Martin Rinck is the President, Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide. Currently, he oversees 99 hotels in Asia Pacific but he has an ambitious plan to increase the number of hotels to more than 300 in the next five years.
In 1997 Martin Rinck was the GM of a Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Indonesia. In 1998 he became the CEO of Movenpick Gastronomy International, moving from managing a single unit operation to managing a worldwide restaurant operation. One wonders how he did it.
For one, he has a clear vision about what he wants to achieve. Secondly, he is a high energy, fearless and ambitious executive. He drives his business into rapid growth with sheer determination and business acumen. The fact that his career is on the fast-track should not come as a surprise. Although he is concerned that he is not very good at achieving work-life balance, the reality is that he is extremely passionate about his work and it is obvious that he thoroughly enjoys what he does.
The Interview
Which school did you graduate from and what did you study?
After I finished my German Abitur1 and military service, I went to work for the InterContinental Hotels Group, starting in Hamburg, Germany, as a management trainee. I then worked for 10 years with InterContinental in Paris, San Francisco, Chicago and Lisbon. Between 1992 and 1995, I was the Director of F&B at the May Fair InterContinental in London. In 1994, I was accepted in the InterContinental fast-track management development program, which also included the MBA study from Brunel University, London. During my studies, I worked and actively interacted with people from other industries, which really helped to open my horizon and vision of the business world at large.
1Abitur is comparable to the International Baccalaureate, which enables students to attend university.
Did you always want to work in the hotel industry?
At first my dream was to become a pilot. Later, I began to think that I would like to travel the world to experience different countries and ethnicities and to meet, work and live with different cultures. As a consequence, after my military service, I decided to work for the hotel industry.
Between 1998 and 2003, you were the CEO of Mövenpick Restaurant. What made you move from the restaurant industry into the hotel industry to become the Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer for the Rezidor Hotel Group?
Actually, it was more like a return to the hotel industry. Before I became the CEO of Mövenpick, I spent most of my career working in amazing hotels around the world.
When I first took over Mövenpick Gastronomy, the company had less than 100 restaurants globally and was losing money. I consolidated a portfolio of nine different restaurant brands to four and grew the business into a profit-making enterprise with over 140 restaurants. After four and a half years at Mövenpick, Rezidor in Brussels offered me the opportunity to develop and grow their business, something I tremendously enjoyed. During my tenure we grew the portfolio of hotels in operations and under development from 150 hotels to 300 hotels and ultimately listed the company at the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
You have been the President of Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide, since 2008, overseeing operations and development of Hilton brands in 19 countries. What learning from yesterday and today are you taking into tomorrow?
I’ve learned that the people who work with you are your most important asset. You are only as strong as your entire Team. Any challenge can be tackled and any hurdle can be overcome if you are surrounded by the right people with the right attitude. I am very fortunate that this is the case at Hilton Worldwide.
What are the most difficult issues you face as the head of your organization?
In my current role, the biggest challenge is recruiting, grooming and retaining the best personnel to run our current 99 hotels, as well as building a talent pool to run our more than 165 hotels under construction or in the pipeline. This translates into the need for more than 200 GMs, thousands of department heads and in excess of 100,000 staff to deliver the quality of service and guest experiences Hilton Worldwide is known for.
Who are your role models and why do you admire these individuals?
One of my role models is Nelson Mandela. He is a phenomenal individual with an admirable personality and charisma. Having spent years in jail, he still did not give up and persevered! He also believes that education is the most powerful weapon, since it provides the tool for people to help themselves.
I also firmly believe that one should never give up if one really believes in a cause… or it will be the beginning of the end!
You obviously are a highly motivated individual. What keeps you motivated?
- I am motivated by having a strong team and seeing at the same time how many successful careers I’ve helped to create. Having mentored and coached a number of individuals from their early days in the industry to their current roles of General Manager gives me great satisfaction.
- Having said the above, the main reason for my drive and energy is my family, since I am blessed with an understanding and loving wife and two beautiful daughters who keep me motivated.
How have you changed in the past five to ten years?
Visually most likely by my receding hairline!
Actually, when I recently went back to my home town, Hamburg in Germany, my friends told me that I haven’t changed a bit, which I considered a compliment! I believe that you must stay true to yourself and keep your humility, no matter what position you have or what you do for a living.
Other than that, I believe that I am becoming better at achieving a work-life balance, but I am still not very good at it and would guess that my wife would vehemently disagree with my self-assessment.
If you had to make a choice, would you do the things right or would you do the right things? Why?
I personally believe that doing the right thing at the right time is the responsibility of those who manage any corporation. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. If doing the right thing means that I have to go against the tide, I have no problem swimming upstream! The right thing to do is to do the right thing! Over the long run, it will pay off!
I recently posted a question in our Facebook page (iworkinhotels.com): “Why do you think your GM is important to you?” Someone answered: “I don’t think my GM is important to me but he might be important to the company.” Do you agree with this statement?
It’s a bit playing with semantics! Every GM is important to the corporation. All GMs must be great role models for their respective properties, must be able to deliver performance and most importantly must have the right set of values. People don’t leave their companies; they leave their managers. We take great pride in grooming and preparing our GMs to become the best in the industry.
