Trajectory and life of Nilson Bernal

Trajectory and life of Nilson Bernal

In this interview given to an important communication company Nilson Bernal tells a little of his professional trajectory and life history, from his humble childhood in the city of Foz do Iguaçu to his rise as a hotel executive. He takes the opportunity to talk about his hobbies, family, his personal and professional goals.

1. How and where did you begin your career path?

I started working when I was 12 years old, “selling” watermelon in the periphery where I was born in Foz do Iguaçu/Pr, Porto Meira to help my mother at home. (It was actually a strategy of my mother, Dona Margarida Machado, who bought a box of Styrofoam and the fruits so that I already had a direction that work is what really mattered to be able to help at home /family). At the age of 14 I joined itaipu Binacional’s underage apprentice program, recommended by Mr. Divã Saraiva, a friend of the family, where I stayed until I was 18 years old, when I left Itaipu before entering the hotel, I worked in several jobs, I was a repository in a super market, pizza hut attendant and early morning receptionist in a super economical hotel of a family in Foz do Iguaçu / Pr. When at this stage of my life I had the opportunity to enter a large hotel and was hired to be sector cashier for 6 months in the Resort of the Bourbon Chain of Hotels & Resorts in Foz do Iguaçu. Since my contract was at first for six months, I thought that was the chance of life I had to never need anymore and it was on this occasion that I hugged, I took the chances inside the hotel and went through several sectors, tax bookkeeping, accounts payable / receivable, billing, purchases, cost analyst, general cashier and internal revenue auditor, during the almost 5 years I stayed there, I learned a lot and could actually decide that it was this profession that I wanted to follow, it was my first school in hospitality and I am very grateful for the opportunities that this company has always provided me. When I left the Resort of Foz do Iguaçu, I wanted new challenges and boarded a bus to São Paulo, getting there nothing happened as I planned, had only one friend there (Mauro Bidin) and i couldn’t get a job in any hotel, that’s when I decided to go to Curitiba / Pr, with nothing, no money, just counted with a great help from a friend, (Edson Marinheiro) who offered me housing. We lived in 4 people in a kitnet, the night worked as a waiter (fee, extra, eventual – nomenclature of loose labor in the provision of services) in events and parties to survive and left early to deliver my resume by the city hotels, walked 15 km on foot to go to the center and then another 15 km to return, for 20 days in Curitiba was my routine until the next opportunity appeared that was in the hotel network Mabu, financial assistant, stayed 1 year in the network, I left to join the Four Points by Sheraton Curitiba (managed by Atlantica Hotels International) there I remained for 3 or 4 years until I was sent away, dismissed, I got a new opportunity in the bristol hotel chain of Curitiba, where I stayed for 6 months as general manager (on this occasion, I was 24 years old, it was my first experience as general manager of a venture) , until it is called again by Four Points, to be operations manager. After 3 years for the second time at Four Points I received my second “General Management” within the network and took over the Quality Hotel Curitiba, from this opportunity I would have to prove daily why I deserved to be there and the only way to do this was through results, this is how I keep up to this day in my profession I can do everything inside a hotel since I delivered the best result. Since then I have always been taking on new challenges, passing through other hotels, such as Radisson Hotel Curitiba and finally assuming the Four Points by Sheraton Curitiba as general manager. And for you to achieve that you need a very good team by your side, when I was part of the team I did everything for my general manager to deliver his result. 20 years ago I fell in love with hospitality and it was this profession that helped me get out of a situation that was below the poverty line for a more dignified life.

2. What are the main challenges and outcomes you have experienced throughout your career?

Within the biggest challenges is the delivery of result and in this context does not matter if you are the waiter, the receptionist or the general manager, everyone expects you result, and you need to have a lot of patience and perseverance to climb step by step in the hotel, like everything in life, but in this sector when you are awarded a promotion you really need to prove that you know what you are doing and what you can deliver or you are out, and this is in breaking barriers and going beyond the limits, working 15 – 18 hours a day, liking people is a fundamental factor, because the guest is in the end who pays your salary and the employee / employee is your team that will deliver the best service to the guest. There are 3 fundamental pillars: Company/Administrator, Investors/Guests and employees. One of the big challenges in this industry as well is you identifying and developing the potential of people to take on positions and be team leaders, you getting the person out of your comfort zone is a very big challenge, but it’s very rewarding when you see the growth of who you believed and supported. The results I have experienced throughout my career I owe a lot to my teams and professionals who have been by my side, were many national and international awards, delivering the best results i’ve been through, I know that without them none of this would be possible. I’m very grateful to you all.

3. Who in your life story has inspired/motivated your career?

The greatest inspiration of my career was not a person, it was a condition of life, we were very poor (me, my sister Laura Bernal and my mother Margarida Machado). We lived in a periphery (favela/community), I wanted to overcome that world and be someone in life and be able to give a dignified life to my mother, but the person who motivated me the most was undoubtedly my mother, she in all her simplicity is my greatest motivation and inspiration to date.

