March 2009

VALUES THAT SET LEADERS APART

In our second issue of Profile Leader, my closing remarks wished all our supporters well in the challenging times, so as we broadcast our 3rd and most comprehensive issue yet, I doubt many of us could have predicted quite what lay ahead in that last quarter of 2008 and into 2009, and the impact the political and economic changes would have on us all.

First, to the new President of the USA, Barack Obama, and I for one am delighted he won. His challenge is to unite a world as one race and to leverage the untapped talent of our younger generation to overcome the problems manifest in the past, convincing the many that followed the rules and still watched their jobs and savings disappear that there is a future worth working for, even as so many of their seniors pocketed the cash and ran.

I personally believe that our industry has values that set it apart from what appears to have been a total lack of control, greed and this ‘fat cat’ culture in the banking sector in particular. So in this issue, we are once more focusing on the thoughts and strategies of today’s leaders in hospitality who have the unique opportunity to keep our industry on track, highlighting the qualities of hard work, fortitude and optimism shared amongst these special individuals, plus their ability to keep calm and carry on.

Christopher Cowdray talks about his plan for expanding the Dorchester Collection on a global scale whilst Paul White at Orient-Express Hotels balances ‘business as usual’ with a story of giving back to local communities in South America; Herve Houdre at the Willard InterContinental in Washington D.C. provides a fresh perspective to the meaning of corporate sustainability and Hyatt Hotels in Paris have just launched their first Hyatt Student Prize, organised by Michel Jauslin, honouring ambitious future hoteliers.

In our special feature on hotel restoration, Kiaran MacDonald updates us on progress at The Savoy, a project close to my heart as an ex-Savoy employee, and having just re-qualified for Investors in People ourselves, we asked Cyrus Todiwala to highlight what IIP UK can do to improve standards of business performance and the sense of direction a company has.

In particular, I would encourage you to read the article by Dr. Anne Pierce on Springboard’s charitable work, determined in its aims to help society by bringing young and disadvantaged people into our sector. Please seriously consider signing up now for the Profile Sailing Cup, to be held on 22nd and 23rd September 2009 when we hope to raise over £20,000 for Springboard.

Putting all this vigour into context and urging us all to move forward is Kostas Trivizas, a Revenue and Asset/Commercial Management expert and Cornell educated hotelier, who shares his advice on the new skills needed for a changing landscape.

At Profile too, we refuse to stand still. Philip Cartwright leads a new service, Profile Financial Executive Recruitment. Based in our London office, Philip brings knowledge of recruitment at Board Level to the hospitality industry from a wide range of closely related service sectors, which we hope will prove to be of real value to clients with financing issues.

Profile’s Paris and Shanghai offices, led by Michele Alguacil and Winnie Chiu, respectively, continue to strengthen our client partnerships, and as for Liz Hartstone, Rupert Sellers, James Hey and the team in London, it’s been non- stop, including a number of very valuable overseas trips to catch up with clients (and to search for new business!) in Cairo, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

I thought I should also mention here that in addition to Profile's traditional role -- arranging permanent appointments -- we can now also put forward for interim senior management and executive positions some very exceptional individuals across all our career disciplines

As always, we invite you to share your stories with our 20,000-strong network through Leader and if you are interested in contributing, please contact our resident editor, Gina McAdam, at gina@stratemarco.com.

At times like these, relationships count more than ever and something we have really learned in business over the last 30 years is that if we work together, we can meet any challenge. We are here for you!

Best regards,


Mark Norris, Chief Executive
PROFILE Global Hospitality Recruitment

PS: The next edition of Journal will be out in the early summer