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Have you ever had this conversation about service during your business trips?

YOU: I demand to see your manager!

DESK CLERK: Certainly. May I say why?

YOU: It’s the service here. The way this hotel is run.

DESK CLERK: Our apologies. Perhaps…

YOU: I can’t believe how fantastic it all is. I’d like to learn more about her leadership techniques!

Okay; we know that’s probably never happened. But it needs to happen now: our podcast guest Shruti Buckley, SVP of Hampton Inn by Hilton and Spark by Hilton, says the hospitality industry creates effective, cutting-edge leadership models you can benefit from.

At Your Core: Connecting People

Gone is the Brainiac leader with the answer to every question, the solution to every problem. To make sound decisions, leaders fundamentally need teams who collectively have the knowledge no single human brain can contain. Those teams only function well when people connect.

Hospitality — hotels in particular — create human connections by their very nature. Hotel guests travel from near and far: other cities, states, and nations. Hotel staff frequently hail from other lands, as well. Yet, from chatting with your housekeeper to mingling at a conference, people seamlessly interact with that boundless diversity of culture, religion, and geography. Divides dissolve. People connect.

When leaders in other industries cultivate that same ability to bridge gaps and connect people, it creates a powerful team with diverse perspectives that serves a leader astonishingly well.

The Power of Opportunity

In prior articles, we’ve shown the record-high levels of disengagement in the workplace. How can you turn those around?

At Hilton, they ensure opportunity knocks for as many people as possible. Hilton consciously creates pathways to success, forging various programs and initiatives to help people rise through the ranks. By showing such loyalty to their staff, staff are loyal — and engaged — in return.

At your organization, opportunity may take different forms. It can be as simple as pledging to promote from within so people envision a growing future with you.

Turn and Face the Change

Humans crave stability. Few people realize the phrase “May you live in interesting times” emerged as a curse. Transform it into a blessing.

The last half-decade demonstrated that change is permanent and accelerating by the moment. Resilience is absolutely critical in this world of constant flux. Indeed, resilience morphed: formerly, it simply meant surviving a situation; today, leaders must survive and thrive through change!

Hotels revealed remarkable resilience through the COVID pandemic. Hilton, like the rest of the industry, endured deep drops in revenue as travel dramatically declined. They responded not with hand-wringing, but with innovation. They integrated new technology, developed strategies to grow guest satisfaction, and even brainstormed on maintaining owner revenue during economic downturns.

 

The hospitality industry offers clear lessons on nurturing better leadership. It’s proven: in our podcast with Steve Robinson, we learned how Chick-fil-A’s remarkable restaurant service formed when the founder replicated the superior service he experienced at a luxury hotel. So the next time you travel, look around you for great leadership insights. You’ll be able to transform the hotel’s best guest experience into your own great team service.

What’s Your Story?

What leadership lessons have you learned working in hospitality? Or, did you learn a leadership lesson during an interaction with the hospitality industry? Share with us in the comments!

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This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Change, Risk, & Diversity: The Pillars of Modern Leadership.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Bingo!

That was Steve Robinson’s reaction when the head of a cattlemen’s association said Steve’s marketing campaign was a threat to the beef industry. Steve is the former Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A. The association was concerned about the wild popularity of Chick-fil-A’s now-iconic cow mascots.

In our podcast interview, Steve insists the cows are no random stroke of marketing genius. They resulted from a unique leadership philosophy that materializes in four distinct elements wrapping around each other like the layers of an onion.

LAYER 1: Excellence and Trust.

At the very core, Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, instilled a drive that “good enough” is never enough. The leadership team closely researched companies with nearly total operational excellence. They learned from Lexus, for example, which strives for zero defects in each car. Any practice that can apply to food service is implemented. For example, almost 60% of a Chick-fil-A restaurant’s space is for storage and the kitchen so that all food can be made fresh on-site. This also helps with the goal of delivering every order perfectly. That drive for excellence results in boosting trust among both staff and customers.

LAYER 2: The Guest Experience.

They call it Second Mile Service. It’s a logical offshoot of fostering trust among customers. The goal revolves around providing Ritz-Carlton-style service at each restaurant. It can be as simple as responding to a “Thank you” with a genuine “My pleasure,” or as meaningful as providing a free meal when an embarrassed customer forgot their wallet. Leaders encode these above-and-beyond standards in manuals and training so they embed in the culture at every level. In fact, a Hospitality Director at each restaurant ensures these standards thrive with each customer interaction.

LAYER 3: Marketing.

