It may sound a bit cliché, but I love quotes. I love using them in articles as they very often sum up in a few eloquent words what normally takes us mere mortals many more words and a lot more anguish to communicate. Here are a few of my favourites and the reason why they have spoken to me so clearly:
“Luxury lies not in richness and ornateness but in the absence of vulgarity.” – Coco Chanel
I admire the fact that someone who has come to represent everything that is stylish, glamorous and luxurious had such a relatively humble view of what real luxury means.
When I break this down with clients, particularly the staff working in hotels that live in the luxury space, I try to explain that what makes their product luxurious is not the dollar value of what they are selling. Rather it is the many ways they try to remove any jarring notes – in other words, the vulgarity – from the guest experience. And the fewer jarring notes there are, the more luxurious the perception.
You cannot rely on chandeliers and gilt, or expensive fabrics and spacious lobbies, and believe that is enough to impress. Nor is it enough to create the impression of luxury. Rather it is every little detail in the hotel that makes it easier for the guest to feel comfortable and welcome that will achieve the desired effect. It is every interaction with every team member that makes the guest believe they are an individual and their experience is unique. It is the fact that voices are not raised, and scents are not overpowering, and the cord of a lamp is not visible. It is the meticulous maintenance of your product – whether it is the finest quality or not – that will help in creating that will create a perception of luxury.
Luxury does not have to be expensive – it is borne of simplicity and a focus on making the experience seamless.
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” – Ralph Nader
Put simply, if a leader has career aspirations, their role is to make themselves redundant. If the leader is serious about their own growth, then they need to look at their succession plan to make sure they have people within their team to take their place.
Of course some leaders feel threatened if their team members are strong, but this is obviously short sighted. The leader’s ability to grow talent will be seen as a core skill, and it is so much easier for the organisation if the challenge of succession planning has been removed.
This takes us to a common mistake that some leaders make which is to put all their focus on one natural successor, rather than giving development opportunities to as many team members as possible. “The Crown Prince Syndrome” is when all attention is given to the preparation of one person at the expense of others in the team. Quite apart from the de-motivating effect this can have, there is the added danger that “crown prince” may no longer be available when it is time for them to “ascend to the throne”. Perhaps they have been poached for another position, either internally or externally, or they have become tired of waiting. Whatever the reason, it can slow down the leader’s own growth or put someone who is under-prepared into a role.
History contains many literal examples of “The Crown Prince Sydnrome” and the consequences it can have. The movie “The King’s Speech” which told the story of the UK’s King George VI and his impromptu ascension to the throne following the abdication of his older brother is such an example. The movie perfectly captures the stresses placed on the unsure monarch (the “Crown Prince”) and the work required for him to fulfil the responsibilities of the throne.
And even if the leader is happy in their role and has no desire to move along the leadership pipeline, they should not be standing in the way of their team members who do have ambitions to grow and to develop.
Finally, quite apart from everything else, it makes the leadership role so much easier and more pleasant working with a team who can and will take ownership, who can think for themselves and who have a desire to learn and grow.
“Don’t dress for the job you’ve got, dress for the job you want.” – Unknown
I remember this quote from a movie I saw some time ago. The situation as I recall was that the star of the story was getting frustrated because she wasn’t getting the recognition and the promotions she thought she was entitled to. She expressed her irritation to a colleague who basically advised her that, while she was good at her current job, nobody could see her making the transition to the next level. She wasn’t being taken seriously because she didn’t look or act the part.
The way I describe it is that If you want to make the transition from, for example, Front Office Manager to Rooms Division Manager within the same business, the people who count (your current Rooms Division Manager, your GM, members of Exco, HR, Head Office etc) should not just see a really competent Front Office Manager when they look at you, they should see the next Rooms Division Manager.
Things they should see include the skills, the values and even the time management of someone who is ready to make the transition. They should see someone whose opinions other people respect, and who acts and moves with confidence.
Things they should not see include someone who gets involved in office politics and gossip, who is unreliable and who lacks the presence of someone who is in control.
“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker
This harks back to the fundamentals of time management, however there is another version of Drucker’s quote that says “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things”. I like that version as well, however I prefer the first one as it applies to everyone in the business, whether they be in a management/leadership position or not.
Let’s look at another example here. Say you have a pastry chef who makes the best black forest cake in the world. It has the right balance of cake to cream, with luscious cherries and lashings of chocolate shavings. Added to that the system used by the pastry chef means there is little mess, and little wastage in the production process. It is perfect! Your pastry chef is “doing things right” as far as the black forest cake is concerned.
However, if nobody is ordering black forest cake any more, and there ends up being a lot of cake in the bin at the end of service, then making black forest cakes every day is not “the right thing” to be doing. Basically, it is not an effective use of the pastry chef’s time, and that time could be used more productively finding and making something else that will sell better.
We all need to focus on finding “the right things” to work on first, and then to “do them right”.
And of course that does not mean doing the same thing every day – it is also about the flexibility of adapting to the needs of the situation. In leadership that can mean that, for example, there is a time to be totally goal focused, and other times when perhaps it may be necessary to be totally people focused. And there are times where we should be somewhere in between.
Therefore we could add that whether referring to effectiveness or leadership, what we are talking about is doing the right things at the right time!
About the author
A graduate of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, his hospitality career spans management and director positions in Front Office, Guest Relations, Public Relations, Food & Beverage and Training with organisations including the Regent of Melbourne, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Mövenpick Gastronomy. He was also a founding staff member of the internationally renowned Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School in Australia.
Tim is currently the Director of Training and Development at iperform, an organisation that specialises in Sales and Service, Leadership and Effective Personal Organisation programs.
