Arne Sorenson Social Impact Leadership Award winner talked
to ALIS crowd about leadership and what the industry can share to help increase
diversity in the c-suite.
LOS ANGELES — With empathy at the foundation of his character, The BHN
Group and the AHLA Foundation awarded Hyatt Hotels Corp. CEO Mark Hoplamazian
with third annual Arne Sorenson Social Impact Leadership Award, presented to a lodging
industry executive who strives to drive change through strong leadership and
community engagement.
During his acceptance on January 23 at ALIS, Hoplamazian sat
down with The BHN Group President Jeff Higley for a thoughtful conversation
about his philosophy surrounding leadership.
“If I’m receiving something, it’s because I am a reflection
of the amazing work that so many members of the Hyatt family have been doing,
and I’ll reiterate that,” Hoplamazian said.
Hoplamazian added that Hyatt’s purpose is to care for its colleagues,
guests, owners and people in the communities in which they operate so they can
do their best. “That last one is something that everybody cares about because
if we don’t have thriving communities, we don’t have a thriving business,” he
said. “As I think about my own approach to this, it never felt like another
thing that I was doing. It felt completely consistent with how we were operating
Hyatt and wanted to make an impact… It happens to also have massive potential
leveragability and impact because we employ many people.”
The difference between serving someone and caring for them is the practice of empathy. Both require you to take action. But if you practice empathy, and really understand what the needs are, you can do a much better job of fulfilling the needs.
Mark Hoplamazian
When asked about his advice on leadership, Hoplamazian said,
first and foremost, be authentic. “That goes a long way. Being authentic beats
out being perfect every single time,” he said. “Secondly, a long-time mentor
told me ‘you have two years and one mouth, and that you should always use it in
that proportion.’”
Coming into the hotel industry without deep experience,
Hoplamazian added that empathy was his number one go-to capability. “That’s
what I’ve worked on throughout my career… The difference between serving
someone and caring for them is the practice of empathy. Both require you to
take action. But if you practice empathy, and really understand what the needs
are, you can do a much better job of fulfilling the needs.”
Hoplamazian also said the pandemic was a “massive unlock” of a
new chapter in his own evolution as a person and leader. “You are forced to be
in a learner’s mindset instantaneously and go towards things and learn them
afresh.”
He said Hyatt leadership observed what was going on internally,
the level of innovation, better understanding what was going on, and then being
responsive with testing, learning and experimentation. “It was absolutely amazing, super humbling, very inspiring,”
he said. “As a consequence of that widespread testing and learning environment,
we were able to come out of the pandemic with more momentum and more strength
than we went into it, which is something I would have never predicted… We
learned to be agile, constantly asked what would need to be true for an outcome
to be realized.”
Hoplamazian said that approach has kept Hyatt open minded,
experimental and in a learning mode as opposed to him showing up as a leader bestowing
wisdom upon others. “It’s been a new
lease on leadership for me.”
Lastly, in response to a query about what can help lead to a more diverse
c-suite, Hoplamazian said elevating the dialogue, being explicit and brutally
honest is key. “You have to focus intensely and actually develop plans that are
actionable,” he said.
Perhaps even more importantly, Hoplamazian suggested, “Let’s
join hands and actually share information and take these steps together. With
that, we will be impacting millions of people’s lives every year, and that’s
just a big deal.”