You can get sympathy or you can get better but you can’t get both. You can be in your comfort zone or you can have growth, but you can’t have both. You can be interested or you can be sold-out-committed, but you can’t entertain both. You can have excuses or have results, but you can’t do both. Choose the path that develops your visceral fortitude.
Mario Cortes (CEO at BizNetAustralia PTY Ltd)
I compliment Ehotelier.com in offering its regular contributors the option of participating in the annual theme column. Contrasts are always there from the global contributors and offer very interesting views and approaches. The 2013 New Year’s topic addressed resilience. The word is certainly not used in everyday discussions or even regularly in strategic planning, yet this word and its meaning can be powerful.
The last five years have been challenging globally and hospitality has had more than its share of negative comments and economic downturn. The resorts and upscale lodging and meetings market segments were targeted by politicians as centers of “excessive spending,” even though many of those same elected officials often participated at and scheduled events at those same places. Food Service enterprises have seen their volumes and margins attacked, and only the relatively low percentage of inflation have allowed many restaurants to even stay open, as there have been few opportunities for price increases since 2007.
What does resilience mean to me?
To answer that, I paused and looked at my own career. As with each of us, there have been high and low points. Some of these plateaus and valleys were caused or influenced by my actions while others came as a result of external forces, market conditions or organizational structure.
- I have seen blatant favoritism, political maneuvering and seemingly clueless individuals promoted to high levels within the organization where their incompetence literally closed down hotels and restaurants that should not have failed.
- I have seen unlikely individuals rise far beyond everyone’s expectations and effectively help struggling hospitality businesses succeed.
- Most of all, I have seen and been part of a number of organizations that have tried to do the right thing at the right time for all parties.
Success does not come automatically to the start-up or to a brand that has been around for 50 or more years. Success does not automatically come to a hospitality business operating only in the local, regional or international market place.
Success is achieved by those individuals and companies with a vision, finding a way to make their plan a reality and then enjoying the journey as they work and play to their goal’s destination.
My professional thoughts on the meaning of resilience:
- Resilience requires faith and focus. It is believing in the team that is the heart and soul of your hospitality business and giving them as many tools to succeed as possible.
- Resilience is a genuine caring for each guest and not treating them as the “NEXT” person in line, a practice that has become the norm in far too many airlines, retail centers, auto rentals and banks.
- Resilience is emulating what hotelier Ellsworth Statler achieved almost 100 years ago, which was his commitment and follow through to provide the best service possible. His service code included the commitment “Hotel service (that is) Hotel Statler service, means the limit of courteous, efficient attention from each particular employee to each particular guest. It is the object of the Hotel Statler to sell its guest the best service in the world.” This code brought the level of service from ordinary to special and from a commodity to an experience. Statler motivated his staff through training, inspiration, recognition, system protocols and the equivalent of benefits and profit sharing. His extensive, regular and personalized communication with both staff and guests lasted for more than 25 years. While Statler died in 1928, his hotel chain not only survived the US Great Depression and World War II, but it became part of the world’s largest real estate acquisition in the early 1950s when purchased by the Hilton organization. His legacy continues through his financial support in the 1920s to the Cornell University hotel school and a continuing series of scholarships for students studying hospitality today.
The 30th president of the United States was not necessarily one of the best known or most effective, but he had a certain skill in communicating simply and directly. I have had the following quote framed and in my office for the past 15 plus years. The message of persistence is fittingly linked to resilience.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. Calvin Coolidge, President 1923-1928
About the author
John Hogan is a successful hospitality executive, educator, author and consultant and is a frequent keynote speaker and seminar leader at many hospitality industry events. He is CEO and Co-Founder of HospitalityEducators.com, which has more than 1600 resource pages and has become the #1 independent website for hotel owners and managers. He is also the Principal of HoganHospitality.com, which offers hospitality consulting and hotel expert witness services.
Contact us for assistance – John.Hogan@HospitalityEducators.com 602-799-5375 HoganHospitality.com : john@hoganhospitality.com
KEYS TO SUCCESS™ is the umbrella title for our programs, hospitality services and columns. This year’s writings focus on a variety of topics for hotel owners, managers and professionals including both my "HOW TO" articles, HOSPITALITY CONVERSATIONS™, Lessons from the Field™, Hotel Common Sense™ , THE P-A-R PRINCIPLE™ and Principles for Success.