Only with operational and service excellence in place does marketing emerge. When leaders embrace such high standards, the marketing becomes genuinely authentic. But authentic doesn’t mean stodgy! Chick-fil-A isn’t like any other fast food company, so “We did not want advertising that was serious and looked like everybody else’s,” Steve says. That paved the way for ad agency The Richards Group to get fun and creative, milking the cow concept from their marketing minds. Without a truly innovative mindset from leaders, the idea for the now-iconic mascot would be “moo”-t.

LAYER 4: Technology.

In an era when companies jump on the latest tech bandwagon, such as today’s AI fever, Chick-fil-A’s leaders take it mindfully. When they do adopt new tech, it’s intentionally designed to maintain personal interaction; the process still ends with a human in the picture. As Steve reminds leaders, tech doesn’t replace people; it complements them!

These four layers work in tandem to drive Chick-fil-A’s unabashed success. You may need more, or even less. The key is to follow a kind of corporate golden rule: every layer, every step, must begin and end with people in mind.

 

Where have you seen customer service go far beyond your expectations? When did you experience a boss who treated you like a valued stakeholder? Share your exceptional story in the comments!

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Innovative Leadership Keynote Speeches

Maureen Metcalf is available to give keynote speeches and presentations to your organization. Check out her speaker site to see previous speeches, testimonials, and featured topics: https://www.maureenmetcalf.com.

 

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Eat Mor Chikin: Chick-fil-A’s Recipe for Leadership.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Government red tape is notorious worldwide. That’s nothing new; it’s been that way since the Roman Empire. Cutting through that confusing web is just one way artificial intelligence can help you and your organization.

In our recent interview, David Levy highlighted that and many other benefits of AI you probably haven’t thought about. The vice president of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Worldwide Public Sector, he’s looked hard at people-first approaches to AI development. He found that receiving those benefits requires shifting your leadership approach. He offers several steps to steer yourself to the adaptable, tech-savvy, and supportive style today’s public and private sector leaders need to succeed.

First, loosen up! Those old-school stiff hierarchical leadership models tend to squelch innovation. Instead, a leader’s resilience and curiosity are key. Grow into a more dynamic, adaptive leadership style that embraces continuous learning. Help your team become constant, curious learners, too. Learning and upskilling are vital in keeping pace with AI developments (and with your competition!).

All that curiosity needs direction to be applied. As the leader, it’s squarely your responsibility to set the vision everyone is working toward. This is particularly true with AI integration; with new AI apps emerging daily, choosing (or developing) the right ones for your vision boosts the team’s work. The wrong ones, at best, become a costly distraction. Your vision makes the line between the two crystal clear.

Focus your vision squarely on your end-users. A customer-centric approach steers the straightest path to success. Your use of AI must ultimately enhance service delivery and customer satisfaction. Sometimes, the most difficult task for your team is identifying who their primary stakeholder really is!

Even with these steps, leading the adoption of AI and other tech can be complicated. Resistance to change is real, as is organizational inertia (particularly in governments). The precise solutions will vary depending on your company culture and individual team members. Generally, though, the more you foster curiosity and learning, the more likely people will embrace change.

Ensuring people-centric deployment goes a long way, too. People need to see how change will benefit them; that’s a deeply human trait. All AI solutions should be accessible, understandable, and beneficial to every stakeholder, but particularly to your team members and your customers: the alphas and omegas of your workflow.

Dave has seen these steps work effectively already. A council in the UK, for example, now uses AI for document processing—cutting through that red tape we mentioned so citizens can readily access and easily understand their government paperwork.

Imagine large corporations and governments with no red tape: that’s one dream AI might just make true!

Learn more about leading in the age of AI with our newest audiobook; get it on Audible now at https://amzn.to/3Vko2IW.

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This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Putting People First with AI.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Although the Great Resignation isn’t quite so great anymore, the talent pool continues to shrink. Our podcast guest, Sander van ‘t Noordende—the CEO of Randstad—says this presents a critical need for leaders not only to attract top talent but also to retain them.

That can be tricky, especially now that we have five different and distinct generations active in the workplace, each with their own needs and values. But take heart: with all of Randstad’s research and experience at his fingertips, Sander has tips to keep your talent roster full and stable.

1. Acknowledge the Generational Differences…

There truly are significant differences in the motivations and desires of our diverse generations. While older cohorts such as Boomers may still find major motivation in pay and power, younger cohorts like Gen Z prioritize inclusion, work-life balance, career development opportunities, and alignment between personal and organizational purpose. This very simple fact—generational differences—eludes many CEOs, who are then surprised at the backlash and talent drain that often result from blanket edicts such as full Return to Office.

2. …and Seek Generational Similarities.

