Mastering Hotel Leadership: The Art of Remote Team Management

Glenn: Everybody’s your hospitality, friend Glenn here. And I’m at the THRIVE conference for Remington Hospitality. Found myself a little Guy Bittner over here as an area general manager in charge of Senna House Hilton Curio Collection hotel out of Scottsdale. I know I screwed up the order of the words over there with it. All right, but first, let me thank our friends over at Actabl empowering you for profit. Check them out Actabl.com. Guy, to me it seems like running a hotel is kind of like you’re a conductor in an orchestra, right? Trying to get everybody to do the right thing at the right time. How do you pull it all together and create a symphony?

Guy: I mean, it’s a great metaphor. And I think what’s unique today is that you’re actually a conductor of an orchestra, where the players are actually not always sitting next to you. So you have to conduct people. You can have a revenue manager sitting in a farm in Michigan. That’s true. Or an accounting person sitting in North Carolina on a beach somewhere. Right. But collaborating and making them feel like they are sitting next to you, like they are part of the team. And that’s the art, I think, versus the science. Yeah, making them feel that they’re part of the team, part of the hotel. So engaging with them on a regular basis, communicating with them, collaborating with them, talking to them, making them engaged to the hotel. Right. So when I talk to my revenue manager, I want her to feel that she’s sitting right next to me. Right? And she’s part of the success of the hotel. Okay.

Glenn: So I get that from your end. But if the person is sitting remotely, how do you get them to feel part of the team and get, like, everyone who’s on the team to be able to get to know that they’re part of that.

Guy: So a lot of it is, is communication. So are they copied on things that are internal to the hotel, that you would think, why do I need to involve somebody sitting somewhere else? Yes. Involve. The more you’re involved, the more you communicate, the more you talk to visitors, of course. Not as much, but as just make them when the hotel wins an award. When the hotel is successful about something, when the hotel is failing about something, make them part of that.

Glenn: Yeah. What is your biggest opportunity as a general manager to create better harmoniousness between all the levels of your team?

Guy: Probably managing personalities. I mean, personally.

Glenn: That’s a great answer.

Guy: Personally, to me, I try to surround myself with people that are passionate and people who are challenging me on a regular basis. That’s interesting. It’s good because it makes you better. But when you surround yourself with strong professionals, with big personalities, you always have. So they always have to orchestrate it very delicately.

Glenn: Yeah. All right. So my follow-up to that is in big personalities are great, but how do you balance all of that? Because you, you know, some general managers, if they don’t have a place of confidence, they may let those people steamroll over them. And they may not say no to an idea that may just not work under those specific circumstances.

Guy: I think it’s a blend of high empowerment. Yeah, but very high accountability, right? I’ll empower you, but don’t mess up. So it’s a combination of but you own it, right? But I’ll trust but verify. That’s one. That’s a sticker on my door. Yeah. Trust but verify.

Glenn: Yeah. It’s kind of like I don’t own a dog, but I kind of picture of it. Like when the dog is on the leash and it, you know, it runs too far and they go.

Guy: At some point, you have to press the button.

Glenn: All right. We don’t want anyone pushing any buttons over there. Although a lot of people.

Guy: In most cases, I’m the one on the leash by them, but that’s okay.

Glenn: What is one piece of advice that you would give a young general manager to feel more comfortable in their role and attain that level of confidence that’s needed?

Guy: Know your data. Know what’s crucial for the business that you can never lose track of. Yeah.

Glenn: Awesome.

Guy: Know. Know it, know it. So it’s. Don’t think that if you just surround yourself with strong people, you don’t have to know it yourself. Yeah. Know it, understand it. Yeah. And then collaborate.

Glenn: I love it. You don’t have to know all the specifics because that’s what your team is there for. If you try to learn everything and be a master of everything, you’re going to be a master at nothing, right? Yeah. So, last question I have for you is what are guests thinking about these days? What do they really want? How do you satisfy them? And I know that’s kind of a trick question because every guest wants something different and I want something different. And every time I’m in a different hotel. But generally speaking, how do you achieve that?

Guy: So, something I say every morning in our morning ops and, you know, everybody has a mentor in their life and remember something. And for me, a clean and well-maintained hotel, nice people providing great service. How you break that down, it’s a bit more complex, but that’s the theme. That’s great. That’s what they’re looking for.

Glenn: Yeah, I love it. And you are spot on. All right, guy over here, I’m Glenn Houseman. Please like, share, and subscribe. All that good stuff. And thanks to our friends over at Actable. We’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.