What are the defining moments or time spans in your life so far?
Making the professional shift from being a GM at a Mandarin Oriental hotel in Indonesia to being the CEO of Movenpick Restaurants was a defining moment for me. When you move from managing a single unit to managing the worldwide operation of an organization, based out of the global headquarters, your entire approach to running a business changes from being predominantly tactical to becoming predominantly strategic! I was very fortunate to be given this opportunity and tremendously enjoyed the challenge.
Other life defining moments or what I would call highlights include my marriage, the birth of my two amazing daughters and seeing them grow up.
When was the last time you stepped outside your comfort zone?
Definitely, it was last week. I decided to spend the Chinese New Year break with my family in Cambodia, building shelters and helping handicapped children. I’ve always considered myself very lucky with my career and my family. We have made it part of our philosophy at home to give something back and make a difference to the world we are living in. And no, we did not stay in a Hilton property or in another luxury hotel in Cambodia. The “facility” we stayed at for the week had no air conditioning, an interesting experience at more than 40˚C outside temperature with animals of all sizes sharing the tranquility of our bedroom. Having said the above, it was a very rewarding experience seeing the smiles on the faces of the people we were able to help. Emotionally and physically it was exhausting, but I felt it was worth every minute!
In your opinion, what is the single best quality your employees can possess?
The most important quality is the right attitude and passion for what you do. It’s not rocket science. We are in a common sense industry. With the right attitude we can teach the skills but it is more difficult to change an attitude, even though somebody has the technical skill set.
The core values of Hilton Worldwide are easy to remember, since they spell “HILTON”:
- Hospitality
- Integrity
- Leadership
- Teamwork
- Ownership
- Now — make it happen!
If you combine our core values with the right attitude, you will be successful.
At work, what answers are you seeking?
I seek answers about what differences can I make tomorrow
- About continuous improvement;
- About doing the right things for guests and employees;
- About moving things forward;
What advice would you give to your younger self?
My younger self probably wouldn’t listen to me! Haha!
I would advise my younger self not to take myself too seriously and that there is more to life than just work. My generation was taught to “live to work” rather than “work to live”.
At work, what puts a smile on your face?
Great results, even though you should never set a financial result as your goal. Financial success is the byproduct of the right decisions. I also enjoy seeing engaged team members at work, being highly motivated by what they do. I believe that motivation is not something external but only the result of internal drive. I cannot motivate people, but I can create a positive external environment in order for my team to motivate themselves. When I see people loving what they do, it puts a smile on my face.
What puts a frown on your face?
The nay-sayers!
I like to surround myself with those people who have a positive attitude.
Rather than giving me 10 reasons why not to do something, give me the one reason why you can do it and than actually make it happen! There is always a way!
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
My strengths:
I am passionate about what I am doing!
I don’t regret anything I have done.
I take calculated risks and think outside of the box.
My ability to convince people to move in the same direction
I am persistent!
I am a high energy person.
My weaknesses:
I am not a patient person.
I am a perfectionist and I don’t accept second best. Therefore, at times I tend to push people too hard. I need to make sure that I am not driving issues too hard with the risk of leaving people behind.
If you woke up tomorrow with no fear, what would you do first?
I mostly wake up without fear! I love to try new things. I always believe that if you have tremendous passion for what you do, you will be successful and you don’t have to be afraid of anything! So, tomorrow I won’t do anything different!
You are still very young and only 49. I am certain your current job will not be your last position. What’s next?
“Being young” is a relative term.
Quite frankly, I always focus on the job at hand and the rest will fall into place. I’ve been very lucky that I never had to look for opportunities. They always came to me because I always stay focused on doing what I am doing now, which at Hilton Worldwide is to increase the number of hotels from 99 currently to the target of 300 in five years’ time, adding more brands and more properties in the region and delivering great results – all contributing to our mission to become the pre-eminent hospitality company in the world!
About Lily Lin
ily Lin, MBA, Ph.D. is the Chief Editor at http://iworkinhotels.com. She is also responsible for business development in Asia and in the US. She has extensive experiences in marketing management, consulting and training. She has taught in American, German and Dutch universities. In addition, she is an academic board member of the Schouten University, Master of Business Administration. Schouten University is a British accredited online university. She has taught for the University of Maryland (from the State of Maryland in the US). In the Netherlands, she was an adjunct professor for the Phoenix University MBA program in Rotterdam, Webster University in Leiden, HES (Higher Institution of Economic Studies) in Amsterdam, European University in The Hague. She was also an adjunct professor for the Schiller International University in Heidelberg, Germany.
For more than 20 years, she was the designer and the senior lecturer of a number of courses at the Hotelschool The Hague in the Netherlands that include Revenue Management, the first ever offered at the School, marketing management and other marketing-related courses. She conceived her latest project, ”Interviewing Successful Hotel Managers Series”, in which she interviews hotel managers from major international chain and independent hotels. Her interviews and other works are published regularly at the http://iworkinhotels.com/dr-lins-blog.
