Winning as a leader against daunting odds

Opposition is a natural part of life. Just as we build our physical muscles by overcoming opposition, such as lifting weights, we build our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity. ~ Stephen R. Covey

I have never been more conflicted with a decision in my Marriott career than when I received the results of a hotel employee opinion survey in the fall of 1995. After six months as general manager of the Fairfield Inn, located in Wilmington NC , the staff rated my leadership ability in the bottom quartile of all Fairfield Inn hotels in the Mid-Atlantic region. If this shock wasn’t enough, I had just suffered my worst personal tragedy with the unexpected death of my teenage son, Blease, two months before staff completed this survey.

No one seemed to consider that I had spent three of the six months traveling from NC to GA to complete Fairfield Inn management training or the task of moving my teenage daughter, Dee, and our personal belongings to a new city and state. . Until this experience, during five years as a manager at Courtyard by Marriott, he had received favorable ratings of 85% or higher.

I am sure that my frustration and my doubts about having made the right decision had a lot to do with my state of mind and the state of my emotions due to the death of my son. But that didn’t stop me from initially thinking, “I made a BIG mistake.” Days, weeks, and a few months passed as I continued to wrestle with the thought, “maybe I should resign and return to my hometown of Columbia, South Carolina.”

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: what counts is the courage to continue. ~Winston Churchill

Eventually, I discarded that idea as I took the time to consider all that I had to overcome, all that I had sacrificed in hopes of giving my children a better life. I wasn’t sure exactly what I needed to do, but I knew in that moment of recalling my story, “Now was not the time to throw in the towel. No, instead, I would have to dig deeper to get past this hurdle.” Period”

During my annual performance in early 1996, my regional manager, Steve Dawe, and I had a candid discussion about the employee feedback survey, as well as other performance measures. After our conversation, I knew that I would have to step up my leadership skills to be successful in this role. I was not willing to accept job failure that had forced years of commitment and a relentless determination to exceed expectations in my role. Doing so would have made light of “everything” he had overcome. Giving up, for now, was not an option.

Steve suggests that I approach the staff from a different perspective. Having been with Marriott for 10 years, I had become immersed in their culture and values ​​by working in their full-service division and Courtyard division. In my opinion, “I was an expert on excellence at Marriott and what it took to be successful working for the company.”

I was so caught up in “my way” that I wasn’t smart enough to realize that in my quest to make the Fairfield Inn guest experience the same quality as that of Courtyard and full-service guests, I had distanced myself from more than three quarters of the staff. My actions told the staff, “I know better than you how to deliver service excellence the Marriott way.” I came to this awareness after speaking with key influencers on staff. First, I had to admit that I was wrong to walk into the Fairfield Inn by “acting” like I know it all. I had to go back and start over with relationship building from a place of respect and value.

If you want to take your mission in life to the next level, if you’re stuck and don’t know how to get up, don’t look outside of yourself. Look inside. Don’t let your fears keep you stuck in the crowd. Eliminate your fears and raise your commitment level to the point of no return, and I guarantee that the Champion within will erupt to propel you to victory.” ~Bruce Jenner

As I began to ask the staff questions, to get their input on the improvements I felt were needed, they slowly began to share their knowledge and ideas with me. It was a start. I soon realized that we shared the same goal for the hotel, we wanted it to succeed. As a team, we began to focus on what we had in common. This became a turning point. I challenged myself to “step up my leadership game” with the goal of becoming the best general manager they could have.

To take our team to the next level, we needed a fine-tuning and alignment of our values, actions, and goals. So, I started a staff growth and development campaign. I went to Sam’s Wholesale and bought a copy of John’s Maxwell’s book, Developing the Leaders Around You, for each staff member. I used the book as a discussion topic at our monthly employee meetings. I took steps to continue to immerse myself in the Fairfield Inn culture. In April 1996, employees responded to the hotel’s spring employee opinion survey.

During the summer of 1996, we received the survey results and all areas of employee satisfaction improved overall. I was both recognized at the 1997 Fairfield Inn/Courtyard General Managers Conference as one of the most improved Fairfield Inn General Managers in their employee survey.

Adversity has the effect of awakening talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have remained dormant. ~ Horace

This achievement fueled my drive to see what else we could accomplish as a team. Continued my staff growth and development campaign, sending all staff members to an Introduction to Computer Science class and hiring a local training consultant to create and facilitate team building classes that took place at our sister hotel , the Courtyard by Marriott. . In 1997, I purchased a copy of John Maxwell’s book, Becoming an Influencer for each staff member. Throughout the year, I used the ideas in the book as discussion material at our employee meetings.

My commitment to the success of the people on the team became my main purpose as a leader. It is the “why” that gave me the courage and tenacity to develop my skills so that I can develop the leaders around me. Our commitment as a team and the results we were able to produce took center stage at the 1998 Fairfield Inn General Managers Conference in New Orleans, LA. Despite our many starts and stops as a team, the horrendous hurricane seasons of 1996-97, and the influx of new hotels into our market at a rapid pace, we received four No. 1 Customer Satisfaction Awards at the GM Conference, from among 350 Fairfield Inn hotels. Our team was recognized as #1 in service, #1 in value, #1 in room cleaning, and #1 in building maintenance and upkeep.

These prizes were the icing on the cake with a strawberry on top. Despite the enormous odds we faced early in our team’s evolution, we had become a winning team. I was and still take great pride in our ability to overcome obstacles that might have prevented each of us from experiencing this great achievement. And having our guests recognize our tireless effort to create value-added and memorable customer service experiences made it that much better. We celebrate with a party on the beach. Staff members from other Fairfield Inns traveled to Wilmington so we could travel to Myrtle Beach. Soon after this experience, many members, including my assistant manager, Cinia Willis, began seeking and earning leadership promotions. Today, several members of the Fairfield Inn team continue to serve in leadership positions in the hospitality industry. Others have struck out on their own as small business owners. And many successfully transferred their skills to other industries.

Just like a professional boxer in a boxing championship, there may be times when life throws a punch at you. At that point, you have the choice to stay down and quit, or rise up with the strength of your spirit, mind, and body to finish the fight a winner. If you decide to stay in the ring and fight for your goal, your commitment and bulldog tenacity to win will serve as a warning to those who may doubt your luck. At the end of the day, I encourage you with these words from President Abraham Lincoln: “Always keep in mind that your own resolve to succeed is more important than anything else.