The chapter below is an excerpt from my new book. It’s fiction but some of the characters and story lines are based on people I have worked with and events that have taken place in the hotels I have worked in. The book is a fable about a hotel manager who has some very bad habits. He must change in order to survive and the book takes him and you through the lessons needed to be a great hospitality financial leader. I’m writing ahead each month so I’m not sure how the book will end. I hope you enjoy it and if you missed any earlier chapters you can find them on my website blog tab.
Reflecting on the day on the drive home I thought about Arthur’s question and wondered why the young man would take it upon himself to come to my office to tell me I was mean. What was his motive and why didn’t I let him have it with both barrels? I was tired, I guess.
Who the heck was this kid to come to my office and tell me I was wrong, or mean, whatever it was? Kids today have no respect for position, for authority, for the GM.
I thought about the Norton as traffic wound to a stop on the beltway. I always knew it was a country club over there. Managers rarely leave. Some clients who have stayed there claimed it was better. Cedrick always waved the Norton like some Pollyanna blanket in my face.
If this Arthur had been in my hotel for any length of time, he would not have had the guts to come and see me. Time to teach him a lesson, I thought. I should never have followed Cedrick’s recommendation and hired him. This twit had worked at the Norton for almost 10 years, working his way through the operation and then in the accounts department. I had never hired a manager from the Norton, and I would never do it again. Such disrespect and on top of it I just gave him the opportunity of a lifetime and this was how he showed me his thanks.
Traffic came to a complete stop and my mind wandered off to a time in the past. It was 20-plus years earlier and I was a reception manager at the Crytonn Hotel. My boss just gave me the scolding of a lifetime and deservedly so, I guess. I had kind of had a hand in messing up the arrival of one of our regulars and sent him to an occupied room.
When the arriving guest opened the door to his room, he found our concierge being compromised so to speak by another guest. What carnage that day!
The guest I sent up in error returned to the lobby in a rage demanding he be sent to another hotel. My boss Pierre happened to be in the lobby at the time. He quietly took care of the matter, but we all knew something big was cooking. Our regular guest who was having his fun with our concierge was working the system, you could say. It turned out he was checked into another room and had come to the lobby to complain about something.
His complaints were directed at another associate at the desk and the concierge conveniently intervened to show him some other rooms as the other associates at the desk were busy.
You could say there were two mistakes that day
Once alone in the new room with the guest, the concierge fell to her knees so to speak on the guest’s advances. The other problem was she took him to the wrong room. We had “show rooms” available for such guest interference and she took him to a “clean and vacant” room to do the deed. Come to find out she had been doing a few deeds and the charade had been planned in advance. Such goings on in hotels.
I’m vindicated, so to speak. The error was not mine but nonetheless I took it very hard on the chin that day. Pierre showed no mercy. His tantrums were legendary and his words knew no boundaries. He had the reputation of being a hard ass. He was the quintessential general manager. After the furor died down in the lobby and the concierge confessed to her deed, it was my turn.
Pierre instructed me to be in his office at 2 p.m. I knew he was not happy having to deal with all the mess of the day. I had heard through the grapevine that Michelle the concierge was discharged. A polite way of saying “fired.” I thought that what I had done was simply an innocent mistake. I did not do anything wrong and I was certainly not part of the caper.
Pierre was at his desk at 2 p.m. when I arrived. His secretary showed me to a single seat in front of his desk and closed his office door. He looked up quickly from his task at hand and looked at me. In that moment, I could see his determined anger. He would have his way with me.
He finished his writing and then he looked at me and said, “Oliver, what do you have to say for yourself?” I was not expecting this.
Clearing my throat, I said, “I know today was a mess, a big embarrassment for the hotel and you had to deal with it. However, it was not my fault. That room was clean and available on the rack and I had no way of knowing what Michelle was up to.”
“Really,” he said, “You didn’t know what she was up to with Mr. Rigby? Are you a complete moron?”
“No,” I replied, “and even if I did or was, how could I have known which room they were using?”
Pierre’s face got beat red. Had he somehow missed this fact? As it turned out that day, I don’t think he really cared about the facts of the matter, he just wanted to take out his frustration on me.
He got up and walked to the window and looked out. He was quiet for a brief moment. He then turned and looked at me. His words came out like a kettle getting ready to boil over, out of control.
“You’re a good reception manager, Oliver. You are reliable and usually you are good with the guests. People tell me some good things about you. However, you failed today. You have failed because of your complete and utter incompetence. You’re so wet behind the ears that you don’t know your ass from your miserable elbow. If you’re going to even survive in this business, you must learn who the boss is. And I want to tell you something today that will make you think the next time you choose to twist things around.
Oliver, you little person. One day a long time from now when you are older you will look up and look in the mirror and you will see the person, the one and only person who has accomplished absolutely nothing in this world.
Do you understand me, Oliver? Am I crystal clear about who runs this place and your station in it? Never tell me again that you’re not responsible because I have little use for people who can’t step up.”
With that said he turned and walked into his office bathroom and slammed the door. I was stunned and a few seconds later I could hear him peeing.
As traffic began to move again, I chucked to myself. These people today know nothing about being tough and how our business needs to respect the leader no matter the situation and who thinks they are right. I will show Mr. Arthur my wrath. Perhaps when I do, I won’t be acting.
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