Leeny Oberg on the Fed, ‘aha’ moments, career advice

BETHESDA, Maryland – Lenny Oberg has had a multi-faceted career and she recommends the same for others, especially women, to do the same if they want to reach the c-suite. Breadth of experience could be more important than depth, she said.

“So, as is often the case, variety is the spice of life. And change – I view change as a good thing,” she told Hotel Investment Today.

Watch what Oberg had to say about the Fed’s first move, more on her career trajectory, hot and cold markets and more.

Full interview transcript

Hi. I'm Jeff Weinstein, editor in chief of Hotel Investment Today, and this is On the Money.

I’m excited to have with me today Leeny Oberg, chief financial officer and executive vice president of development for Marriott International. Leeny has been with Marriott since 1999. She served as CFO for Ritz-Carlton, and prior served in a range of financial leadership positions in global finance development and asset management. Before joining Marriott, Leeny held a variety of financial leadership positions with the likes of Sodexo, Sallie May, Goldman Sachs and Chase Manhattan Bank. Leeny, great to have you with us today. Thanks for being here.

Leeny Oberg: Yeah, thanks for having me. Nice to see you.

Jeffrey Weinstein: Thank you. So, let’s jump in. You know, it was an interesting moment yesterday. We had The Fed cut a little more than maybe expected. They went 50, which is great. I think everybody’s pleased, and they kind of signaled that maybe two more this year and maybe a whole point next year. What’s your take on that? What do you think it means to the hotel world, especially on the investment and M&A side?

Oberg: Well, you know, as we’ve come out of COVID, Jeff, we’ve actually seen a nice acceleration in M&A activity and just in financing overall. Now, certainly on certain types of financing, particularly new build construction in the U.S., we’ve definitely seen that these high rates have slowed it down. So, I do think that’s going to help that continue to accelerate, which is great.

We have seen transactions on the M&A side, albeit smaller, and what I would call bolt-on acquisitions, definitely picking up pace over the last couple years, and I think you should expect to see that continue and perhaps even be a little bit more so with rates on the decline.

Leeny Oberg

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But we have seen transactions on the M&A side, albeit smaller, and what I would call bolt-on acquisitions, definitely picking up pace over the last couple years, and I think you should expect to see that continue and perhaps even be a little bit more so with rates on the decline.

The other part that’s interesting is on hotel transactions themselves. And I think obviously as rates drop, and perhaps a clearer view of where rates are going, will be helpful to continuing to grow the hotel transaction activity.

Weinstein: I'm sure there are a lot of aspiring women in the industry out there who will want to get into the c-suite eventually. Talk about what you attribute your success to, getting to where you are today. And what advice do you have for other women trying to reach that level of success?

Oberg: It’s probably pretty similar, whether you’re a man, woman and whatever. And that is that the reality of success, I think, in many respects, is a combination of hard work, perseverance, some luck thrown in there, and I think also a true sense of enjoyment of both the industry and the roles that you take on. I think that makes a huge difference when it's clear that you really, really enjoy what you do.

My advice probably falls in a couple categories. One is to make sure you get as much variety in a company as you can in your roles. So, it can be within even the same discipline like finance, there are a bunch of different roles that you can do, some that are more supporting a business, others where you’re a direct negotiator in transactions. And I think the breadth is just as important as the depth. And then I think to the extent you can actually do roles that cross disciplines, that can be even more powerful to the growth in your career.

So, as is often the case, variety is the spice of life. And change – I view change as a good thing.

Weinstein: As we’ve all advanced our career, we’ve had these ‘aha’ moments or great moments where there’s a learn that you continue to take with you, that you still apply today. Talk about perhaps one of your aha moments, a great learn that is still very much a part of your day to day.

Oberg: I think on that one, Jeff, I would say that the power of teams is really the ‘aha’ that it almost is remarkable how time and time again, what you see when you have a strong team and a collaborative team, and whether it’s a crisis like the pandemic or a huge transaction like the acquisition of Starwood, the power of effective teams makes all the difference in terms of just kind of doing the basics or really achieving something extraordinary.

Make sure you get as much variety in a company as you can in your roles. So, it can be within even the same discipline like finance, there are a bunch of different roles that you can do, some that are more supporting a business, others where you’re a direct negotiator in transactions. And I think the breadth is just as important as the depth.

