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CONCIERGE
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BEST ADVICE
TONI KNORR, GENERAL MANAGER
OF ST. REGIS SAN FRANCISCO
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AN INTERVIEW BY JOHN A. VLAHIDES
Leadership demands that you take risks. And sometimes you have to fall flat on your face and learn a lesson the hard way. Back in 1990, working as a general manager for the first time, I was in charge of the Grand Hyatt Washington, DC. It was the time of the Gulf War, and the economy was down. Several operations managers came to me with bulky purchase orders for things they needed to maintain their departments’ inventory levels. I’ll never forget that when I signed the orders, the expense hit the P&L - but business levels didn’t rebound so soon. The owners were disappointed with our results for several months, and I dreaded dealing with the situation.
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Dick Nelson, then the regional Vice President at Grand Hyatt Washington, was my great mentor. I was very keen to understand what I didn’t know, and I asked him for advice on how to handle the problem. He didn’t make a big speech, he just matter-of-factly said, "Don’t fall in love with your mistakes," then he waltzed out the door.
It sounds so obvious not to wallow in your mistakes, but when you’re new on the job, you’re completely overwhelmed by the little things, like ‘Where’s my desk?’ and ‘What are the names of my staff?’ that you can’t see the big picture. But broad scope is what you most need. Dick’s simple advice made me realize how important it was to be nimble and move ahead. Otherwise I’m sure I’d have had to live with another lousy bunch of P&Ls, and some very upset owners and corporate officers. When you make a bad decision, you have to fix it, and fast.
I would add this to his advice: Have the energy to make changes, and feel free to take risks. So many people let fear get in the way of their decisions and actions that they never take any risks. How often have you heard someone say "Oh, we already tried that and it didn’t work"? As General Manager, it’s up to me ask more questions, to understand why something didn’t work. The key to this is context. Maybe it wasn’t the plan that was bad, but how it was implemented. If you don’t fully grasp the context, you don’t get the complete picture of a problem.
Now I’m a mentor, and I consider it part of my daily duties to interact with the staff and guide them, particularly when they make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, but do you have a mentor nearby when you’re learning operating skills, someone to save you from yourself? Currently, one of my hotel managers wants to buy a hundred-thousand dollars’ worth of new linens in a down economy, and we have to talk it through. It sounds so silly, so obvious, but these are the mechanics of operations. I have to coach him. All he can see right now is the 20th floor. It’s my job to provide context, give him perspective, so that he becomes a better manager. Just like Dick Nelson did for me.
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