To be successful in any service based industry, I believe the most important element to keep on mind is, the Transformation! Not that I am entitled to be a “transformer” but because that’s the only way to be able to move on.

In service industry there is a segment of people who are deciding neither if you are good or not, in my industry we call them “guests” , people staying at hotels, using the facilities of our businesses; the hotel.

To keep them satisfied and let them always come back, we need a very good operation going on at all times. To make this possible, you need even much more important people, the staff!

When the staff is happy and well educated in doing what they do, especially with a bottom up approach where they discover how to do, experience everything, empowered by their professional and humble supervisors, they will not anymore see the problems to tackle but opportunities to grab!

When your organisation is that far, then the focus must on how to keep this environment continuously in a flow of improvements on small and big details! Because we are living in the times of speed, changes are out there, technology is way ahead of us and we are running out of energy to keep up the tempo with. What works today, won’t work tomorrow! How will we survive?

Your staff will know and have the answer when we let them free to act and do! Supervisors or managers will play a great role here, coach, listen, empower but also push the teams for get these improvements done, aims reached!

Same managers and ourselves also better be quick, risk taken, bold and colorful to keep up the good job but also follow up with your guests or your costumers. Keep trying, testing , failing and keep doing that until the job is done. Because if we sit and do nothing, the end is near.

Is it than enough? You empower, teach and love your staff and managers and let them be and do! Is this the only key for success?

No, I strongly believe; we managers, leaders need to keep educate ourselves and follow very closely the changes in technology, learn from it and be the first (dare to be the first) to apply and use those technologies to lead the rest!

Also one more very important point, I cannot not mention it; is the local environment! Meet them, greet them, involve with them, do things with them ,for them. Try to help each other, make each other strong! When everything goes wrong, you can lean on a neighbors shoulders.

To be able to do this all; loving your staff , your colleagues , your neighbors, your managers and making time for keeping up with the changes and learning things….we cannot manage like we did in the last century! We have to stand up and trust our people, be one of them, listen to them…being a manager at that very particular moment doesn’t make us any better than anyone else.

So let us loose the mask and enjoy the ride of a strong relationship to keep improve our business and therefore lives.

Happy 2017 to you all, I wish you only the best!