News for the Hospitality Executive |
by Dr.
John
Hogan, CHE CHA CMHS
July 13, 2011 This is titled lessons in leadership, and I am not specifically referring to one company, one brand or one country in that title. For the past three years, even in a tight economy, leading developers have been targeting previously under-served countries and the pace has hastened this past 12 months. (See this link for specifics) I find it more than interesting that JHM Hotels and Interstate have been working together on projects including a hospitality school in India and that many universities are globally expanding their influence through remote campuses, online courses and crammed month- long management programs. Starwood was not looking for a public relations coup when they literally relocated most of their US executive home office staff to China for the month of June 2011- they were immersing themselves in the culture of what is happening to their global focus in the location where they expect major growth. For this lessons in
leadership, I looked to the East for a different perspective and
different
industry. While hospitality is not the
same as manufacturing, there are parallels in certain people skills. A former
senior managing
director of Toyota Motor Corporation and renowned leader of their
famous
manufacturing system, Masao Nemoto is known
throughout the
world as a leader in quality control and process optimization. In a
sense, he
is one of the principal architects of the "Toyota Way."
His
ideas on leadership and quality management are documented, and reveal
the
profound knowledge Nemoto infused into the day-to-day operations at
Toyota, much
the same as certain hoteliers such as Statler, Hilton, Wilson, Johnson, Marriott, Oberoi, Sharp, Carlson,
Kerzner, Forte, Ritz and others did in hotels. Nemoto
insisted on a culture of
shared responsibility and he believed that critical tasks could not be
left to
a single business unit, but rather should be a collective
responsibility.
Nemoto's point of view says that leaders must lead across the company,
not just
their own particular area. His beliefs
went from the senior
leaders all the down to the individual
worker on the assembly line, where everyone speaks, insisted Nemoto,
not just
management. A direct result of this view is the work principle:
problems must
be solved at the lowest possible level. All employees take
responsibility for
problem solving, instead of pushing the problems or issues up the line
where it
likely gets choked in bureaucracy. Nemoto's 10 leadership principles:
If top management is perceived as willing
to help with
problems, employees are more optimistic about tackling the problems and
will
take management's goals more seriously. ___________________________________________________________ FOLLOW UP to
last week's column on TIME WASTERS If you would
like to
share your top 5 Time Wasters with me, I will include them next week
with our
collection of the top ten time wasters I have discovered with clients,
in
workshops or other research. The
three submissions on what we consider to be the three most
comprehensive lists
will all receive a free one month membership at
HospitalityEducators.com.
Feel free to share an idea for a column at [email protected] anytime or contact me regarding consulting, customized workshops, speaking engagements … And remember – we all need a regular dose of common sense, John
Hogan is
a successful
hospitality executive,
educator, author and consultant and is a frequent keynote
speaker and seminar leader at many hospitality industry events. He is Co-Founder of
www.HospitalityEducators.com, which
delivers
focused and affordable counsel in solving specific
challenges facing hospitality today. www.HospitalityEducators.com is a membership site offering a wide range of information, forms, best practices and ideas designed to help individual hoteliers and hospitality businesses improve their market penetration, deliver service excellence and increase their profitability. Individuals wishing to contribute materials may send them [email protected]. Special pricing is in effect for a limited time that also includes several JOIN NOW BONUSES, including a complimentary copy of LESSONS FROM THE FIELD- A COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE HOTEL SALES. |
Contact: John Hogan, CHE CHA CMHS United States - Phoenix, Phone: 602-799-5375 www.hoganhospitality.com [email protected]
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