This aricle is an overview of a six-month financial leadership project that I recently completed at a full-service hotel. The project consisted of six half-day hospitality financial leadership workshops delivered in-house and monthly 1-1 leadership coaching appointments with the 15 managers assigned to the program. Each month of the project we completed a group workshop and each manager had a coaching meeting with me. The project goal had five measurable elements. It was to get the managers and leaders of this hotel to complete their monthly departmental financial forecasts, track their results throughout the month, adjust their spending on labor and supplies according to business volumes, review their month-end statements for accuracy and finally write their departmental monthly hotel management commentary. In other words, get the core management team to do these tasks each month while improving forecasts and the hotel's financial results. READ MORE

Hotel organizations dutifully churn out reports filled with the ever-growing volume of data technology has made available, creating information overload for the managers tasked with analyzing them. By streamlining the process and sticking to the numbers that truly matter, managers make smarter decisions that have real impact on their hotel's business. The more management shares effective data with the staff, the better performance will be. Monthly or quarterly review of certain numbers can be used as a tool to motivate employees. As the saying goes, people do what you inspect not what you expect. READ MORE

It is important during this exciting time of innovation to seize the moment and creatively adapt to the changing concept of hospitality, capitalize on new trends and expand market share. While the new hospitality market disrupters may threaten traditional hotel business models, they also present an opportunity for the entry of new products into an industry which has always prized itself on innovation and creativity. Business travelers, vacationers and millennials have all begun to demand inclusion of new hotel products into their travel. It will be up to the hospitality industry to join the movement and incorporate these concepts into their platforms and brands. READ MORE

Cities and counties throughout the United States have enacted regulations in an effort to balance individual property rights with protecting the character and viability of neighborhoods and communities. There is also a mandate to also stimulate the housing economy, maintain property values, and promote fair competition within the hospitality industry. While the future of such efforts remain uncertain, it is clear that the interests of the hospitality industry would be best served by way of the industry's involvement in the legislative process. READ MORE

The surge in mergers and acquisitions in the hospitality industry presents a great opportunity for companies to take advantage of advances in technology and innovation to create transactions afford competitive advantages and returns due to the enhanced scale and scope of the resulting entity by acquisition or merger. In order to succeed on the national or global stage, the acquiring company must take advantage of its skill and talent to effectively and expeditiously integrate the target company with its own operating systems, methods and culture. READ MORE