4. Any stories in managing people you’d like to share? Any history in customer relationships you’d like to highlight?

Verena Bogea, Rodrigo Basinelli, Camila Silva, Murilo Pontes, Raphela Zanatta, Plinio França and many others who throughout my career have been able to contribute and help a little in directing their careers to their growth and development. Here are people who have allowed me to speak my mind about the real growth in hospitality. Everyone at some point had passages in my life that became good memories and today they became great executives and respected professionals in hospitality. I am deeply proud of all and great admiration for the achievements so far and will certainly go far beyond what they have already achieved. I am known as “carry the customer in your lap”, “miss on new things”, “do not disappoint me”, “bring me the solution and not just the problem” and “do not leave the guest waiting, he who pays his salary”. There are several situations of relationship with the client, but there are those that mark life, I always say that we must create an emotional bond with the guest and this sometimes generates an impact on his life immeasurable, since you put in a picture frame the photo of his family, or the dog, or someone or something he loves, because he is already traveling for 15 days on the job , it’s a positive impact he never forgets these details, I always say that “hospitality” is details, let’s go to a story that I always remember fondly. Once a guest used to my hotel (he didn’t stay in any other hotel in town), was traveling for work in another city and it was his birthday. Yes, of course I knew about this guest’s birthday, so that’s when I asked them to find a confectionery shop in that town, so I bought the cake, i made a letter (they printed it at the bakery) and had the cake delivered to the competitor of this other city without the hotel and the guest knowing. Upon receiving the cake, this guest called me and when I answered it, I put it on speakerphone and had close to me the main people who always attended it and sang congratulations for his birthday. How good it is for you to make someone’s day that is so important to your happy business! This really made a difference, this situation became the subject of a hotel convention at the time. Something simple, but that touches the emotional of the person and I repeat “person“.

5. What tips would you give, for those who are starting a professional career? When recruiting a professional, what behavioral characteristics do you consider fundamental?

The professional’s engagement with the business and the team, commitment to the result, humility and respect for hierarchy. The enthusiasm of wanting to learn also counts a lot, because that professional who comes to the company, beats his card to fulfill only the routine, for me does not serve. He needs to stand out, be different. Hospitality is 24 hours has to be available, showing that this arranged in practice and not only in the interview.

6. What professional and personal legacy would you like to leave to society?

First, it doesn’t matter if you studied at the best universities, did specialization, MBA out of the country, speak 3 or 4 languages if you do not start from below you do not go anywhere, this is the best way to start something, from the beginning and without skipping steps, you need to understand that positions and trust do not fall from the sky in the corporate and business world. Entrepreneurship is definitely not exclusive to those who want to have or have a business, it is to build something in the space you occupy. Building your space means looking beyond the designated task, proposing new ideas and processes, contributing significantly to the company’s objectives, being a born questioner, asking your boss, the janitor, the director, understand and learn all the processes of your company or business. As soon as your trajectory observes, analyzes and copies the best in each professional who goes through your life, and what you do not think is good, improve on your own. During your walk you will be able to work with people and managers who can end your career if you do not know how to withstand the pressure and collection of that phase. Don’t be part of the pampered civilization of the corporate world that is not able to listen to any criticism without thinking it’s a matter of personal offense. Remember it’s work and not a personal attack. You should not look at the immediacy when enduring the heavy burden that will fall on your responsibility, visualize long-term growth, and if this is your decision to go ahead and pay the price, usually it is high. There’s no free lunch at the hotel.

Find your purpose and stay focused, be available to the company, be curious and seek throughout your career to learn. You need to find this answer in you: Do you want to work only to pay your bills or to have the life you dream of? These two options lead you one way, but it’s worth remembering that no one builds a legacy by working from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. After all, if you chose to be a hotelier, remember that your business does not close, it is open 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year.

The steps you will climb along your walk will always be based on how correct and honest you are, your commitment, learning power, and how much you can contribute to the growth of your company or business and most importantly: whether you deliver what you promise, especially the result. Within my professional legacy I want to leave to the market better professionals than when I met them, train, train, develop leaders for the various areas of hospitality, I want to prepare them to face the worst case scenario, think big, embrace opportunities and develop a complete professional for this segment. That it is possible you do not skip the steps, complete them successfully working hard and reach the top. Profit will always be the result of hard work and well-done things. And personally I want to be the inspiration for many people living in the underworld of a slum, periphery or community, it was this same underworld that I left, I want to implement throughout my career the Bernal Institute of Hospitality, to meet and give the opportunity to needy people in society who want a chance to have a better life, I want to show them if I managed to , everyone can. I intend to show this path to people especially those below the poverty line. Hospitality is a great opportunity for social inclusion, I hope to leave this legacy to those who are outside and want an opportunity to enter, we need to leave a better world than we find.

7. What are the reflexes of corporate citizenship practices for organizations, professionals and society?

Everyone has to win, it has to be recognized and valued. Everything you have achieved must be shared and in organizations it cannot be different. Society deserves a counter-departure

8. What do you think are inspiring leaders?

Tony Hsieh, Wald Disney, Olavo de Carvalho, Jorge Paulo Lemann, Jack Welch, Fred Heineken, Flavio Augusto, Silvio Santos, Joaquim Barbosa, Abílio Diniz, Bill Gates, Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk.

