of the spear,” long associated with military operations, also has implications for hospitality enterprises.? In military jargon the phrase is used to describe the combat forces that do the fighting as opposed to the various support elements that provide food, clothing, equipment, weapons, ammunitions, transportation, administration, etc.? These support organizations represent the shaft of the spear, and their critical function is to ensure the warriors have everything they need to succeed on the battlefield.? As General John Abazaid, commander of the U.S Army’s Central Command said during the Second Gulf War, “Our job is to give our troops the resources they need.”
In hospitality operations the “tip of the spear” analogy could not be clearer.? In hotels, resorts, private clubs, and restaurant operations, the front-line service employees are the tip of the spear, and the function of everyone else in the organization, up to and including the chief operating officer/general manager, is to ensure they have all the support they need to successfully complete their important function as the agents of service delivery. ?The subordinate role of support elements in business has been expressed perfectly by Aldi founder and author Karl Albrecht, “If you’re not serving the customer, you’d better be serving someone who is.”
While the pay grade and limited authority of front-line employees would seem to indicate a general lack of importance in the overall scheme things, such an assessment could not be further from the fact that their functioning is of supreme importance in the success of the operation.? As author and entrepreneur Tony Alessandra, says, “Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you in the game.? Service wins the game.”
Unfortunately, many service organizations think that one wins the service game by hiring the right front-line people, and while this is an important part of the service delivery strategy, it’s a secondary step to leadership and empowerment.? This is so because the right people won’t stay long in an operation that doesn’t have the right leadership and a commitment to employee empowerment.
But the “right” leadership in any organization is not a happy coincidence or sheer luck.? This author is convinced by a long career in hotels, a resort, and private clubs that it takes a service-based approach to leadership to create both the foundation and environment for high levels of service.? This is so because service-based leadership differs from other leadership styles in its preeminent focus on serving the needs of employees by providing them with the proper tools, training, resources, motivation, and empowerment to serve the customer.? AND importantly, this powerful style of leadership must be taught and modeled by all members of the management team to achieve a consistent understanding and application throughout the operation.
The next and obvious step beyond service-based leadership in establishing a strong service culture is to implement employee empowerment.? Why is empowerment so important?
Considering the fast-paced and detail-intensive nature of service operations brings one naturally to the conclusion that leaders cannot do it all themselves to be successful.? Instead, they must enlist the support and assistance of their employees through the power of employee empowerment.? This foundational focus of leadership, empowerment, and its direct link to customer satisfaction and operational success is represented by the organizational structure shown below.
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?Here are some resources available on the PCPM Marketplace store that clearly link service-based leadership and employee empowerment:
John Tschohl, noted author and president of the Service Quality Institute, said, “Without empowerment, an organization will never be a service leader. Empowerment is the most critical skill an employee can master, and a company can drive in order to lure and keep customers.”
And we might add, “Without Service-Based Leadership, an organization will never achieve employee empowerment, and therefore, will never be a service leader.”
For more useful ideas and information, check out the wide range of highly integrated and widely acclaimed Professional Development, Operational, and Training Resources at the PCPM Marketplace Store .