Why Hotel Leaders Must Build an Emotional Connection Between Teams and Strategy

It is no secret that senior leaders and their management teams struggle with their hotel strategy. After all, choosing a path, saying "no" to certain opportunities in support of it, and creating a plan for the entire team is one of the most difficult challenges in the life of any hotel. Many hotels rely on external consultants to assist them with their strategic planning sessions and one-to-one sessions based on the latest trends featured in books. Inevitably, the outcome of bringing intelligent people together in a room to discuss direction and options is interesting, but it often lacks two critical attributes for success: consistency and emotional connection. In this article, I focus on the importance of creating the emotional connection to strategy that is essential to success.

Strategy has no emotions, but people do.

It is true that the idea of emotion is not often discussed in strategy work; however, the people responsible for bringing it to life must feel an emotional connection to the issues that require change and experimentation in order to build interest, support and momentum.

The Problem of Team Boredom and Confusion

In many settings, management and a select group of team members work with a consultant for weeks or months and do a solid job of identifying blue oceans, pinpointing milestones to be achieved and seeking opportunities. When they finally emerge after those weeks or months, they are convinced of the way forward. They proudly present the strategic ideas to the rest of the organisation and, instead of applause and praise, receive, at best, a huge yawn and, at worst, a fear-inducing reaction. Yawns occur when the strategy appears to be more of the same, or so incoherent that it suggests it is merely another programme of the month that will eventually disappear. The meeting ends and people return to their jobs wishing they could have spent that time focusing on more important matters. Confusion followed by fear is the most toxic reaction to new strategic pronouncements, and this occurs when the prevailing theme of the strategy is something along the lines of "Everything must change". This theme and tone ignite the dark side of people's minds, and everyone asks themselves: What does this mean for me? The strategy is already doomed moments after it is shared. The situation worsens as strategy presentations are followed by a series of activities in smaller groups, where employees discuss the strategy, raise questions and are expected to begin thinking about doing things differently. Unfortunately, the lack of a positive emotional bond born of lengthy consideration and a deep understanding of the factors surrounding the strategy results in a lack of motivation or commitment to it among the team. If I had to summarise the actions that make strategy an engaging and participatory endeavour for the team:

1. Assume that no one understands why a new strategy or strategy update is needed. Involve everyone in creating a shared understanding of the market drivers that demand internal change.