Hire Smart Leaders. Then Let Them Lead.

After decades in hospitality, one leadership lesson has become increasingly clear to me:

Hiring talented people is only half the job. Creating an environment where they can actually lead is the other half.

In hotels, we ask our leaders to make hundreds of decisions every day—often in real time.

A guest is unhappy. A ballroom needs to turn faster than expected. A restaurant suddenly gets slammed. An employee needs guidance. A major group changes its requirements. An operational problem needs an immediate solution.

Yet too often, we hire experienced, capable leaders and then surround them with layers of approvals, departmental silos, unclear authority, and a fear of making the wrong decision.

Eventually, smart leaders stop leading and start waiting for permission.

That is when hospitality organizations begin to slow down. Great hotel leadership should be simpler:

Hire for judgment, not just experience.

Give leaders clarity about the destination, priorities, expectations, and non-negotiables.

Then remove the barriers that prevent them from getting there.

Give them authority along with accountability. Encourage them to challenge old assumptions and find better ways of doing things.

And perhaps most importantly:

Stay available without becoming the bottleneck.

I had a young man that worked for me that came from a hotel where the GM made all the decisions...that was ironclad in the hierarchy...when he got to us, he could not make a decision and came to my office for every decision so I would bless his decision making ability...or lack thereof...I sat him down and told him I needed him to make a mistake.  I had been at this a long time, and I told him there wasn't a mistake he could make that I couldn't fix so go out and make a mistake....and guess what he became a really adept and smart decision maker.

Our responsibility as senior leaders isn't to make every decision. It is to build leaders who can make great decisions when we're not in the room.

One of the most powerful things a senior hotel leader can say is:

“You understand the situation. I trust your judgment. Make the call.”

Empowerment doesn't mean lowering expectations. Quite the opposite.

High trust should come with high accountability.

That's how we build stronger teams, better cultures, more responsive operations—and

ultimately, better guest experiences.

My leadership philosophy has become increasingly simple:

Hire smart people. Set the direction. Remove the barriers. Trust their judgment. Let them lead.

Because the goal isn't simply to have talented people working in your hotel.

The goal is to build a hotel where talented people can do the best work of their careers.