November 13, 2002 - The Peninsula Hotel is a glamorous luxury hotel property in Beverly Hills, Calif., that caters to some of the wealthiest clients in the world as well as the Hollywood glitterati. 

The Peninsula's general manager, Ali Kasikci, who pioneered such innovative practices as 24-hour check in, was at Cornell last Friday, Nov. 1, to deliver a talk as part of HA 110, the Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series course at the School of Hotel Administration. Considered somewhat of a celebrity himself, Kasikci also came here to meet with and advise Hotel School students seeking a career in hotel operations management. 

In welcoming Kasikci, Hotel School Dean David Butler cited him for being among the best general managers in the hospitality industry as well as one of the longest reigning -- holding his current position for 10 years in an industry where most GMs change jobs every two years. 

Kasikci began his presentation by drawing laughs when he showed slides illustrating people's illusions about the business of offering luxury hotel service -- represented by an aristocratic horse and rider -- and the reality -- a donkey rearing while pulling an overloaded cart. 

He then related how he became a hotel GM for the first time at the age of 26 but was soon fired from the position, a humbling experience. I thought I knew everything. Success makes us think we'll always succeed -- which isn't true. But while we can learn an enormous amount from our mistakes, if you fail, the best way to handle it is not to obsess over it but to start over again. He also advised the students to scrutinize your successes and set your goals high. Human beings only achieve half of what they aspire to be. The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high but that it is too low. 

The most useful skill the Hotel School can impart, Kasikci told the students, is teaching you not how to make a particular sauce or starch a shirt collar, but how to think. 

He ended with a series of survival tips that included such finishing skills for success as implementing your ideas by convincing your boss that they're his ideas, knowing how to reinvent yourself as well as laugh at yourself, and making room for younger people and women, the latter whom he called an overlooked resource in the hotel industry. 

In the question-and-answer session that followed, Kasikci said that commitment, not personality was the quality most needed to succeed in the industry. He likened a smooth-running hotel to the interdependent parts of a car, where the smallest breakdown can cause large problems. From the highest paid staff member to the lowest level employee, we are all equal in the eyes of a guest, he said. You can make a beautiful eggs benedict, but if it's served on a plate that leaves a ring on the table because the dishwasher wasn't doing his job, you may ruin the guest's experience. 

He's one of the most-innovative GMs in the country, and we were privileged to get to hear him speak, said Anthony Muscio, a senior who, with Holly Rosenblum, is a dean's assistant. And Butler noted: He really modeled the enthusiasm and focus for which he is known in the industry. 

The visit was Kasikci's second recent involvement as a teacher of aspiring hoteliers at the Hotel School.

Last January he gave hands-on lessons at the Peninsula to a small group of students as part of the school's first Master Classes. The series was organized by Associate Dean and Associate Professor Thomas Cullen, who also hosted a breakfast in Kasikci's honor last Friday.