Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Three reasons for a hospitality leadership coach

Starting a successful career in hospitality requires strong leadership skills and an understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities that exist in the industry. That's why leadership coaching can be invaluable for hospitality professionals looking to enhance their skills and achieve their career goals. However, not all leadership coaches are created equal. 

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Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Positive Position

Positively is actually the only way leaders can lead. Leaders do not lead teams to their vision by going through a list of everything their vision is not! They have to have to share a vision of what is to be!

Positive leadership is an approach to leadership that emphasizes optimism, encouragement, and a growth mindset. It involves inspiring and motivating team members to work together towards achieving common goals. Positivity can create a culture of engagement and collaboration, improving team morale and productivity. Positivity can create a culture of engagement and collaboration, improving team morale and productivity. Combined with a clear vision, it can provide the direction and purpose necessary to guide a team toward achieving their shared goals.

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Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Kintsugi: The Japanese Art of Repairing and Thriving in Your Mid-Career

You may have heard of Ikigai, but have you heard of Kintsugi? A few years ago, I came across this beautiful concept. In Japanese culture, the art of repairing broken pottery with gold, called Kintsugi, is considered a reflection of life itself.

The philosophy behind this practice can be applied to many aspects of life, including career. This post will explore how Kitsugi can help individuals in their mid-career phase.

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Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Leadership As a Blessing

Being a leader is a challenging job. And I am not even talking about being a leader in life-and-death situations such as the military or emergency service work. Plain old business and organizational leadership are rough, and it comes with many responsibilities, challenges, and hardships. Despite the challenges, the blessings of being a business leader are abundant and immensely rewarding on many levels.

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Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Five Ridiculously Easy Relationship Builders

Building strong business relationships is crucial for success in any industry. Whether looking for referrals, advice, or simply trying to cultivate a positive work environment, developing meaningful connections with those around you is vital. This guide will explore five tips for building strong business relationships that will work just as well outside the business sphere.

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Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Founders Syndrome and the Importance of Feedback for Founders, Executives, CEOs, and Small Business Owners

By actively seeking feedback from the CEO and other stakeholders, the Founder could quickly identify areas where he can let go of control and empower the CEO and team to lead the organization more effectively.

Because of the Founder's reluctance to fully delegate and trust in the CEO's abilities, the Founder has created a situation where the CEO cannot fully utilize her skills and expertise. This has led to frustration, resentment, and a lack of innovation and growth within the organization. 

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Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Holding on! Employee Retention Post-Pandemic

As we all know, employee retention is a critical aspect of organizational success and is essential for achieving long-term goals. I won't get into this because, as leaders, we see this as self-evident. But in this post-pandemic age, focusing on this may be more critical than ever. 

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Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Get Unstuck. (Works for anything)

Do you feel stuck in your personal or professional life right now? Do you feel like you're just going through the motions and not making any progress toward your goals? Are you dreading that next year at this time, you may be doing the same things, at the same places, with the same people? If so, you're not alone. Getting stuck in a rut and feeling like you're not moving forward is easy. But the good news is that it doesn't have to be that way. With the right mindset and tools, you can create a vision for the future you want and take steps to make it a reality.

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Clifton Carmody, PCC Clifton Carmody, PCC

Learning and development: your staff want it

In today's fast-paced and ever-changing hospitality industry, continuous learning and development are essential for success. The most successful hospitality industry leaders understand that they must continually improve their skills, knowledge, and abilities to stay ahead of the competition and effectively lead their teams.

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About these articles

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.

  1. From Manager to Leader: Why Hospitality Teams Fail Without True Leadership
  2. How Much Does Executive Coaching Cost for Hospitality Leaders?
  3. The ROI of Executive Coaching for Restaurant Group Owners
  4. 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.

TrainingCoaching
WhoA group learning togetherOne leader, or one leadership team
GoalNew knowledge and skillsApplying those skills on the job, under real pressure
FormatWorkshops and programsRegular 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.

FindingSource
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).

Clifton Carmody, PCC, ACTC, founder of Hospitality Leadership CoachEdward Vicedo, MCC, ACTC, partner at Hospitality Leadership Coach
Founder Clifton Carmody, PCC, ACTC, and his partner, Edward Vicedo, MCC, ACTC, review the articles in this library. Meet the team.

Frequently asked questions

Who writes these articles?

The team at Hospitality Leadership Coach, led by founder Clifton Carmody, PCC, ACTC, and his partner, Edward Vicedo, MCC, ACTC, who have 40+ combined 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?

Senior Leader and High-Potential Coaching is $15,000 and Executive Coaching starts at $20,000, each for six months. 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.