Despite the differences, all generations hold plenty in common. Flexible work arrangements present a prime example: from recent grads to “retirees” in their comeback careers, nearly everyone loves schedule and worksite flexibility. From taking care of family needs to finding the hours when they’re most productive, flexibility reduces stress and boosts engagement. Other cross-generational desires will vary from workplace to workplace, so by all means poll your teams to find out what initiatives will provide the best employee growth and satisfaction.

3. Know Your ABCs.

Watching what makes the international workforce tick, Sander and Randstad developed the ABC talent framework. It makes memorable the shifting priorities of today’s employees: Ambition, Balance, and Connection. This trio answers many of the issues in items 1 and 2 above. Personal and career development opportunities, mentoring, and sponsoring all satisfy people motivated by their ambition. On the other hand, fully 50% of surveyed employees believe balance is more important than pay. And 70% of people want a feeling of connection to the organization, their colleagues, and the like. So, keep those ABCs in mind as you ponder the mix that attracts talent to your team.

4. Make It Personal.

Clearly, one-size-fits-all experiences, benefits, opportunities, and support no longer work well. Instead, have a suite of offerings on hand so you can customize the work experience to meet the unique needs of employees from different generations, demographics, and career & life stages.

5. Keep It Positive.

This is obvious, but just to make it official, people of all generations are far more engaged, productive, and just plain happy in a positive working environment. Following the steps above helps accomplish this, of course—that’s Sander’s point. But it’s all reinforced in a culture that brings everyone respect, collaboration, and mutual support.

The competition for top talent will grow more intense through the coming decade. You can win it with a conscious eye toward our historically diverse workforce’s different needs and desires.

What could a company offer that would attract YOU to join their team? What does your current organization do to retain you and other top talent?

 

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode From Pay to Purpose: What Drives Top Talent.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

There’s a link between leaders and the fallout from the student protests over the Gaza conflict. That link: ethics.

Ultimately, the lack of a clear ethical framework sparked the struggles and consequences for several university presidents. Forging those frameworks fed success for other collegiate leaders. That difference may make or break your own organization in times of crisis. In fact, clearly stated ethics can help you avoid crises in the first place!

Ethics are a weighty business, debated by philosophers for millennia. But our podcast guest, Greg Moran, has several steps to help today’s leaders develop their organizations’ ethical guidelines in substantially less time.

1) Define Your Ethical Framework.

No one-size-fits-all exists for this: ethics vary from leader to leader. The key here is to take the time for internal examination, both of yourself and of the board. What values and moral beliefs does the board hold dear and wants the organization to practice? How do those match with the ethics you see as necessary as the person directly leading your team? Hammer out any differences; it’s critical for your visions to match.

2) Compare the Ethical Ideal to Company Culture.

Even in the best-run organizations, there can be a major mismatch between a leader’s ideals and how the front line operates. Often, a new leader is brought in specifically to adjust the company culture. Either way, ethical inertia presents stiff resistance; it’s another aspect of the “We’ve always done it this way” habit. Ensure your board and full C-suite support you and the new framework. Plan carefully with ways to bridge the differences between old and new values.

3) Communicate Carefully and Clearly.

Even the most stellar ethics fall flat if no one knows them. As soon as your ethics are formally framed, follow up by forging an action plan to inform every single employee. Include timelines, expectations, and consequences. Greg observed that this missed step resulted in much of the campus chaos at colleges like Columbia in the last few weeks.

4) Walk the Talk.

How you behave tells your team how serious you are. Hypocrisy erodes initiatives faster than a morning meme on Slack. Make sure you personally follow every item in your organization’s official ethics statement. It both demonstrates that these are real values you expect everyone to follow, and provides living proof that they can be followed in practice.

5) Prepare for conflict and crisis.

This is the other step Greg says many campus leaders skipped. We all hope to avoid crises in the first place, but we can’t control every variable, so have a plan ready. Your ethical framework rests at the core of any crisis response. If the crisis takes you completely by surprise, let people know you need to step back to consider the situation. Communicate (see Step 3!) with a short timetable or deadline, and forthrightly explain that you’re assessing the situation through the lens of the organization’s formal ethical framework. Even if you needed to employ stopgap measures first, this honest communication goes far in defusing any escalation.

Some leaders see morality and ethics as nice-haves: extras that aren’t necessary for running an organization. Others view them as hindrances to winning against competitors. As Greg points out, though, they are absolutely vital for a well-run team, providing continual guidance and demonstrating what your organization is all about. And as we’ve seen from Enron in the past and Boeing today, those formal frameworks can keep you out of trouble!

 

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode How Missing Ethics Makes a Mess of Organizations.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.