We’re past the time of “send who can, obeys those who have sense”, or of the pseudo-leaders who believed that hitting the table would be an attitude capable of creating respect. We are in the age of persuasion, dialogue, transparency, ethics in relationships. It is more than necessary and will do organizations a huge good.
This does not prevent us from being rigorous, demanding, collecting results and goals. But the way this happens needs to be humanized. After all, I need the result of my reservations area in the same way that I need the kitchen to prepare the best menu for guests. My job as a leader is in the understanding that we are all interdependent, even in the face of hierarchy.
Anyone who has failed to capture this is retiring from their masterful chair or watching their employees change companies as a bird-rower. No one is more subject to the leader who does not involve everyone with a strategic way of seeing employees. There are charges, yes. There are arguments, yes. But everything needs to take place within mutual respect. That’s what I believe.
Many hoteliers these days feel pressured, because the responsibilities are immense and varied. However, you need to focus and not spend your energy doing many things at the same time. For this, you have a team and the centralization trend is already a sign that the style of leadership is to have everything under control. Therefore, you must have the perception and sensitivity to see more than those in your surroundings. That’s why you hold the position of manager and leader. You need to focus on what the team is really doing important, what will impact your enterprise.
Here are some insigths in those years that I dedicate myself to hospitality and may make sense in your moment as leader:
Consistency
You need consistency in the provision of services and this requires a lot of effort, competition in essence and position yourself, regardless of whether your hotel is the most expensive in the city. Just justify why it has this price, but it is paramount to deliver the promise of value to your customer.
Be yourself
It is normal to wear the so-called social mask to act in the labor market. But this may not be a good strategy for the hospitality business, where we need to deal with people. If you are averse to them by behavioral profile, more interested in being locked in front of a table, one time or another people will notice. Preferably it is the internal staff and not the guest, who is then one less customer for your hotel.
Sustainable success
Get out of your comfort zone, have enough humility to observe who are the leaders in the area of your performance. These are attitudes that will make you walk the path of leadership with satisfaction. Study who is a reference for you, what they do, how they do it. And then you will become one of them but with your personality.
Finally, I want to say that every leader is people. And that secular maxim continues to apply, especially now that we are approaching Christmas: treat others as you would like to be treated. Seek more help than to be helped. That goes for Christmas and the next 365 days to come. Thank you to all who made me come here, I am grateful every day for the lessons I learn and for having the willingness to learn from the eyes of the curious and restless boy of Foz do Iguaçu. What are you grateful for? Merry Christmas and New Year.
@NilsonBernalHospitality
Co-Founder and CEO da Plataforma Bymschool. Consultor na área da hotelaria e hospitalidade, palestrante e escritor. Atua na Indústria de hospitalidade há mais de 25 anos em companhias como Complexo Jurema Águas Quentes Resorts, Bourbon Hotéis & Resorts, Mabu Hotéis & Resorts, Bristol Hotéis & Resorts e Atlantica Hotels International. É embaixador pela Divine Academie Française des Arts Lettres et Culture (Paris). Membro Executivo de Honra da Academia Europeia da Alta Gestão desde abril/2019. Atualmente mora nos EUA estando a frente de vários projetos.