Leading in Hospitality

My local coffee shop finally saw the light a month or so ago and introduced the “mug 4 life” concept. The concept is simple, you buy the mug then you save a few pence every time you use this mug to get a coffee instead of using a paper cup. It saves them money, makes them look like they care for the environment and it makes the consumer feel a little better about themselves for doing one little thing for the environment. Everybody wins. Only that last night a server I had not met before was adamant that the discount would only apply if you bought a mug every time. Considering the amount of coffee I consume my office would now have a collection of a few hundreds of mugs. The educator in me could not keep quiet so I had to spend five minutes explaining the purpose of the concept. After a while I admitted defeat by sending her to talk to her supervisor. She returned, poured my coffee and gave me the discount.

And that event prompted my mind to consider the numerous wonderful schemes and concepts, green ones or otherwise that our industry attempts to adopt but often the frontline of staff seem to ignore their existence.

Is it bad management or is it bad leadership that often lets the consumer down? Is it a little of both? A good manager would ensure that all members of staff are aware of any schemes and apply discounts. A manager that exhibits leadership qualities would have inspired staff to be more aware of green issues and believe in the scheme so that they actually bring it to the attention of every customer that did not yet buy in.

Hakala’s article on the 10 basic qualities that a leader must exhibit starts with the vision, and that this vision must be communicated effectively and with passion to others.

Vision may sound a grandiose idea but can we also have a vision for the day to day things? Is vision and passion words that have been put on a pedestal only to be used for concepts that are beyond the mundane reality of every day management? I think everyone has the potential to lead but leading in my view is a result it is not a purpose.

When we see evidence of a discrepancy between what hospitality managers think about their leadership qualities and what the employees think of them. (see the work of Testa) we need to re-evaluate our understanding of leadership and the levels of management where leadership is needed.

My argument is that we need leadership at all levels and now more than ever. We need people of vision that can deliver great product but we also need people of vision that can help reshape an industry that has been finding its way out of university curriculums, out of parliamentary debates and out of focus in general.

I leave you with this video and the prophetic words of Peter Lederer who I at least think is one of the few great hospitality leaders we have in the UK. He gave this talk almost two years ago but his views on hospitality leadership are as relevant today as they were on the day he gave the talk.