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What is Hospitality Leadership Insights?
Hospitality Leadership Insights is the article library of Hospitality Leadership Coach (HLC). The articles are written for general managers, department heads, restaurant owners and the leaders coming up behind them, by ICF-credentialed coaches who have run hotels and restaurants. Each one takes a single real problem, such as a first leadership role, a tense owners' meeting or a job search after hotels, and offers practical steps you can try this week.
On this page: Key takeaways · Topics · Where to start · Coaching vs. training · The research · FAQ
Key takeaways
- Hospitality Leadership Insights is the free article library of Hospitality Leadership Coach.
- Articles are written for hotel, restaurant and service leaders, from first-time managers to owners.
- Each article tackles one real problem and ends with steps you can try right away.
- The research behind the work is linked below, so you can check the sources yourself.
- Published by
- Hospitality Leadership Coach
- Written for
- Hotel, restaurant, healthcare and service leaders
- Reviewed by
- Clifton Carmody, PCC, ACTC
- Cost
- Free to read
Topics we cover
The library covers five areas that come up again and again in hotels, restaurants and other service businesses: stepping up from manager to leader, the cost and return of coaching, career moves, high-stakes meetings, and building a service culture people want to stay in.
- Moving from manager to leader: what changes when you lead leaders, not shifts.
- Executive coaching costs and ROI: what coaching costs and how owners judge the return.
- Careers and job searches: where hospitality skills transfer and how leaders get hired.
- Confidence in high-stakes meetings: owners' meetings, reviews and hard conversations.
- Engagement and service culture: relationships, mentorship and teams that stay.
Where to start
If you are new to Hospitality Leadership Coach, these four articles give the clearest picture of how we think about leadership, what coaching costs, how owners measure the return, and where hospitality skills transfer.
- From Manager to Leader: Why Hospitality Teams Fail Without True Leadership
- How Much Does Executive Coaching Cost for Hospitality Leaders?
- The ROI of Executive Coaching for Restaurant Group Owners
- Leaving Hotels? The Service Industries That Want Your Skills Most
Coaching vs. training: what's the difference?
Training teaches a group new knowledge or skills. Coaching helps one leader, or one leadership team, apply those skills on the job over time. Most lasting change comes from combining the two.
| Training | Coaching | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | A group learning together | One leader, or one leadership team |
| Goal | New knowledge and skills | Applying those skills on the job, under real pressure |
| Format | Workshops and programs | Regular sessions over several months |
Hospitality Leadership Coach offers both, and many teams combine them. See all offerings.
The research behind the articles
Three studies explain why the articles focus on managers and coaching: managers drive most of a team's engagement, and coaching helps training stick.
| Finding | Source |
|---|---|
| Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement across business units. | Gallup |
| Training alone raised productivity by 22.4%; adding eight weeks of one-to-one coaching raised it to 88%. | Olivero, Bane and Kopelman, 1997 |
| A study of 43 leaders at a Fortune 500 company estimated a 529% return on executive coaching. | MetrixGlobal, via the ICF Research Portal |
Why leadership is the theme
According to Gallup research, managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement across business units. That is why most articles here focus on the person running the shift, the kitchen or the property. For background on the discipline itself, see the overview of coaching on Wikipedia and the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

Frequently asked questions
Who writes these articles?
The team at Hospitality Leadership Coach, led by founder Clifton Carmody, PCC, ACTC, who spent more than 20 years in hotels and restaurants. Every member of the team holds an International Coaching Federation credential.
Who are the articles for?
Leaders in hotels, restaurants, healthcare and other service businesses: owners, general managers, department heads, and people preparing for their first leadership role.
How much does executive coaching cost?
One-on-one packages are $12,000 or $15,000 for six months, leadership team coaching starts at $5,500 and assessments are $600 each. The cost guide explains what drives the price.
Can I talk to someone about my own situation?
Yes. Book a discovery call. It usually runs about 45 minutes and helps you decide on a starting point.