Leadership and the Problem yet to Come.

The hospitality industry is unique in many ways, one of which is that it heavily relies on its people. Front-facing team members are the backbone of any successful operation, and leadership plays a critical role in keeping them motivated, engaged, and productive. However, when it comes to leadership, the industry is lacking. While there are plenty of managers, there are not enough leaders, especially ones working directly with guests and guest-facing team members.

The hospitality industry needs to invest in creating leaders who can solve problems that are yet to come. While managers are trained to follow the rules and have a list of solutions for frequent problems, we need to go beyond this level of training. Investing in leadership development is beneficial not only for the leaders themselves but for the organization as a whole.

One of the issues that front-line leaders face is a lack of development and training, resulting in decreased employee morale and motivation, higher turnover rates, inadequate decision-making, and problem-solving skills, limited ability to adapt to change, poor communication and interpersonal skills, and lack of ability to inspire and guide employees.

And these are only today's issues we are speaking about. When a company invests in continuing training for its staff, you are investing in solving future problems. The problems yet to come are the purple elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about. Continued leadership training allows the client to learn how to think about problems. While nobody could have envisioned the Covid crisis that hit our industries, those leaders that knew how to think about problems did the best. Those organizations that cultivated thinking-leaders rather than check-the-box managers fared best.

The solution is simpler than you might think. While personalizing training for each team member might not be feasible, hiring an outside coach specializing in leadership development for the hospitality industry is an effective solution. By having someone dedicated to working with your hospitality leaders on skill-building, you ensure that the urgent does not come at the expense of the important.

Investing in leadership training or coaching for managers is crucial for the success and growth of an organization. It helps managers effectively lead their teams and drive performance while fostering a positive workplace culture and promoting employee satisfaction. Whether you hire a leadership coach or have your company's senior leaders spend time with junior leaders, investing in your leaders is an investment in your organization's future.