9. How do you define the role of leadership?

The fundamental role of leadership is when you can develop new leaders with wisdom and first lead by example, be “hand in hand” and after your example you put the chosen professional in the challenge, create an opportunity and give him a position, and between the lines of these situations is when you teach him, train, take by the hand and show how you do if you need to , directs it, gives the support and guides and then charges, demands and finally values and appreciates the dedication and use of the professional and the team. Soon the mechanisms of teaching and example will flow in a natural way and is where a new leader is born, who will develop new leaders. A leader is not afraid to develop good professionals, most do not for fear of losing to the competition, or that this take its place, in my opinion this is a false leader, because the better are the professionals of your competition, the more you have to prove and deliver better results and develop in your company competent professionals. A leader creates new leaders.

10. What do you do to stay motivated?

When you are in a certain position in the executive world, it is you who motivates people all the time, and you need to create your motivation mechanisms, I am motivated by new challenges and among them the delivery of results, I always aim to deliver more than promised, but my greatest motivation of all and what makes me get out of bed every day and work tirelessly , is to be able to give my family, my son and me a dignified and comfortable life. They motivate and support me every day.

11. What is the importance of innovation in organizations?

Innovation can start, for example, by motivating your employees, who most often know your company and its problems better than anyone else. Encourage them to participate in a corporate innovation program that goes far beyond the famous “suggestion box” in the cafeteria of your hotel or near human resources.

Often employees yearn to have a more active voice in the company, but find no room for it. And after failed attempts, they end up settling down to do only what is expected of them, according to their role or position. Engaging your employee to participate in the day-to-day decisions of the company requires good planning and the interest in listening to the employee needs to be valued. It is of no use asking for suggestions if they are not properly analyzed.

There are several ways to engage employees to participate in a corporate innovation program. One way is to start with small actions to introduce the culture of innovation into the company – always keep in mind that changes can generate a lot of resistance. You can, for example, launch an “innovation challenge”, dividing your employees into teams, mixing people from all departments, so that they solve a particular problem in your hotel, for example: how to reduce paper costs in maintenance? In reserves? You can start with a simple problem, and as employees feel more engaged and familiar with the challenges, complexity can increase. The prize may be to give the winner an extra day off, for example.

12. How do you effectively network?

I participate in some associations of the hotel and tourism trade, hotel forums, Convention Bureau,as well as other institutions of other segments, senior management, meusucesso.com, courses, lectures, activities related to the hotel market in general.

13. What do you miss?

I miss the moments I spent with my mother Margarida Machado (in memorian), of our conversations.

My son Andréas Bernal and my family when he’s away.

14. What are you proud of?

I am very proud of my life trajectory, of having left a periphery (favela/community) and today having a life with a little more comfort, I am proud of the professional, man and father I have become, I am proud of the difficulties I have experienced to get here, and I am very proud of the people I could help along this path, whether professionally or personally, I know that most are well today.

15. What is the meaning of the word happiness?

In my simple vision I think the meaning of the word happiness are unique moments of peace. Some people spend a lifetime trying to find such happiness, and do not even realize that it is in the simplest moments, I believe that there are happy moments, you being at peace with your heart, being able to lay your head on your pillow quietly is an immense joy, you get home and be able to be with your family, have good friends, play with your child , are moments of happiness and are unique moments. Happiness is you being at peace with you.

16. What’s your favorite quote and why?

100 years from now, it’s all going to happen. My commitment is to the truth in hospitality, not consistency. Success is built at night, during the day you do what everyone does. Make it happen. They’re references to my life.

17. What are your favorite hobbies?

Must-read, five books a month, running, being with my son and my family.

18. What dream would you like to fulfill?

Have the Bernal Institute of Hospitality, and invest in people who are unable to study “hospitality”.

19. What have you learned from life that you would like to record in this work?

I learned that when we go out into the world life is hard, it kicks ass until you fall, but in these hard falls you learn that getting up is difficult, but it is not impossible, then you get up stronger and relearn to walk with new luggage, with more experiences, learn to value every step, moment and detail in all its simplicity and complexity. It takes a lot of dedication and resilience for you to reach the destination you’ve set. Hard work and often start over from scratch and reinvent yourself. A phrase I always take with me, do or die, but don’t give up.

20. What message of motivation would you like to leave to the readers of this book?

First I would like people to reflect: What makes you get out of bed every day? So fight for it with all your might, there will be discouraging days, but these moments will pass, do not demand anything that people cannot give you, and remember your anger can not be greater than your injury. Have a focus, but don’t go over people to get what you want and don’t harm them to achieve your goals, be humble, correct and honest in everything you’re going to do, you’ll achieve your dreams with your soul and heart in peace knowing that everything you’ve achieved has been the fruit of your effort and honest work. Always do what’s right.

21. Based on what you’ve experienced, throughout your corporate life, what’s the secret of success to going from theory to the top?

First of all: There is no shortcut or secret, if you do not work hard, you will not get there.

The work does ennoble the man so, in the hotel, look at everything, correct some things and let others pass. This is the essence of a true hotelier in your day to day. Move on and never give up on your goals.

Hugs

@NilsonBernalHotelier