We measure occupancy, average rate, covers, spend per head, guest satisfaction scores, payroll percentages and profit margins. From the outside, leadership in hotels can look like a numbers game - strategy meetings, performance reviews and constant target setting.
Early in my career, I believed that was what leadership meant. Deliver the numbers. Control the detail. Drive performance.
Experience has taught me something different.
In hospitality, leadership is not defined by how you perform when the hotel is full, the reviews are glowing and the sun is shining over a wedding on the terrace. Leadership is revealed when something goes wrong – and something always does.
A guest complaint escalates.
A function doesn’t run as planned.
A team member makes a costly mistake.
Pressure comes from ownership or head office.
Those are the moments that define culture.
The true test of a General Manager is not how they celebrate success, but how they behave when the pressure is on. Do they protect their team – or do they protect themselves?
I have come to believe that leadership in hospitality is less about control and more about responsibility. Responsibility to create an environment where people can perform with confidence, not fear.
Our industry is built on people. The guest experience lives and dies through frontline teams – receptionists, chefs, housekeepers, servers, events coordinators. If those individuals are operating in an atmosphere of anxiety, where blame travels faster than praise, standards will eventually slip. Not because people don’t care, but because fear restricts performance.
Defending your team does not mean lowering standards or avoiding accountability. Quite the opposite. It means taking ownership as a leader when things go wrong. It means addressing issues constructively and privately. It means standing up for your people when they are not in the room.
And it means giving credit loudly and publicly when they succeed.
In my role at Lumley Castle, I regularly ask myself three questions:
Do my team feel safe speaking honestly?
Do they trust that I will listen before I judge?
Do they know I will stand up for them under pressure?
If the answer to those questions is uncertain, then the culture needs work.
Hospitality is a high-pressure environment.
We operate long hours, emotional moments and significant financial expectations. Mistakes are inevitable. What cannot be inevitable is a culture where people feel exposed.
When team members know their General Manager will support them – while still holding them accountable – something powerful happens. Confidence grows. Initiative increases. Pride deepens. Standards rise naturally because people want to protect the reputation of a business that protects them.
The strongest hotels I have worked in are not driven purely by systems or SOP manuals. They are driven by trust.
A leader who only appears when the hotel hits budget is not leading. A leader who disappears during guest complaints is not leading. Leadership is presence – especially in uncomfortable conversations.
High-performing hospitality businesses are built on loyalty – not just from guests, but from teams. Retention improves. Engagement strengthens. Service becomes more authentic. And in a sector where recruitment remains one of our greatest challenges, culture has become a competitive advantage.
Authority might secure compliance.
Protection secures commitment.
As General Managers, we carry the responsibility of shaping environments where people can grow, make mistakes safely, learn quickly and deliver exceptional service with confidence.
Because at its heart, hospitality is about care.
And leadership should be no different.
www.lumleycastle.com