Leeny Oberg

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And in my experience, kind of watching that come together can be one of the most powerful moments in a career. And for me, certainly, COVID was one of those where, you know, within a weekend in March of 2020, right, I watched the finance team around the world, across all the different parts of the business just jump in, collaborate and kind of completely shift gears from growth mode to preservation mode, and be able to put a huge number of things to work very quickly and have a huge impact on the business. And that was all about teamwork.

Weinstein: We all talk about work and life balance, easy to say, not as necessarily easy to do. Talk about how you manage that. You have a big job, like so many other executives. Is work your life or do you find…  What’s your trick to balance?

Oberg: Well, I’m not going to claim that I always do it. Well, that’s the first comment. I think the most important thing is to pick your spots. I learned this, classically when you start your career. For me, I was single. I didn’t have children at the time, was very focused and excited about growing my career and, of course, trying to do other things, as well.

Once my husband and I began to raise a family, and I was still really excited about the work I was doing, you have to start to pick your spots and kind of focus. For me, my focus was very much on my family, on my work and, frankly, the outdoors, exercise and being able to find some time outdoors. There were certain other things that I was interested in and really liked to do, and they just kind of had to fall much farther down the priority list. But making sure that you’re trying to balance the things that are the most important to you, I think, allowed me to at least try to have a semblance of balance.

Weinstein: You play a role in development for Marriott. What is your take on hot emerging markets and, conversely, maybe ones that are cooling a little bit?

Oberg: Development is just an absolutely wonderful part of the company to be involved in. Marriott has always been all about growth, really, all about growing opportunities for associates, for new hotels around the world, experiences, price points, etc.

So, it’s always been something that we have never rested on our laurels for, and in that way, the emerging markets have presented fantastic opportunities. And when I think about whether it’s Indonesia and India or markets like Mexico, where we’ve been there for a while, and yet, with the acquisition of City Express we kind of find a whole new set of growth opportunities.

Once my husband and I began to raise a family, and I was still really excited about the work I was doing, you have to start to pick your spots and kind of focus. For me, my focus was very much on my family, on my work and, frankly, the outdoors, exercise and being able to find some time outdoors.

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So, we're now in 147 countries around the world and still growing. And I do think the wide range of both developed economies and emerging markets makes the development area extraordinarily interesting. And when I thinks about the kind of the way we’ve taken, for example, brands in China and started in the largest cities with our full-service brands and now see the extraordinary growth that we’re achieving in Greater China in our midscale brands – it’s really a great example of how the breadth of our portfolio of brands has allowed us to really expand our growth opportunities.

Weinstein: So, speaking of that breath, a constant comment you hear from developers, from the community, is how many more brands do we need? There’s so many. You have over 30. Hilton’s growing their portfolio, Accor claims close to 40 or more. What kind of reaction do you get from owners when you know they keep hearing about new brands and maybe feel like it’s being cut too thin or there’s too many competitors down the block? What are you hearing these days?

Oberg: So, you know, we have always listened really closely to our stakeholders, including both customers and owners. I think, for example, of Studio Res, which is a brand we began really as a result of conversations with our owners, who were really hopeful that we would start a brand that fit what is viewed as a really highly growing segment of extended-stay in the midscale space. And our experience and success in extended-stay really made it a perfect place for us to try to develop a new brand. And we’re very excited with both the signings and the hotels that are getting under construction.

So, I do think it’s an ongoing dialog and we’re always trying to make sure that with our over 30 brands in Marriott Bonvoy that each one has a unique value proposition for both the customers who are looking for a variety of price points and experiences, but also for the investment – both horizon and parameters – of our owners. And while there’s going to always be the reality of heavy competition and the need to draw the right demand to the right kind of product, we do really try to balance it across the various constituencies to make sure that at the end of the day Marriott Bonvoy is growing and adding more and more opportunities for both our owner-franchisees, as well as for our customers and associates.

Weinstein: Leeny Oberg, CFO, EVP of development for Marriott, thank you for taking your time today. Appreciate it. I look forward to seeing you down the road soon.

Oberg: That’s for sure. Thanks, Jeff, so much. Good to talk to you.